Redevelopment of the Swatow Christian Church, Kowloon City is necessitated by the expanded community due to the development of adjoining districts.  The new church will position itself as a beacon for the community.

This is the winning entry of an invited architectural competition. The design concept is derived from light.  On one hand, light, implying the follower of God, is emitted from a beacon which is deliberately designed on the top of the building to light up the community as “the salt of the earth and the light of the world”.  While on the other hand, light enters the Church Hall through the cross and curtain wall from the East facing facade of the building to symbolize people enter the church through Jesus Christ.  Upon the arrival at the church, the congregation is directed to the Church Hall through a procession staircase which is lighten up with natural sunlight to cleanse one’s soul before entering the Temple of God.  Glass is widely adopted on the façade of the building, especially on ground floor, Assembly Hall and Church Hall for two main purposes, to maximize the incoming of natural sunlight and to increase transparency of the Church which reveals the joyous church activities to pedestrians and the community, and gives an open and welcoming character to the Church.

The beauty of simplicity is another core design principle for this project.  Vertical strips are used extensively in this building as a basic architectural element to unify different spaces, like the strips on the façade and inside the Church Hall etc. symbolizing the ‘flowing tubes’ which imply Christians being filled up by God’s grace and spread the gospel of salvation to the community.