Hong Kong Central European Heritage Buildings Kurt Chan
Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 Sun Yat Sen Museum ....................................................................................... 3 King’s College ................................................................................................... 5 HKU Main Building ........................................................................................ 7 Fung Ping Shan Building ................................................................................ 9 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 11
Introduction Hong Kong’s architecture has gone through multiple fazes of changes, that has allowed a huge variety of different styled buildings. The architecture is a culmination of traditional Chinese architecture, sky scrapers and colonial western buildings. The reason for these different types of architecture is because of the rich changes in culture that Hong Kong has experienced in its history. Prior to British colonization of Hong Kong in 1841, Chinese influenced architecture was prominent. The city was mostly inhabited by fishers and farmers, so buildings were very low rise and simple. There are numerous Tin Hau temples where they worshiped their Goddesses. There were some Tong Lau, which are three to four storey buildings, tightly packed in city blocks in traditional Chinese style. Hong Kong was under British Rule after the first Opium War ended in August 1842 and the signing of the treaty of Nanking. 156 years of British colonization has greatly impacted the cultural ideas regarding fashion, architecture and customs which remain to this day. The arrival of the British marked the beginning of Hong Kong’s rapid urban growth and economic growth. In this period the British used HK as the main area for trade between the european and Chinese causing the economic status to flourish during the 19th and 20th century. More specifically Central was leased to foreign trading companies, which constructed many beautiful western-style buildings with detailed ornamentations. This immense growth in buildings reinforced the status of Hong Kong as a centre of international trade. After Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule when Britain’s 99 year lease expired in 1997, its economic status remained and began a new era of modernism. Due to the lack of space and dense population, contemporary architecture is forced to grow upwards and create amazing skyscrapers. This has allowed Hong Kong’s Skyline and more specifically the central skyline to be landmark on its own. Hong Kong has the highest the number of skyscrapers of over 150m in the world.
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However despite having such a magnificent view, there are consequences with this rapid modernization. Unfortunately, over the past decades most of these colonial and historical buildings in Central have been demolished, to be redeveloped for corporate offices and shopping malls. Central has become the centre of modern architecture, older buildings are destroyed to make space for the new. But within these modern buildings still reside fragments of British rule and colonial architecture.
We often perceive Hong Kong as a highly modernized city and is engulfed in the amazing contemporary architecture. This perception has often caused us to forget about the past and the amazing british influenced architecture that once existed. This book gives a chance to once again experience and understand the amazing architectural engineering/design of these wonderful colonial buildings. Through the course of this book I will introduce four main european heritage buildings within central, more specifically giving a brief history of the buildings, the different architectural elements and its cultural significance. The four buildings this book will explore are the Sun Yat Sen Museum, King’s College, HKU Main Building and Fung Ping Shan Building.
HKU Main Building
Sun Yat Sen Museum
Fung Ping Shan Building
King’s College
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Sun Yat Sen Museum The Sun Yat Sen Museum was built in 1914 at 7 Lower Castle Road in Mid-Levels, Kom Tong Hall. It was originally the residence of the local businessman Ho Kom-tong. The building has a rich history, as it was one of the earliest residential buildings built with reinforced concrete structure and fitted with concealed electrical wiring in Hong Kong. It’s known for it’s quality of preservation for a building dating back to early 20th century. It’s declared as a monument in Hong Kong since 2010. The museum was opened in 2006, which is a 2,560 square meters four storey building. The museum has two permanent exhibitions showing many special artifacts and also has a variety of audiovisual programs giving a detailed overview regarding the career and life of Dr. Sun. The museum also shows Hong Kong’s important role regarding the reform movements and revolutionary activities in the 19th and 20th century. The Museum is dedicated to Dr Sun Yat-sen, which was world known revolutionary who devoted his life to overtaking the Qing Dynasty and building the Republic of China. His actions and achievements are not only admired locally but also globally. Dr. Sun had a strong relationship with Hong Kong, as he received his secondary university education and it was also the origin of growth for his revolutionary plans and thoughts. The museum highlights Dr.Sun’s amazing life achievements and shows the connection/relationship between Hong Kong. The museum provides local and global tourists a clear understanding regarding the life and actions of Dr. Sun.
