Innovation Building and the Acacia Tree Grove

Construction on the new Martin Ka Shing Lee Innovation Building will begin soon, and when finished, will showcase HKUST’s commitment to sustainability while providing best-in-class facilities.  

While excited about the great new space for research and collaboration (plus more room to expand from our already crowded main buildings), we are also sad to note that this progress will mean the sacrifice of one of our treasured campus features.

The new building will sit where we now have a fully mature grove of Acacia trees on the gentle slope across from the Shaw Auditorium. These trees are not native to Hong Kong (the species is actually from Australia), but the year-round greenery and wide, inviting leaf canopy has created a beautiful natural oasis that creates a calming and connected feel while walking to and from the LSK campus. 

Fortunately, mature Acacia trees are the source of some of the most exquisite and valuable hardwood lumber in the world. The project will take care to remove these trees in ways that preserve the value of the wood so they can be dried, milled into planks, and brought back to campus in the form of new tabletops, furniture, panelling, and other value-added resources. Further, utilizing the wood from the trees means we are trapping the CO2, effectively removing it from the atmosphere and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 75 tons. Even the small branches and sawdust from the trees can be used for compost on campus so that we retain the full cycle of value from these resources.  

The HKUST campus is often mentioned as one of the most beautiful campuses in Hong Kong, and certainly the Acacia tree grove has contributed to our overall campus attractiveness.  We are obliged to honour this heritage by utilizing their full value and giving them a new life on our campus in the future.