Case Study: Statutory, Design and Delivery Reasoning
What the Case Study domain tests
The Case Study domain of HKIA/ARB Professional Assessment Paper 2 tests whether you can act as a project architect on a realistic Hong Kong brief. You are expected to identify statutory approvals, coordinate consultants, test buildability and programme, and explain decisions in professional language. The examiner is not looking for one fixed design; marks come from a defensible process that links brief, site constraints, regulations and risk.
Core rules and concepts
- Start with the site's legal and planning status: OZP zoning, a s.16 planning application under the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap 131), lease conditions, and any modification or waiver from the Lands Department. A scheme can be physically possible but still unlawful without these.
- Map the Buildings Ordinance (Cap 123) pathway: Authorized Person (AP), Registered Structural Engineer (RSE) and Registered Contractor (RC); plan submission and approval; consent to commence; supervision; and occupation permit. Identify when separate submissions are needed for drainage, site formation or demolition.
- Consider fire safety, means of escape, access for firefighting and emergency vehicular access early with Buildings Department and Fire Services Department requirements, not after layout freeze.
- Show consultant coordination: geotechnical, traffic, E&M, quantity surveying, landscaping and utility interfaces.
- Address programme logic, procurement route, cost risk and construction sequencing.
Worked example
A client asks you to convert a 1970s industrial building into a hotel. Reasoning: check OZP zoning and whether hotel use is permitted or needs a s.16 application; check the lease for industrial use and the need for lease modification; assess whether the existing structure can carry new loads and whether alteration and addition works trigger Buildings Ordinance submissions; check the fire strategy for sleeping risk, escape distances and firefighting access; confirm utility capacity and E&M upgrades; prepare a risk register and programme showing planning and lease approvals as long-lead items. Conclude with a recommendation to complete feasibility studies before design freeze.
Traps that cost marks
Treating the case as a design-only exercise; missing lease or planning approval; assuming Buildings Department approval covers every authority; ignoring existing building constraints; proposing construction before consent; failing to state assumptions; and not distinguishing client instructions from statutory duties.