Campus Landmark Buildings — Yeung Kin Man Academic Building, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, and Lau Ming Wai Academic Building

City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) Comprehensive Information Database · 05 Campus Module

One university, three buildings, each speaking its own architectural language: one wins by sheer size, requiring colour-coded zones so you don't get lost; one is famous for its sharp angles, a shard of crystal left in Hong Kong by the international master architect Daniel Libeskind; and a third claims the crown of height, suspending an art gallery halfway up the 18th floor. CityU's main campus relies on these three buildings of starkly different character to define its landmark map. This article tours, one by one, the Yeung Kin Man Academic Building (formerly Academic 1), the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, and the Lau Ming Wai Academic Building (formerly Academic 3), examining their scale, design, naming, and place within the campus layout. For a complete building directory, see Building Directory; for generational architectural evolution and the green campus overview, see Architectural Style, Green Campus and Net-Zero Carbon Infrastructure.

Conventions: All factual statements are supported by end-of-article sources. Construction years, areas, and designers are based on current official and authoritative entries; where figures diverge slightly (e.g., the floor area of the Creative Media Centre, where sources disagree), discrepancies are noted side-by-side, and this database suspends judgement.

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# I. Yeung Kin Man Academic Building (P Block / Academic 1): CityU's Core Teaching Building and Library Hub

In a sentence: The Yeung Kin Man Academic Building is the largest core teaching building at the City University of Hong Kong, completed in phases between 1989 and 1994, with a floor area of approximately 63,000 m²^※. It is divided into five colour zones (Purple, Green, Blue, Yellow, Red) and was named in 2017 after Dr. Yeung Kin-man, founder of Biel Crystal (Bern Optics), who made generous donations totalling over HK$200 million^※. The University's main library, the Run Run Shaw Library, is also housed within.

# How did this building come about? When was it built, and what is its scale?

The Yeung Kin Man Academic Building began as the earliest comprehensive teaching block developed for the main campus, originally known as Academic 1 (AC1). After the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong was founded in 1984, the institution began constructing its permanent campus in the Tat Chee Avenue area of Kowloon Tong, and Academic 1 was the largest core building in this initial phase. The building was completed in stages between 1989 and 1994^※, a period coinciding with the institution's move to its current Kowloon Tong site, and it stands as the hallmark of CityU's "first-generation" main campus complex.

In terms of scale, the Yeung Kin Man Academic Building has the largest single footprint on CityU's main campus. Its floor area is approximately 63,000 m² (around 680,000 sq ft)^※, containing 116 laboratories, 18 lecture theatres, general classrooms, and dining facilities^※. This sheer bulk means it functions not merely as one building within the campus but almost as a self-contained city-within-a-city, covering the vast majority of daily teaching and research needs for CityU's science and engineering departments, while also housing numerous administrative units and student services.

# What does "P Block" mean? How does the five-colour zoning work?

Because of its enormous scale, the Yeung Kin Man Academic Building is organised and navigated using a five-colour zone system. According to CityU's official wayfinding system, the building is divided into Purple, Green, Blue, Yellow, and Red zones^※, with room numbers in each zone beginning with the corresponding colour's initial letter: 'P' for the Purple Zone, 'G' for Green, 'B' for Blue, 'Y' for Yellow, and 'R' for Red.

"P Block" refers to the Purple Zone, one of the building's five zones. This term is widely used in everyday life and online; many students will simply say "I'm going to P Block" or "I'm in P6309" to refer to a specific room on a specific floor within the Purple Zone. The five-colour zoning system simultaneously solves the problem of navigating a 63,000 m² building and acts as a unique symbol of CityU campus culture. For new students, one of the first things to learn is precisely this room-numbering convention of "colour + number".

# Why was it named after "Yeung Kin Man"? What kind of company is Biel Crystal?

The naming is backed by a substantial educational donation. Dr. Yeung Kin-man, JP is the founder of Shenzhen-based Biel Crystal (Bern Optics), one of the world's leading manufacturers of smart-device glass covers. On 28 April 2017, CityU officially renamed Academic 1 as the "Yeung Kin Man Academic Building"^※ "in appreciation of the staunch support and generous donations given by Dr Yeung Kin-man, JP, for the University and students".

In terms of the scale of his giving, in September 2015, Dr. Yeung and his wife jointly donated HK$200 million to CityU^※ to support the establishment of the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, student overseas exchange programmes, and the creation of endowed professorships. He subsequently made an additional donation of HK$18 million to the University. Combined, Dr. Yeung Kin-man's donations to CityU alone exceed HK$218 million, placing him among the top benefactors in the institution's history. Beyond CityU, he has also donated to The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Wuhan University of Technology, with his total educational philanthropy reportedly exceeding HK$400 million.

