The Learning Commons, Academic Courtyards, The Lecture Centre…these new features of the Centennial Campus are developing from concepts to detailed design plans, thanks to the ongoing effort of the Wong & Ouyang architects and our colleagues at Estates Office in the past few months. 

Building plans of the new Centennial Campus were unveiled to HKU staff and students in November 2007 when the new round of engagement exercises started. A Lecture Centre, composed of a 1,000-seat lecture hall, and several small halls and classrooms will be located below ground level.  At the podium level, there will be three academic courtyards in the middle and a new Entry Plaza to the north, featuring the two heritage buildings. 

The two floors above the podium level will be the Learning Commons, which provides some 6,000 square metres of space for study, discussion, information access and learning assistance.  Students will be able to discuss group projects, seek help in writing essays, or simply have a rest at this huge and relaxed area.  

At the Centennial Campus, students rushing along stairs and between buildings to catch the next class will no longer be the norm.  There will be more than 40 centrally time-tabled classrooms and some of them will be ‘experimental’. 

The Faculties of Arts, Social Sciences and Law will be relocated to the three main buildings of the Centennial Campus.  These will be designed to fit the character and needs of the three faculties. The other faculties and offices will benefit from the space vacated by the three faculties, as well as other new development projects within the campus. 

The Centennial Campus will be linked with the Main Campus through a two-level University Street to the east and a new entrance of the future MTR station to the north.  A few minutes walk to the south will bring you to the tranquillity and nature of Lung Fu Shan Country Park.  

Greening and sustainability have been two of our key development principles. We will preserve the three heritage buildings of the Water Supplies Department. A lot more trees will be planted at the new campus and the Main Campus. The Water Supplies Department has kindly agreed to allow HKU to make use of its future reservoir roofs as new gardens. New ideas such as greening the façade of the buildings and the use of renewable energy are being planned.