REVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

AFTER DECADES OF NEGLECT AND DEMOLITION, HONG KONG’S HERITAGE ARCHITECTURE IS ENJOYING A LONG-AWAITED RENAISSANCE. CHRISTOPHER DEWOLF EXAMINES THE ADAPTIVE REUSE OF THE CITY’S HISTORIC GEMS

When the scaffolding recently came off the Hollywood Road facade of the old Central Police Station, the dour building seemed to have received more than a fresh coat of paint; it looked positively youthful. Uphill, renovation work continues on Victoria Prison, the first permanent structure erected by the British when they arrived in 1841. Together, the buildings are the largest surviving cluster of 19th-century architecture in Hong Kong. When work is finished next year, the historic site will begin the next stage of its life as a contemporary art hub. A few decades ago, things might not have worked out this way. Like Kowloon Station or the General Post Office, the fate of Central Police Station could have been delivered by a wrecking ball—or perhaps, more accurately, a chorus of…

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Tatler Hong Kong (Digital) - 1 Issue, December 2015

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