Located within an area of fishponds in San Tin at Hong Kong’s boundary edge with Mainland China, we have designed and constructed three devices that enhance aquacultural operations within this synthetic landscape. These devices offer support structures for the aging operators to make their work less labour intensive and harness solar energy to power these ecological machines. The project pilots how we can evolve the meaningful cultural heritage of Hong Kong’s fish farming practices, maintain ecological value, and engage the public to experience this unique landscape.

The network of fishponds located within the Deep Bay Wetland but outside of the Ramsar site contains a diversity of human activities; with bulldozers, pumps and material storage coinciding with ponds, reeds, and migratory birds. Despite this, the area is heralded for its ecological value, and fishpond operators are assisted by government subsidies to maintain their ponds as a continual attractor for migratory birds. Simultaneously, recent efforts to develop the San Tin Technopole as a hub for clustered innovation and technology have focused attention on this border area and its future as a Northern Metropolis.

The project questions whether conservation and development are mutually exclusive, and if it is possible to attract people to the landscape without having a detrimental impact on the existing ecology. By working with key stakeholders and testing different design solutions, we have piloted three support structures that demonstrate the mutual benefit and cooperation needed to balance this constructed ecology.

This project offers tools to intervene in this complex and sensitive environment, providing a foundation for effecting change in Deep Bay, and in other aquacultural sites across Hong Kong SAR.

Credits
Project Authors: Joshua Bolchover, Donn Holohan, Xiaoxuan Lu, Jersey Poon
Project Team: Kevin Lin, Jack Mok King Hei, Lewis Maplethorpe, Aristo Chan Hui Bun
Exhibition Team: Sandy Wang Qianhui
Ecological Consultant: Asia Ecological Consultants Ltd.
Structural Consultant: Prime Consulting Engineers Ltd.
Contractor: Plus Engineering Ltd.

Funding: These devices are part of the project “Balancing Ecological Sensitivity and Enhancing Experience: Experiments for the Deep Bay Outer Ramsar Site” researched by Joshua Bolchover, Donn Holohan, Xiaoxuan Lu, Jersey Poon, Rural Urban Lab, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, funded by the Countryside Conservation Funding Scheme.

Commission Date: 1st October 2021
Completion Date: 30th June 2025
Area: 40m2 (devices), 160m2 (site)
Total Cost: HKD 554,000 (USD 71,000)
Cost/m2: HKD 13,8000 (USD 1,776)