Union Hospital
1,500 sqm | Hong Kong
Set against the dramatic silhouette of Lion Rock Country Park, the Union Hospital Expansion seamlessly integrates landscape architecture to introduce biophilic texture, expansive outlooks, and therapeutic calm into the clinical environment.
From the curated 6/F roof deck to the building’s integrated planted perimeters, purposeful greenery serves as a dynamic spatial device. It frames panoramic vistas, enhances the user choreography of the patient journey, and establishes a restorative, visually cohesive setting for visitors, staff, and patients alike.
The 6F garden is designed as a quiet sequence of outdoor rooms, each offering a different sensory and visual experience. Together, they support a gentler hospital atmosphere through:
- Fragrant and colourful planting that gives close-up detail to garden and patient-care photography.
- Water, shade and planting layers that create calm focal points within the roof deck.
- Open views towards the surrounding hills, balancing enclosure with a sense of distance and release.
- Comfortable, human-scaled spaces that make the hospital feel less clinical and more welcoming.
Shade and rain shelters extend the usability of the roof garden through Hong Kong’s changing seasons. Timber decking brings visual warmth and a comfortable underfoot experience, while carefully selected materials help reduce heat build-up during the summer months.
Ongoing consultation with hospital management ensured that the landscape proposals supported the wider expansion plan and responded to the practical needs of a healthcare setting. The result is a garden environment that balances visual quality, patient comfort and operational sensibility.
Seen through a photo series, the planting reveals the garden at several scales: broad green outlooks, intimate seating corners, textured foliage, seasonal flowers and sensory details that invite slower looking. These layered moments help communicate the garden’s role as both a landscaped amenity and a place of wellbeing.
Delivering meaningful greenery within a hospital expansion required close coordination with the structural and building services teams, especially where deeper soil profiles were needed to support tree planting. This technical integration allowed the landscape intent to be realised without compromising building performance.
The planting strategy combines sensory appeal with practical durability. Selected species introduce fragrance, seasonal flowering, varied foliage textures and moments of visual interest, while lower levels use robust, shade-tolerant shrubs and groundcovers to create a lush, low-maintenance landscape framework.
