Photographer Paul Clemence documented the Gateway Centre in West Kowloon, a mixed-use development by Zaha Hadid Architects in Hong Kong, as it approaches completion. The photo series captures the project at a stage where its overall massing, facade systems, and spatial organization are largely realized, while final works continue across public and interior areas. Clemence's close-range views highlight the vertical shading pleats, the curvature of the glazed envelope, and the transitions between structural and environmental elements, underscoring how the building's formal language is resolved through construction.
Located at the heart of West Kowloon, the development is built above the operational West Kowloon Station, Hong Kong's only station on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. The terminus has remained in operation throughout construction, positioning the project as an extension of critical transport infrastructure. Construction reached roof level in 2024, marking a key transition from the completion of the primary structure to the installation of the facade and the refinement of public and interior spaces. Adjacent to the Kowloon and Austin stations of the MTR network, the scheme is integrated into a key section of the 1.5-kilometer landscaped West Kowloon Parkway, providing direct pedestrian access to the waterfront and the parks of the West Kowloon Cultural District.
The development incorporates civic, office, and retail spaces, with its lower five levels accommodating shopping and dining within a network of terraces, plazas, and atriums totaling nearly 100,000 square feet of landscaped public space. These programs are organized around a central plaza that includes sheltered outdoor gathering areas for public events, recreation, and everyday use. Two pairs of interconnected office towers are positioned at the northern and southern ends of the site, framing this central open space while reinforcing pedestrian movement across the development. The near-complete state of these outdoor areas highlights their role in structuring circulation and linking the project to its surrounding public landscape.
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Complementing the geometry of the adjacent terminus, the towers are composed as a series of interconnected "petals," each varying in orientation and height to define a dynamic skyline presence. Their form tapers inward at both upper and lower levels, reducing perceived volume while increasing outdoor space at ground level and enhancing natural ventilation throughout the site. This configuration also responds to contextual constraints by maintaining views of Kowloon's mountainous ridgeline from across Victoria Harbour. The facade system incorporates vertical shading fins that extend over the rooftops, forming protective halos for terraces and sky gardens, while reinforcing the continuity of the building's curved geometry.
The Gateway Centre in West Kowloon is part of Paul Clemence's broader photographic work focusing on architectural projects across different geographies, contexts, and scales, from Ruy Ohtake's Bioparque Pantanal in Brazil's wetlands to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, revitalized by Gensler and Renzo Piano Building Workshop, and the Eco-District of Clichy-Batignolles in Paris.
