Populous: Winner of World Design Awards 2025. Kai Tak Sports Park, opened in March 2025, is a 28-hectare urban oasis set against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s Lion Rock. As the centrepiece of the Kai Tak New Development Area—once home to the city’s historic airport—the project represents the regeneration of a vital urban site into a vibrant sports and entertainment precinct. Conceived as Hong Kong’s “stadium in a park,” it brings together elite sports, recreation, retail, and community life within a single, interconnected environment.

Purpose-built to host international and local events as well as community activities, the Sports Park embodies the government’s vision to promote sports in the community, support professional development, and strengthen Hong Kong’s reputation as a global hub for major events. It offers not only world-class sports infrastructure but also a welcoming civic destination that enhances everyday urban life.

Purpose & Vision

The vision for Kai Tak Sports Park was to create a landmark development that reconnects people with the harbourfront while redefining how the city experiences sport and entertainment. The design supports three complementary goals—encouraging everyday physical activity, enabling elite competition, and activating the waterfront with new cultural and leisure experiences.

Drawing upon Populous’ experience in designing global venues, the masterplan integrates architecture, landscape, interior, and wayfinding into a unified composition. The park’s spaces are curated for inclusivity and flexibility—designed to be alive with community use even outside event days. By merging public open space with high-performance venues, the Sports Park becomes both a place of gathering and a catalyst for urban regeneration.

Design Approach & Key Features

At the heart of the development is Kai Tak Sports Avenue, a linear pedestrian spine that links all major venues and connects seamlessly to neighbouring districts. This urban promenade structures the entire site, providing clarity, accessibility, and a sense of arrival at both city and human scales.

The focal point is the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium, affectionately known as the “Pearl of the Orient.” Its shimmering aluminium façade, formed from 27,000 uniquely shaped panels, was optimised through parametric design to achieve maximum efficiency and a crystalline visual quality. The stadium features a soundproof retractable roof and flexible pitch system, enabling transitions between football, rugby, and large-scale concerts regardless of weather.

Alongside the Stadium, the 10,000-seat Kai Tak Arena offers a multi-purpose indoor environment with retractable seating for both professional competitions and community sports. The 5,000-seat Youth Sports Ground provides a venue for school athletics, training, and local leagues—open to the public for jogging and recreation when not in use.

Together, these venues are interwoven with a network of landscaped plazas, open lawns, outdoor courts, play zones, fitness trails, and retail pavilions. Every edge of the precinct is designed to be active, porous, and inviting, blurring boundaries between venue, park, and city.

Integration & Community Impact

Beyond its architectural scale, the project’s innovation lies in its integration. Through a collaborative process supported by openBIM technology, design teams across Hong Kong, Asia, and Australia worked as one to deliver the city’s largest-ever sports and community development. The result is a precinct that not only performs for world-class events but also enriches daily life.

The Sports Park enhances public access to the harbour, introduces shaded pedestrian routes, and promotes sustainable mobility. Its design maximises natural ventilation, daylight, and the use of green open space to improve the urban microclimate. The combination of landscape, technology, and architectural performance establishes a civic realm where sport, wellness, and culture intersect.

Conclusion

Kai Tak Sports Park is more than a venue—it is a new civic landscape that celebrates Hong Kong’s energy and diversity. By integrating elite sport with community life and sustainability, it redefines the modern sports precinct as a place of connection, culture, and celebration. Standing as a new landmark on the city’s skyline, the project reflects Populous’ belief in the power of design to bring people together through shared human experiences.

Participants
Contracted Party (Design, Build and Operate): Kai Tak Sports Park Limited
Design and Build Contractor: Hip Hing Engineering Co. Ltd.
Venue Operator: Legends Global
Design Architect/Lead Designer: Populous Limited
Executive Architect: Simon Kwan & Associates Ltd.
Landscape Architect: ADI Limited
Civil, Structural & Geotechnical Engineer: Arup
Mechanical & Electrical Engineer: Arup
Sustainability Consultant: Arup Traffic, Fire engineering, Façades, Acoustics, Audio-Visual, Sports lighting, Advanced Digital Engineering, Security and Environmental Consultant: Arup

Project Details:-
Firm
Populous

Architect
Richard Breslin

Project Name
Kai Tak Sports Park

Project Category
Sports Design (Built)

Total Capacity
50,000 Kai Tak Stadium | 10,000 Kai Tak Arena | 5,000 Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground

Team
Richard Breslin

Project Location
Hong Kong SAR, China

Client
Hong Kong Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau

Country
Australia

Photography ©Credit
©Populous

Populous is a global design firm shaping the spaces where people gather – from the London Olympic Stadium and the Sphere in Las Vegas to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. With headquarters in Kansas City and regional headquarters in London and Brisbane, we bring together expertise in architecture, interior and urban design, and event planning. Named by Fast Company as the world’s most innovative architecture firm, Populous creates sustainable, immersive environments that connect communities.

Having been involved in 15 Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, our work has transformed neighbourhoods, revitalized cities, built relationships and connected people to the awe-inspiring.