The Mills from Nan Fung Group is the first historical building in Hong Kong to achieve BEAM Plus Platinum Rating (Comprehensive Scheme)

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 7 December
2021 – Hong Kong’s
private conglomerate, Nan Fung Group, is honoured to announce that the Group’s
landmark revitalisation project The Mills has been awarded a Platinum
Rating in the Final Assessment of the BEAM Plus Existing Building category
(Comprehensive Scheme). This makes The Mills the city’s first historical
and retrofitted building recognized with the award’s highest rating.

The
Mills, located in Hong
Kong’s industrial district of Tsuen Wan, was once three separate buildings operating
as textile mills, together supplying much of the region’s denim during the city’s
industrial and textile heyday in the 1950s. The success of these mills was the
cornerstone of Nan Fung Group’s strength that eventually enabled the Group to
become one of Hong Kong’s largest private conglomerates. In 2018, to honour the
textile legacy of the Group and give back to the community, the three buildings
were transformed into a single coherent complex, collectively named The
Mills, and became a popular local cultural destination.

After years
of groundwork integrating sustainable, innovative designs and solutions into this
massive revitalisation, The Mills has been recognised for its outstanding
performance in seven key areas: management, site aspects, materials and waste aspects,
water use, energy use, indoor environmental quality, innovations and additions.
BEAM Plus is Hong Kong’s leading initiative for independent assessments of buildings
sustainability performance, recognised and certified by the Hong Kong Green
Building Council.

Vanessa
Cheung, Founder of The Mills and Group Managing Director of Nan Fung
Group, said, “We are thrilled and delighted that The Mills has received
such prestigious recognition. This Platinum Rating is an affirmation of the Group’s
commitment to weaving sustainability into business. More importantly, the awarded
project redefines and recontextualises sustainability for a revitalised space.”

In 2019, The
Mills was awarded the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage
Conservation under New Designs in the Heritage Contexts category. Other
certifications include winning the Grand Award under the Existing Building
(Completed Projects – Commercial Building) category at The Green Building Award
2019 and achieving LEED Gold rating in 2018.

Sustainability
at The Mills: from upcycled materials to the community

The design
of The Mills strives to preserve the original architecture and its half-century
history while enhancing existing facilities into a user-friendly complex that meets
the highest sustainability standards. Seamlessly woven into the neighbourhood, a
series of accessible new entrances, lanes, rooftops, and glass bridges are carefully
thought-out additions, such that the community can enjoy open spaces at The
Mills to their fullest. Efficient lighting automation, solar hot water systems,
and a mobile-based BMS system are also utilised at The Mills to maximize
energy savings.

The
Mills‘ commitment
in sustainability is evident in all that it does – from its extensive range of community
programmes, down to oft-overlooked details in daily operations – sustainability
is in its DNA. For instance, The Mills launched a paper recycling
initiative in partnership with Mil Mill, Hong Kong’s first carton
recycling mill, to advocate for a self-sustaining circular economy; a blend of
legacy and innovation – a demonstration of textile recycling and upcycling using
the iconic Garment-to-Garment Recycling System (G2G); The Mills also houses
eco-conscious tenants, such as Green Ladies & Green Little, who sells
pre-loved clothing to raise awareness towards sustainable living habits. Last
but not least, extensive textile-related exhibitions, tours, and workshops are
regularly curated on-site to educate students and the community on fusing
sustainability into daily routines.

The
innovation arm of The Mills, The Mills Fabrica is a solution platform
dedicated to supporting techstyle and agtech companies and helping society
transition into a more sustainable future.

Nan Fung
Group: An ambitious vision for sustainability

The Group
believes that sustainable development requires a visionary plan and a nuanced,
thorough understanding of the community. The Group’s flagship commercial-retail
complex, AIRSIDE, in the Kai Tak area encapsulates and channels this
belief. AIRSIDE is the first building in Hong Kong to achieve five of
the highest green-building certifications. These include platinum
pre-certification of US LEED®, provisional platinum certification of Hong Kong BEAM
Plus New Building, platinum pre-certification of WELL Building Standard™, final
platinum certification of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood, and final certification of
the China Green Building Label 3-Star. AIRSIDE is set to open in Q4 2022
and will surely bring an innovative, new model of sustainability that
encompasses a holistic balance of community interaction with city development.