Constructed in the mid-1980’s to a then-popular sci-fi high-tech style by Norman Foster, it is one of the centrepieces of Hong Kong’s stunning skyline. Along with the Bank of China Building, Cheung Kong Centre, and IFC 2, it is one of the most iconic buildings in the world. By day you visitors can admire its bold external frame, by night it lights up as one of the performers in the nightly Symphony of Lights by Victoria Harbour.
This week, I have had the fortune to enter the building on a private tour led by a friend, Andrew, who works at HSBC. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the inside of the building looks just like the outside of the building with clan steel trusses criss-crossing the spacious floors. All the floor tiles are designed to be removable so the layout of the building can be changed easily without needing to break anything. The most striking feature of the tower is the 20-storey high atrium in the middle with layers of chrome-plated reflectors at the top to reflect sunlight back into the building.
As I enjoyed buffet lunch with Andrew on the 28th floor, In looked out the north side of the building onto statue square and started explaining how this building formed a part of the colonial axis of power in Hong Kong…
Immediately south of the building across Queen’s Road Central stands the former French Mission Building built in the Victorian Era and the former colonial government offices built in early Bauhaus style. To the immediate east and west of the HSBC Building are the old Bank of China Building and the Standard Chartered Tower built in Art Deco and Art Deco Revival respectively. To the front (north), the early modernist Statue Square used to be home to the statue of Queen Victoria, combined with the low-rise Edinburgh Place Carpark this give HSBC and unobstructed view of the harbour.
Statue Square is flanked by Alexandra House (named after Queen Alexandra) was connected to Prince’s Building, York House, Gloucester Tower, and Edinburgh Tower by footbridge. Imagine all of those buildings in their original Victorian styles. The old Supreme Court Building stands opposite this cluster of prestigious grade-A offices, still in its original Edwardian glory. A little further north the Cenotaph, identical to the one in Whitehall commemorates the Empire’s dead in the world wars. This historic monument is immediately adjacent to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the Hong Kong Club, both playgrounds for the city’s elite. Directly in front of the Cenotaph is the Hong Kong City Hall built in Bauhaus matching the former government offices.
Before the old Star Ferry Pier was demolished at Edinburgh Place, it was also in early Bauhaus style composed entirely of rectangular components in its white and green livery. If only the demolished clock tower could chime again what stories would it tell?
