Since early 2020, Hong Kong has been affected by the COVID-19 epidemic and the Government needed urgently to speed up the construction of quarantine facilities to accommodate the close contacts of confirmed persons so as to sever transmission chains in the community. With the coordination of the Health Bureau (formerly the Food and Health Bureau), more than 18 government bureaux and departments kickstarted the construction of temporary quarantine camps, holding inter-bureaux-and-departmental meetings, discussing and finalising the camp site locations, while carrying out planning, procurement and design works at the same time. Working in full collaboration for a shared goal, the team constructed more than 4,000 quarantine units in ten months, greatly relieving the pressure on the demand for quarantine camps (Qcamp) in the early stage of the epidemic.

Core Design

At the early stage of construction, the project team has to tackle various pressing challenges, which included putting in place the infection control design for the Qcamp to cope with the highly contagious nature of the coronavirus. All bureaux and departments contributed to the project according to their specialties, expertise and responsibilities, integrating multiple approaches and techniques. Innovative technologies were incorporated in the design, construction and quality control system, e.g. Modular Integrated Construction (MiC), Building Information Modeling (BIM), real-time logistics and transportation monitoring, aerial camera on-site monitoring, etc.. Everyone performed his designated role and contributed ideas towards achieving the common goal, making possible the "impossible" .

Rapid Execution

This seemingly impossible task has been accomplished with the unprecedented collaboration and efforts of various bureaux and departments. As a result of round-the-clock endeavours, in just a few days preliminary works such as integrating the requirements of various departments, formulating master plans, arranging resources and funding, addressing the issues of building safety and disease control, procurement, etc. were completed. This fully demonstrated the exemplary teamwork of the government.

Together We Build

The speed with which the project construction has been completed is unmatched, it is also the first MiC project completed in Hong Kong. The achievement laid a solid foundation for our future anti-epidemic projects. The project was well-received by different stakeholders in the construction industry and public utilities. We have worked with a unity of heart to build the Qcamps, which played a significant role in the fight against the epidemic.