Architectual Elements
The Museum is one of the few surviving 20th century european styled buildings. The building is a Edwardian Classical building, meaning it has many European influenced architectural elements. The facade of the top two floors is supported by Greekstyle granite columns surrounding curved balconies and include many uses of red bricks adds to this style of architecture. Inside the building are two flights of stairs, one in the front originally used for Ho’s family and one at the back used for maids. The building includes veranda wall tiles, stained-glass windows and original preserved railings in outstanding condition. 3
The building was also later used for a church and was owned by the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This meant that religious structures was also existent in the building, the baptismal font was retained with surrounding timber decking in the first exhibition area to show the rich history behind the building. The front and northwest section was restored to its original condition and all balconies have bamboo blinds similar to the originals to provide shade. Original floor and wall tiles are shown and repaired. Doors and gates were replaced to be similar to the originals to retain the style of architecture. Preservation and restoration was brought upon timber louvre shutters, wainscoting panels. Based on old photographs and blue prints, the dining room and columns were reinstated to look like the original. The lighting and ceiling fans are similar to the time period of the building and also photos showing how the home was used by the Ho family in the past. The front and rear stairs were maintained using original repaired timber railings. Original ceilings and walls were also reinstated with original ceiling, floor and wall patterns. The Venetian windows, which are windows with an arch and two other smaller side windows were repaired to their original condition.
Blacony in the Museum
Reinstated Ceiling, Floor & Wall Pattern
Preserved Front Stairs
Significance
In 2002 the Kom Tong Hall hit the headlines, when its owners by the church submitted an application to demolish the old home. This news sparked public uproar and led to the Antiquities Monuments Office to take action. The demolition was put at a stop, where the government took action to take ownership of the building and preserve it into a museum. In 2004 the church made an agreement to surrender the property for $53 million. The reason the public was so passionate in saving building was because of it’s architectural, cultural and historical significance. The Kom Tong Hall is a strong example in showing the Composite Classical style of the Edwardian period, seen through its red brickwork with stucco or stone architectural features. The building was also known to be Hong Kong’s first property built with in-wall electrical wiring and steel frame. All these important aspects that reside within the building are extremely hard to locate in the modernized society of Hong Kong. 4
King’s College King’s College was built in 1926 at 63A Bonham Road and is one of the six surviving pre-war government school buildings. The school was originally called Saiyingpun School, which was established by the Government in 1879. But the increasing number of students studying in the school, caused the school to move to a larger location at Pokfulam Road in 1891. The management team decided to rename the school as King’s College when they moved to the new campus in Bonham Road. Before the school was officially opened, from February to December 1927 the building was requisitioned by the Military Authorities as the quarters and hospital for the British Shanghai Defence Force. The school finally opened on March 5, 1928 by the Governor Sir Cecil Clementi. During the outbreak of the Pacific War, King’s College was changed into a first aid station with St. John Ambulance equipment. The school was used as a military mule and horse stable for the Japanese Army during the Japanese Occupation from 1941 to 1945. The school was finally returned to it’s original purpose in the end of the Japanese Occupation, however the building was severely damaged during the Occupation. All timber banisters, floorboards and window frames were looted as firewood. Even the roof was completely destroyed. On 1950 the school was opened once again after the many refurbishments. In 1960 the school had many extensions to improve the different facility’s available, increasing the total classrooms to 26, 10 special rooms and 7 laboratories. This also marked the beginning of the school becoming a full time secondary school.
