The ‘Incubator’ situated at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) aims at providing a practical yet inspiring space for student groups to turn their ideas into prototypes and proof-of-concept. The main initiative of the space is for students to “Work, Build and Innovate”. The ‘Incubator’ is a co-working/workshop space that provides a platform for MBA and EMBA students to develop their business ideas. Space comprises an ample team space, locker area, workshops, meeting spaces & breakout areas. Unlike the rest of the campus, we choose the industry look and heavy-duty materials to reflect to ‘workshop’ identity. The industrial atmosphere encourages students’ co-creation and ‘get your hands dirty’ attitude. The flexible team space can be separated into seminar space and project discussion areas so students can develop their ideas from concept to reality. To show diversity and inclusion of the space, our design taking reference from the building color zoning to represent that this space opens for all students, creating a rainbow-like storage wall as the main feature of the design. 

With the limited space of 7,000 sqft, the design brief requires a large workspace for a maximum of 17 teams, 2 workshops, meeting rooms, seminar space, pantry and team storage. We reserved 70% of the floor as a flexible space for team workspace & seminars with movable walls to create different sizes of rooms as required. After dividing the meeting room, pantry and workshops, however, there wasn't enough space for team storage. Our solution was to create a team storage wall across the main circulation, not only saving space but also provide users easy access to storage. Each team is given a column of storage - the upper part is a fixed cabinet, and the lower part is a movable tool trolley. Teams can then easily move the trolley with the tools they need to their worktables. 

Most of the materials are sourced locally to reduce carbon footprint and support local suppliers. We introduced an innovative and flexible modular furniture system called ‘PIXEL’ by Bene. It looks like a box but can turn into a desk, bench, and even tiered seating to support a variety of team tasks. The ‘PIXEL’ is stored in a trolley which also doubles up as a white board and TV stand, overall minimizing the need to buy different furniture and also save storage space at the same time.