Hong Kong unveiled plans for a 400-metre-long groundscraper on the Central Harbourfront. The project challenges the city’s traditional high-rise form with a continuous horizontal building that reconnects the business district to Victoria Harbour.
The development is led by Henderson Land and designed by an international team including Lead8, AL_A, UNStudio, Peter Walker and Partners, and Speirs Major on lighting. Construction will proceed in phases, with the first section scheduled to open in 2027 and full completion expected by 2032.
Challenging Hong Kong’s High-Rise Legacy Along Victoria Harbour
Located on reclaimed land along Victoria Harbour, Central Yards occupies one of the most sensitive and closely watched sites in Hong Kong. This stretch of waterfront stood dominated by infrastructure and commercial blocks, with little continuity at ground level. Central Yards moves in the opposite direction.
Henderson Land frames Central Yards as a long-term investment in the city’s public life. Chairman Martin Lee Ka Shing says, “Deeply rooted in Hong Kong, Central Yards is born from our commitment and love for the city we call home. As a vibrant hub where the treasures of life, nature, culture, joy, and ambition come together, Central Yards turns Hong Kong into the world’s grandest stage for future generations.”
Mixed-Use Groundscraper Brings Life to the City
The development brings nearly 1.6 million square feet of mixed-use into a single horizontal structure, replacing vertical hierarchy with layered functions and offering a fresh approach to Hong Kong’s harbourfront.
- The ground level opens onto public plazas, retail streets, and event spaces that extend the harbour promenade into the city.
- Offices occupy the middle floors with large floorplates, designed to meet changing workplace demands.
- Above, a continuously planted roof stretches almost the full length of the site, forming a public sky garden.
Horizontal Design Redefines Mixed Use
The project includes more than 700,000 square feet of Grade A office space, with a significant portion already pre-leased ahead of Phase One. About 300,000 square feet is allocated to retail, but the layout avoids the conventional shopping mall model.
Instead, the design introduces a series of maison-style retail units. Many are duplex spaces with terraces, designed to support experiential retail and a closer relationship between interior and exterior space.
A major cultural component anchors the development. A state-of-the-art theatre with more than 1,100 seats is planned as Hong Kong’s only private Broadway-scale venue, designed to international performance standards and capable of hosting touring productions alongside local work. Twelve outdoor event spaces are distributed across the site, allowing for markets, installations, and public gatherings that extend activity along the harbourfront beyond office hours.
Sky Gardens Connect Public Life Across the Building
Landscape plays a vital role in the design, embedded directly into the building’s structure. Designed by Peter Walker and Partners, the roof becomes a public garden running nearly 300 metres along the harbourfront. Terraces, lawns, and planted slopes form a sequence of open spaces, with more than 400 trees and hundreds of plant species creating one of the largest elevated landscapes in Hong Kong’s Central district.
Openings cut through the building, known as Urban Windows, pull daylight and harbour breezes deep into the structure while preserving long views between Central and the waterfront. Planted roofs and permeable surfaces also absorb rainfall and help moderate temperature, reinforcing the landscape as working infrastructure.
Sustainable Architecture With Data-Driven Operations
Central Yards sets a new benchmark for sustainable urban development in Hong Kong. The project pursues an extensive array of green and smart building certifications, including BEAM Plus for new buildings and neighbourhoods, LEED, WELL, SITES, WiredScore, SmartScore, CGBL, and CHBL.
Smart facades, integrated energy storage, and data‑driven building management shape daily operations, lowering energy demand while supporting flexible, technology‑enabled workplaces. Façade systems are expected to outperform typical Grade A offices, though detailed metrics are still under review.
The development acts as a large‑scale test of climate‑responsive construction on the harbourfront. Biodiversity, digital infrastructure, and long‑term resilience are built into the core of the project, positioning Central Yards as a new reference point for environmentally driven urban design in the city.
As Hong Kong rethinks its waterfront and central business district, Central Yards offers a new vision for the harbourfront. Rather than punctuating the skyline with another tower, the project stretches horizontally, folding offices, culture, and green space into a single continuous public realm.
By treating the waterfront as inhabitable ground rather than a leftover edge, it sets a benchmark for human-centred urban design and a more resilient, accessible future for the city.
Image credit: © Henderson Land
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