At the time of the naming ceremony, Dr. Yeung served as an Honorary Doctor of CityU, Co-Chairman of the CityU Foundation, and Chairman of the Organising Committee for the 2016 CityU Foundation Annual Dinner^※, indicating that his ties with the University were already deep well before the formal naming. At the ceremony, Dr. Yeung himself remarked that CityU is a dynamic university with remarkable achievements, deserving of greater community support.

# Run Run Shaw Library: On which floor of which building is CityU's intellectual hub located?

The Run Run Shaw Library is the sole main library of the City University of Hong Kong, situated on the 2nd floor (Red Zone) and 3rd floor of the Yeung Kin Man Academic Building. Across these two floors, the library provides approximately 2,700 seats^※, making it the core venue for CityU students' exam revision, independent study, and scholarly research. The library has its own history: the library of CityU (then City Polytechnic) was established in 1984^※ and moved to the current Kowloon Tong campus in 1989^※. In 1990, following a major donation by Sir Run Run Shaw to the City Polytechnic, the library was officially named after him^※. Detailed information on the library's collections, special collections, and the exhibition trajectory of the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery can be found in Library and the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery (Section 12: Miscellaneous).

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# II. Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre: Libeskind's "Crystal" Landmark

On the periphery of CityU's main Kowloon Tong campus stands a building of sharp angles, faceted planes, appearing as though a crystal has thrust up from the earth—this is the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre (RRS CMC). Designed by internationally renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, it is CityU's most distinctive architectural landmark and the permanent home of the School of Creative Media (SCM).

# Key Facts

# Design: A "Crystal" Emerging from the Ground

Libeskind is famous for works such as the Jewish Museum Berlin and the master plan for the World Trade Center in New York, with a signature language of angular, dynamically canted geometric volumes. His own design statement described this as "an elegant, low-tech design placed at the service of high-tech invention"^※. Key morphological features include:

• Crystalline faceted exterior: A nine-storey crystalline tower, with volumes rising and tapering into sharp angles, its exterior wrapped in faceted glass segments^※.
• Dramatic central staircase: A central staircase spirals upwards, twisting and turning, generating unexpected gathering spaces along the way^※.
• Asymmetrical daylighting: Asymmetrical window openings puncture lecture theatres and laboratories, drawing in natural light^※.
• Flowing collaborative spaces: Interactive zones are arranged around sound stages, studios, and performance areas to encourage spontaneous collaboration.

The entire structure is built of reinforced concrete and houses laboratories, theatres, and classrooms, along with a rooftop garden. Its corridors feature "SCMural", a mural by artist Tjebbe van Tijen (per English Wikipedia). This faceted crystal stands in stark contrast to the rectilinear academic blocks like the Yeung Kin Man Academic Building, marking CityU's shift from a "functional container" towards "architectural expression" (for a general discussion of this generational architectural shift, see Architectural Style, Green Campus and Net-Zero Carbon Infrastructure).

Commentary: Libeskind's angular geometries are not common for functional teaching buildings, which is why this building has long been a subject of architectural and design media, profiled by numerous international outlets (Dezeen, Architizer, Tatler, etc.).

# Floor Area: Discrepancies Among Sources

Regarding the centre's floor area, figures from different sources show considerable variance; this database lists them side-by-side without adjudication:

The two figures above differ substantially (265,000 sq ft is approximately 24,600 m², nearly double the figure cited in Wikipedia). The discrepancy likely arises from differing definitions of "construction floor area / gross floor area / usable floor area". This database suspends judgement and notes both figures side-by-side.

# Function: A "Full-Stack" Hub for Creative Media

The building concentrates the specialised facilities required for creative media teaching and production (Dezeen^※): sound stages, recording studios, screening rooms, exhibition and performance spaces, a multi-purpose theatre, as well as interactive spaces designed to foster impromptu exchange and spontaneous collaboration. Academic units housed here include: the School of Creative Media, the Centre for Applied Computing and Interactive Media, and some functions from the departments of Computer Science, Media and Communication, and English (Wikipedia overview^※). This mixture of "Art + Computing + Communication" is the spatial manifestation of CityU's interdisciplinary approach to creative media. The University stated that the centre makes CityU the first institution in Asia to offer education and training of the highest standard in the creative media field^※.

# Honours and Naming

According to publicly available information, the building has received multiple design accolades, including the Hong Kong's Best Public Service Architecture (Five Stars) award at the 2013 Asia Property Awards^※ and a Merit Award at the Hong Kong Institute of Architects (HKIA) Annual Awards 2011^※; it has also been reported that the building achieved BEAM Platinum certification in 2012. The centre is named after Sir Run Run Shaw, with funding coming from a HK$100 million^※ donation by the Shaw Foundation. Sir Run Run Shaw was a pioneering Hong Kong film and television magnate and philanthropist, well known for the "Run Run Shaw Buildings" and "Shaw Prizes" found across universities and research institutions in Greater China. CityU's naming of the Creative Media Centre after him both acknowledges his donation and implicitly aligns with the building's functional focus on film, television, and media creation.

