St Andrew's Church Life Centre

Location

The St Andrew’s Church ‘Life Centre’, has been designed to preserve and enhance the heritage listed site while adding contemporary facilities and additional space to the historic church.  This new development in front of its heritage site has street level access onto Nathan Road. 

Facilities

The Life Centre houses an auditorium of up to 830 seats with a lower floor amphitheatre and rooms for multi-purpose use featuring movable partition walls and changeable seating. All facilities will have disabled access, and designed with particular care for senior citizens, parents and children. Above the Life Centre will be a landscaped garden style retreat for use by both church members and the local community.

Award-winning Design

The design of the Life Centre by Nelson Chen Architects Ltd. has won a Merit Award from the American Institute of Architects Hong Kong Chapter in 2011. The final design has a number of advantages that will ensure that it is a world class heritage development:

• The Life Centre will be a development built inside the slope at the front of the site onto Nathan Road. This means it will not intrude into the historic site, nor detract from the green space at the front of the compound.
• The entrance façade and landscaped rooftop of the Life Centre will light up and beautify the streetscape on Nathan Road. The granite finish to the building will match the historic Lych Gate adjoining the Antiquities and Monument Office. A significant portion of the stone wall facing will be retained, with existing masonry to be reused elsewhere on the site.
• New trees will be planted while existing good quality trees in the church grounds will be transplanted under the supervision of a certified arborist and the landscape architect. When the Life Centre opens, we can look forward to a greener and even more beautiful environment.

Eco Friendly Practices

All building and furnishing will be undertaken with ‘best practice’ environmental consideration, including features to minimize energy use:

• A green roof for enhanced insulation and energy efficiency within the building, and a landscaped courtyard above. 
• All glazing and skylights will be insulated glass units with Low-E coating for high energy performance. 
• Energy consumption from lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system will be regulated by sensors for optimal performance.  Besides, heat recovery system for HVAC will be provided for energy savings. Water saving appliances will be installed with sensor controls.
• Sustainable building products shall be used where applicable, with objectives of enhancing indoor air quality and minimizing wastage.