Architectual Elements King’s College is highly praised for its amazing preservation of historical european architecture. The many architectural features applied within the building labeled the red-brick school building in Neo-classical style. The original building is built using a quadrangle architectural formation, meaning a rectangle courtyard and having sides that covered entirely or mainly by parts of a building. More specifically with King’s College it’s built around three sides of a square containing a North, South and East Wing with a tower above a colonnaded curved entrance area facing Bonham Road. This formation creates a collegiate style, which are surrounding a school playground. 5
School Playground (Quadrangle Structure)
There is a small school garden which is located lower ground facing the Bonham Road which includes a fountain and arched colonnaded curvilinear side wall which further emphasizes the buildings architectural elements. Colonnades is a classical architectural attribute that is known to be a row of evenly spaced columns supporting a roof or floor above. Red-brick Roman arched colonnades are used on the the corridor in the ground floor and in the South Wing. These multiple columns in Loggia School Garden the first and second floor create a loggia which is known as gallery with one or more open sides. There are also Roman arched colonnades applied in the front elevations of the North and East sections. There are Clerestory windows used in the the upper section of the North wing near the bricked up arches. Clerestory windows are are any high windows above eye level. All around the building have doorways with flattened arches and roman arches with fanlight glazing. A fanlight glaze is a semicircular window, which is usually located above a door or another window. To emphasize and strengthen the structural presence of the building, the architect used quoins on angles of red-brick walls. Quoins is stonework or masonry blocks placed on the corners of buildings.
Fanlight Glazing Door
The most prominent architectural feature or section of the building is it’s circular entrance at the junction of Bonham Road and Western Street. There are numerous granite columns that support the porch and Italian Renaissance style side openings. For each column there are Ionic orders capitals with volute brackets. Ionic order capital is the top section of the column that is wider to create stability and strength. The volute brackets are spiral ornamentations that are apart of the Ionic order capital.
Ionic Oder Capital
Significance
The reason this building is so significant and important is because it’s one of the last remaining six pre-war Government school buildings that still exists. Based on the Hong Kong Administrative Report of 1926, there use to be 19 Government schools in Hong Kong. Not only that but King’s college is currently the oldest surviving pre-war Government school that still serves it’s original purpose.
The building is also highly known for its Neo classical architectural style which is extremely rare among Hong Kong. The building includes many traditional and cultural Neo classical elements like the arched colonnades, quoins, Roman colonnades, etc that bring life to the historical building. The Building has strong cultural and historical meaning that is shown through its amazing architectural attributes. The building is a strong symbol and reminder for remembering Hong Kong’s past and impact of european culture. 6
HKU Main Building The Hong Kong University (HKU) Main Building was built in 1912 and was supported by two men Frederick Lugard the Governor and a Parsee merchant named Hormusjee Navrojee Mody. The building was HKU’s first building and serves as the foundation for the growth of the University over the years. The construction began on March 16, 1910 and it was officially opened on March 11, 1912. After many considerations of possible locations for HKU, they finally got approval at a site at the junction of Bonham and Pokfulam Roads. The Main Building being the first building of the university housed everything, this included: a library, clinic, barbershop, offices and many lecture rooms. The lack of hostels caused the top floor to become accommodations for students. During the pacific war in December 1941, the building was converted momentarily as a relief hospital. The Main Building was also badly looted during the war, the entire roof of the Great Hall was removed and the timber was taken for fuel. The University’s Vice Chancellor Lindsay Ride, commented on how the Building was a “roofless skeletons, stripped of equipment, furnishings and fittings, floors and stairs”. The Main Building was extended in 1950 with two new additional courtyards and expanded floor at the rear. The Great Hall was renamed to Loke Yew Hall in 1956 to commemorate Dr Loke Yew, a early supporter of HKU in 1912. He saved the University from near