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# III. Lau Ming Wai Academic Building (AC3): CityU's Vertical Campus and Cultural Pinnacle

Unlike universities with vast, open green spaces, CityU's main campus is situated in the high-density urban district of Kowloon Tong, resulting in a compact layout (main campus of approximately 15.6 hectares, see 00-overview/general-facts.md) tightly linked with the Festival Walk shopping mall (see 15-campus-lore/festival-walk-symbiosis.md). Under these conditions, CityU can only develop upwards, stacking teaching, research, exhibition, and administrative functions within high-rise blocks to create a "vertical campus". The Lau Ming Wai Academic Building (formerly Academic 3 / AC3) is the product of this logic.

Formerly known as Academic 3, designed by Ronald Lu & Partners, it consists of a 20-storey tower and a 5-storey low block, yielding a total usable floor area of approximately 20,500 m² (approximately 221,000 sq ft), making it the tallest building at CityU^※. It houses a 600-seat auditorium, IT laboratories, a canteen, and podium gardens located on the 6th to 8th floors^※. It integrates academic and cultural functions vertically, reserving the top floor for an exhibition gallery while lower floors serve teaching and research. This arrangement—where one can attend lectures, conduct research, and visit an exhibition within a single building—is a classic solution for a high-density urban university.

# The Cultural Pinnacle on the Top Floor: Indra and Harry Banga Gallery (18th Floor)

The most iconic feature of the Lau Ming Wai Academic Building is the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery on its 18th floor (gallery official website^※). Placing a museum-grade art gallery on the top floor of an academic block is an inspired arrangement: visitors must ascend to a high floor to view the exhibitions, a spatial "ascent" that resonates with the "immersion" of the cultural experience. Upper floors often have better natural light and views conducive to creating an exhibition atmosphere. Locating the public gallery on the top floor also facilitates relative separation from the lower teaching and research zones, making public circulation management easier. The gallery was officially named on 5 November 2019^※ and hosts exhibitions spanning art, innovation, technology, and interdisciplinary themes (from the Silk Road to Sino-African art). Approaching its 10th anniversary in early 2026, it makes the Lau Ming Wai Academic Building not just a teaching block, but also CityU's "cultural window" open to the public. (For the gallery's full naming history and past exhibitions, see Library and the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery).

# Naming: Lau Ming Wai

The academic building is named after Mr. Lau Ming-wai, another case in CityU's tradition of "naming donations" (for more on the naming mechanism, see 08-finances/benefactors-and-donors.md). The CityU campus features many buildings named after donors—from the Yeung Kin Man Academic Building, and the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre and Library, to the Lau Ming Wai Academic Building—collectively forming a "campus map written in the names of benefactors".

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# IV. Three Buildings Compared: Three Answers on Scale, Form, and Function

Three buildings, three distinct personalities: The Yeung Kin Man Academic Building wins on sheer volume, acting as the foundational chassis of campus operations. The Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre wins on external form, serving as a bold artistic landmark. The Lau Ming Wai Academic Building excels through vertical integration of functions plus its top-floor cultural space, a pragmatic study in vertical campus design. All three gained their names through significant donor funding, collectively constituting the tradition whereby CityU writes its campus map in the names of its benefactors. To read the names of these three buildings is practically to read a "who's who" of CityU donors. (For a general discussion of the naming mechanism, see Building Naming and Donor Families).

It is worth noting that the naming history of CityU's three academic blocks— "numbered first, named later" (Academic 1 > Yeung Kin Man, Academic 2 > Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin, Academic 3 > Lau Ming Wai)—means that in spoken usage, staff and students still frequently call them "AC1 / AC2 / AC3", while official documents use the formal benefactor names. This "dual-track nomenclature" is a distinctive feature of campus discourse at CityU.

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# V. Summary

The "landmark map" of CityU's main campus can be summarised as a "Three + One" framework: three massive academic blocks, originally numbered and later named after donors (Yeung Kin Man, Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin, Lau Ming Wai), underpin the entirety of the University's teaching and research; plus one faceted crystal by Libeskind (Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre), which supports the visual identity of CityU and even of Kowloon Tong. The Yeung Kin Man Academic Building, with its vast scale and five-colour zoning, carries the weight of daily teaching and research and houses the Run Run Shaw Library. The Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre wins through its sculptural form, serving as the University's architectural calling card to the outside world. The Lau Ming Wai Academic Building, the tallest on campus and capped by its gallery, demonstrates the vertical solutions of a high-density urban university. The rest—the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery and other named buildings—flesh out the skeleton of this "Three + One", filling in the substance of a vertical, densely woven metropolitan institution.

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