Conceived by Studio Adjective, Hong Kong dining concept KIN Food Halls emphasises sustainability and craft in both its design and its food.

Food courts are not where one usually looks for innovation in dining and design, their main function being to feed masses of people quickly and affordably. But the recently launched KIN Food Halls, housed in a towering office complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Koo district, reinvents what a food court looks like and how it operates

The brief to Wilson Lee and Emily Ho, co-founders of local interior design practice Studio Adjective, was conceptual: to create an eco-friendly, tech-driven space based on a food-ordering app designed to promote sustainable eating. KIN’s co-founder and CEO, Matthew Reid, describes it as the Spotify of dining, a food playlist offering something for every mood and taste.

Physically, the result is a futuristic, geometric and versatile 1,700-square-metre social venue with a strong Japanese aesthetic, where more than 25 per cent of the materials used are recycled or upcycled. At the top is a bank of takeaway counters simply marked ‘To Go’, making for speedy pickups, while dine-in customers can choose to sit at communal or individual tables, counters, private rooms or high tables based on Japan’s standing bars. Studio Adjective want to take care of everyone, whether alone or with friends. Wilson Lee points out that the venue can be adjusted according to the time of day and activities.

Meals are prepared in a hidden central kitchen, removing the need for individual, branded outlets. Patrons pick up their orders from one of four counters, each with a glass-walled display kitchen. The mostly Asian menu includes recipes licensed from over 40 chefs and restaurants, including classic char siu rice by popular local eatery Lung Kee and salads developed by Richard Ekkebus of two-Michelin-starred Amber.