ruin during a financial crisis in 1915 with a loan of $500,000. The Great Hall is one of the best known areas of the Main Building. It had many uses for the local community before, as a meeting place, venue for concerts and performances. In 1984, the Main Building was declared a monument by the Hong Kong Government. Today, visitors to the Main Building can see the clock tower, four courtyards, and palm trees. There is also a bronze bust of Sir Hormusjee N. Mody on the main staircase and another of Dr Loke Yew on the second floor. The building was originally created as classrooms and laboratories for the Faculty of Medicine and Engineering. Currently the Building is used for the Art Faculty as its office and the different departments within the faculty. 7
Roofless Skeleton (Pacific War)
Architectual Elements The HKU main building is built in a post-renaissance style, through the prominent use of red brick and granite construction. The building is specifically built using a Edwardian Baroque-style, which was designed by Alfred Bryer of Leigh & Orange. The original structure took 2 years to complete from 1910 - 1912. Its basic structure consists of symmetrical design with a central plaza in the middle and red brick walls with tower and balconies in each side. The Building is four storeys high and has a floor area of 14,000 square meters and is mostly constructed using red bricks and white stone. The preservation of these colonial style architectural features have been kept in the Building, seen through the use of granite colonnades supporting a a tall clock tower and four turrets. Inside the building consists of four internal courtyards, which use a quadrangle formation. Two of these courtyards consist of palm trees over nine meters tall, that’ve been a agricultural feature in the building for a long time. The architects of the Main building specifically constructed the building to be adaptable and responsive to the climate. The colonnade balconies can be used as barriers to direct sunlight and help diffuse daylight into the interior. The four courtyards within the building provide ventilation and sunlight into the building, in addition a space for relaxation for students. All these choices despite being less effective than machined systems, still provide reasonable amounts of energy conservation and thermal performance. These specific architectural design greatly help owners conserve costs to run the building.
Courtyard in Main Building
Balcony Area
Significance
The building holds immense cultural significance due to its rich history, as it’s the oldest structure in the HKU Campus. The Buildings has experienced many crucial events in Hong Kong history, which include the the British colonization and Japanese Occupation. These events has caused the building to adapt and change immensely through the course of history. The impact of these historical events can still be seen in the architectural elements residing within the Main Building. The Building has immense architectural value and the cultural and personal expression of these european architects can be seen in the post-renaissance style ornamentations and features used to design the building. The historical and cultural significance of this building was even noted by the Hong Kong government and was declared a monument in 1984. 8
Fung Ping Shan Building The Fung Ping Shan Building was built in December 14, 1932. The building was named after its Donor Mr.Fung Ping Shan, who was an successful Chinese entrepreneur in Hong Kong. The building was originally used as a library for the University’s Chinese book collection, which was supported by many book donations by Mr. Shan. In 1941 the library was temporarily used as a dormitory for the First-aid Station of Air Defence at Mid-levels. HKU later constructed a new main library, causing the Chinese book collection in Fung Ping Shan building to be transferred to the University’s new main library in 1962. This caused Fung Ping Shan building to be converted into a museum for Chinese art and archaeology. The Building was officially opened to the public on January 31, 1964 and renamed to the Fung Ping Shan Museum. Despite being called a museum the building was also partly used as the Hong Kong University Press and offices of the University’s Fine Arts Department. The museum was integrated with the lowest three floors of the new T.T. Tsui Building in 1996, to form what’s known presently as the University Museum and Art Gallery. The museum mostly consists of traditional Chinese art, more specifically Chinese antiquities, notably bronzes, ceramics and paintings. Throughout the years of opening, the Museum has received numerous donations which has allowed the collection to have grown over 1,800 objects. The commemorate the roots of this building, a wooden plank with engraved markings written in Chinese saying ““Fung Ping Shan Museum” is in the entrance of the museum.
