WEST KOWLOON CULTURAL DISTRICT
M+ MUSEUM
Fare-faced Concrete Remedial Work and Theme Painting
M+, Hong Kong’s new museum of visual culture – encompassing 20th and 21st century visual art, design and architecture, and moving image from Hong Kong, the Mainland, Asia and beyond – will be one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary visual culture in the world. Located adjacent to the Art Park on the waterfront, the M+ building is scheduled to open in 2020.
The Museum designer makes full use of fair-faced concrete in this building to present the modern and simple design for this architect use.
Fair-faced concrete refers to concrete that is left unfinished, to express a pattern imprinted by its formwork. There are two types of fair-faced concrete here in the M+ museum building design. One with the rather Common board-marked concrete (Type: F3) and one with a more unique wood pattern (Type: F3+).
By definition, fair faced concrete is one which after the removal of form work is not required to have any further finishes on it like sanding, plastering and touch-up painting etc. However, despite good intentions, this does not always occur and the need to make minor cosmetic repairs to the concrete is required. But how can this be done whilst maintaining the natural characteristics of the concrete? We have a team of artists specializing in the field to solve this problem.
By applying a series of special mineral paint, we can alleviate color imperfections in the concrete, without making the surface appear 'painted'. A simple process of identifying the right balance of color shade and transparency will give you the look you were trying to obtain, without the expense of replacing the concrete or changing the design brief.
In the Building: M+ in 2019
‘We’ve been visualising the gallery and studying the floor plan for many years. Finally, today we are here to visit the site and see if what we have envisioned on paper is different to how we feel about the space in person.’
— Isabella Tam
Over the past year, the M+ building has been growing more and more. In the video above, a variety of people involved in the construction process—from the curators and Museum Director of M+, to construction workers onsite—give updates on the building’s progress. We also share an inside look at a curators’ site visit, the Conservation & Storage Facility, as well as the process of making the building’s unique fair-faced concrete walls and tiled facade.
M+ More and More: A Building Video Update （2018）
“It’s always a very rewarding moment—because you have renderings, you have models, you have plans, you have drawings, but there’s nothing like the real thing, you know?”
The M+ building has been growing more visible over the past few months. In the video above, a variety of people involved in the construction process—from the Executive Director of M+ and the architects of Herzog & de Meuron to construction workers onsite—give their thoughts on the building’s design. We also reveal the inside of the building for the first time, and share the process of making it happen, including a unique tile facade production process spanning Italy, China, and Hong Kong.