HHYC MasterPlan
As you may be aware, the Club has been in discussions with
the Government to renew our lease which expired in July 2012.
In the face of some fairly substantial political headwinds, many
clubs were granted a temporary “holdover” of leases for one
year whilst the powers-that-be examined the role of private
recreational leases within the broader community.
One little known obligation which Hong Kong’s clubs are
required to fulfill is the provision of a minimum level of “public
access”. We are expected to foster development in our
sport within the community, and so, over the period of our
lease holdover we met with the Home Affairs Bureau and
District Lands Office to explain how we actually do meet this
commitment.
The good news: Once everyone was clear on what a dinghy
was, our club demonstrated a level of community engagement
which few could match. In fact, I would expect that we’re one
of the clubs who the Government will hold up as a model for
how to work with the public and to assist charities. And on
that basis, the District Lands Conference granted us our lease
extension on 26 July 2013, provided...
The bad news: Having piloted the political chicanes, we
couldn’t quite clear the technical hurdles. In a nutshell, our
lease contains a clause which stipulated that we must have
no unauthorised building works (UBWs). Many of the UBWs
aren’t essential to the operation of the Club and have been
removed, however a few items are critical: our electrical
substation, security kiosk and boat racks, to name a few. So,
we have been granted another lease holdover whilst we work
to rectify these UBWs..
Features
Architecture begins where engineering ends
– Walter Gropius
How did that happen?
Our lease dates from 1963, and at that time we were permitted
528 sm of “built-over-area”. This was an absolutely decadent
allotment of space when the membership was comprised of 100
“do-it-yourself” yachting enthusiasts who probably enjoyed antifouling as much as fine dining.
As of 2014, our members number more than 1,100, we have a
robust sail training programme and we host a 24-hour dinghy race
every autumn which is arguably the best sailing weekend in Hong
Kong. And 50 years on we are still restricted to a facility of 528 sm.
OK, but how will a masterplan help?
The most valuable physical resource our club has is our
waterfront address.
From 1993 onwards, the Club planned and invested in a number
of large infrastructure projects which more than doubled our site
area from 8,830 to 19,796 sm. This programme also saw the
Club adding two new marina pontoons, and a fixed crane serving
the boatyard. All of this work has had full government approval
and will serve us well for decades to come.
And as we expanded our site, our clubhouse has become more
removed from the waterfront which once was so essential to its
character. Now it’s time to take an analytical look at refining the
“front-of-house” aspects of our club which essentially determine
the quality of your experience. This will encompass every
aspect of your visit: How you get here, which facilities you use,
and how you perceive them. Do we need more?
Then the questions of emergency vehicle access, utilities, waste
removal, etc. are brought to the party. And of course, grim reality
joins under the guise of our bank account.
You can see that club operations hinge on a rather complex ballet
of how members, staff, deliveries and services dance through the
site without tripping up. And all of this is subject to regulations
which are overseen by a dozen or so governing bodies. Clearly
the built-over-area envisioned in 1963, with ad hoc alterations,
can’t meet the needs of our modern club.
The masterplan is partly an architectural exercise designed to
analyse our operations and turn them into a built environment
which will enhance our activit