Entrance with Wooden Engraving
Architectual Elements
The three storey high Fung Ping Shan building is constructed using a Neo classical style, shown through its use of a Neo-Georgian façade with a strict use of symmetry and many classical ornamentations. The building is structured to have a chevron shape and a bow shaped south facing elevation, which are all architectural features taken from Arts and Crafts and Regency architecture. These architectural elements are specifically chosen to maximize natural lighting, as the building is shaped to capture sunlight more effectively. 9
The façades are mainly built using red brickwork and also ashlar, which are finely cut stones in the shape of squares pieced together. The building uses many Neo classical features such as the giant pilasters, architrave windows, pediments and a moulded cornice. A architrave window is a type of window framing where the horizontal casing at top extends over the the top of the vertical side casings. Pediments is a triangular shape, placed above the horizontal structure which can be seen in the building. A cornice is a ornamental moulding placed right bellow the ceiling on the wall of a building. The ground floor is also decorated using ashlar, which at the same time creates a podium. The inside also uses these classical elements, seen through the staircases and gallery supported through the use of octagonal columns.
Example of Ashlar
Greek Triangular Pendiment
Fung Ping Shan Building Triangular Pendiment
Significance The Fung Ping Shan Building is rare piece of colonial classical architecture that reveals its historical and cultural significance. Similar to the HKU Main Building discussed before it was relatively built in a similar time period, meaning they’ve both experienced different historical influences. One glance at the Fung Ping Shan Building makes it clear that it’s piece of amazing european architecture, with many classical ornamentations that are cultural to the British. This building greatly contrasts from it’s surrounding and is a extremely rare piece of architecture in the modernized city of Hong Kong. The building has been repurposed multiple time from a library, hostel to a museum, despite all these changes the beautiful colonial architecture is still preserved with great condition. The building embodies the historical past when Hong Kong was a British Colony and reveals the cultural impact that still resides to this day.
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Conclusion Hong Kong is a city that has developed exponentially ever since the British colonization and it’s cultural influence can be seen in many buildings, similar to the ones I’ve introduced. There are many other european heritage buildings within Hong Kong that I haven’t introduced which are just as magnificent as the architecture I’ve discussed. Unfortunately due to the lack of available space in Hong Kong, many of these colonial buildings are being demolished to make room for the new. The Hong Kong government have had an terrible track record of destroying Hong Kong's heritage and not approving/listening to the public’s proposals. Another main reason for Hong Kong’s lost of architecture is that many heritage buildings are being demolished before anyone can voice out their opinion. Hong Kong society’s value in heritage building have been mainly weak, due to the lack of knowledge regarding this topic. Over the decade many of Hong Kong’s most iconic heritage sites have been eradicated, which can be shown through the Central Star Ferry Terminal, Queen’s Pier, and Lee Tung Street and many more. The regrettable choice of destroying these amazing heritage sites have been clear, seen through the public uproar. The community have stated their recognition that certain places are of value towards them, however the HK government systems of operations have been inadequate in engaging the public to understand these interests.
The Government has been increasingly interested in the destruction of heritage buildings to further grow Hong Kong’s economic status, however this bias has caused the laws for the protection of heritage buildings to be outdated and protection of heritage areas are basically non-existent. These government choices lead to consequential outcomes, as the new generation has lost connection and a sense of Hong Kong’s past.
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Central Star Ferry Terminal (Destroyed in early 2007)
Recently In 2008 the government strengthened its heritage policy’s with the introduction of the Revitalizing Historic Buildings through Partnership Scheme. This meant that government-owned historic buildings were put into the hands of non-profit organizations where they are in charge of preserving the architectural integrity and managing the site as a social enterprise. Despite these improvements in saving heritage sites, there is still a lack of polices protecting heritage areas. The main reason the government is not taking action in creating new protective policies is because of the lack of public interest. People of the young generation are so involved and engulfed in the technological world of social media that has caused the generation to overlook the past and more specifically Colonial architecture. This sad truth has to be changed and it all starts with us taking action. This can be done with very little effort, by showing your interest towards these heritage buildings through the means of visiting them. It can also be done through voicing out your concern regarding the protection of these buildings through social media. It’s small steps like this, that need to be taken in order to achieve success, which in this case is protecting our rich cultural history of european architecture. This success can’t be achieved by just one person, but requires many to start caring. This brighter future can be a reality starting with you taking your small step. Thank you for reading my book and hope your interests regarding heritage buildings has increased, together we can make a positive change.
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