HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 16 October 2019 - Design Spectrum, the new design initiative organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) with the sponsorship from Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government), is showcasing Asian design philosophy in four thematic exhibitions at 7 Mallory Street, a Grade II Historic Building in Wan Chai.

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Cheung Kong Center is a skyscraper in Central, Hong Kong designed by Cesar Pelli. It is 68 storeys tall with height of 283 m (928 ft) and a gross floor area of 1,260,000-square-foot (117,100 m²). When completed in 1999, it was the third-tallest building in the city. It sits on the combined sites of the former Hong Kong Hilton, which was demolished in 1995/6, and Beaconsfield House, sold by the Government in 1996. It stands between the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building and the Bank of China Tower. As is common in Hong Kong, coloured lights on the sides of the building illuminate at night in intricate light shows.

The building is the headquarters of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited ('CKH'), and is owned and managed by its 49%-owned associated company Hutchison Whampoa Limited ('HWL'), while other tenants include several multinational banking firms.

Site background[edit]

The 26-storey Hilton Hotel building and its site, Inland Lot 7702, was owned by a wholly owned subsidiary of HWL, which licensed Hilton Hotels Group to operate it for 50 years.^[2] In January 1994, with about 20 years of the management contract to run, HWL announced the buyout of the unexpired term for US$125 million.

HWL had originally planned to redevelop the Hilton site into a high-rise office-retail complex, yielding a gross floor area of 584,970-square-foot (54,300 m²).^[3] HWL was keen to enlarge the redevelopment project by merging the hotel site with a neighbouring site to gain a greater efficiency, and commenced private talks with the Government in May 1993 with a view to acquiring the adjacent 33,700-square-foot (3,100 m²) car park site, and the 18,300-square-foot (1,700 m²) Beaconsfield House site from the Government. Talks were finalised in August 1995.^[3]

The Executive Council approved in principle the sale of the sites in April 1995.^[4]

In September 1995, the Urban Planning Committee of the Town Planning Board passed the proposals for the 9,900 m² combined site.^[5] With a plot ratio of 15, 1,600,000 sq ft (150,000 m²) building (including the 1000-space car park) could be built. The developer agreed with the planners that most of the building would actually be weighted on the Hilton site, so much of the car park and Beaconsfield house area would be given over to park and public amenities.^[5]

On 28 May 1996, Director of Lands Bob Pope disclosed that the land premium for developing the combined site was HK$3.02bn (South China Morning Post, 29 May 1996). The 1996 annual report of HWL reflects the new lease of Inland Lot 8887, with a site area of approximately 103,937 sq ft. The gross floor area of the building is recorded as 1,254,158 sq ft in the 2002 annual report and 1,263,363 sq ft in the 2003 and subsequent annual reports.

Building design[edit]

The building was designed by architects Cesar Pelli and Leo A. Daly, and is considered as much a work of art as an efficient working environment.^[6]

Cheung Kong Center was one of the few taller buildings in the Hong Kong Island skyline to follow a conventional design, like an American black office block, in contrast to the cacophony of architectural styles in the vicinity of Queen's Road. Instead of stealing the limelight, most notably from the Bank of China Tower, Cheung Kong Center was designed instead 'to balance out its more creative neighbouring skyscrapers'. A feng shui master was consulted on ways to absorb the negative energy coming from the Bank of China's sharp edges or 'cleaver'. The Cheung Kong Center 's maximum height was determined by drawing an imaginary line from the Bank of China Tower to the HSBC Headquarters, so it falls just short of the 'supertall' skyscraper distinction (300 meters or higher). ^[7]

The Cheung Kong Center's external walls are uniform glass panels each measuring 2.4 m x 2.1 m, giving occupants a 360-degree panoramic view over the entire city. The same panels are impregnated with an array of optical fibre which can be illuminated at night to display different messages according to the season. The black curtain wall gives the building an appearance of a silhouette in the daytime and an inky peaceful void at night, so it is noted for its sparkling illumination as the sky gets dark.^[8]

Its large floor plates range from 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m²) to 22,000 sq ft (2,000 m²). Tenants can customise an entire office plan at very little expense, as there are no obstructing columns on the floor plan. Offices are all designed with the advanced raised floor system through which air-conditioning and an advanced fibre-optic network accessible to all tenants is ducted.^[6]

It boasts the region's fastest elevators, made by Mitsubishi, maxing out at 9 metres per second. Each elevator features giant plasma displays at the top of each cabin, showing Bloomberg TV.

Tenants[edit]

The top floor is used by the Chairman of CKH and HWL, Li Ka Shing, as his office. It also contains a private swimming pool and garden. Li is often seen escorted and takes a freight elevator operated in attendant mode so that it does not stop on any other floor.^[8]

Other tenants of the building include Allianz, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, BlackRock, Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies,^[9]McKinsey & Co., PricewaterhouseCoopers, Royal Bank of Canada, RBS, Och-Ziff Capital Management^[10] and the Securities and Futures Commission.

Goldman Sachs (Asia) is reported to have signed a 12-year lease on eight-and-a-half office floors, becoming the leading tenant. Hutchison is believed to have offered up to two-and-a-half years rent-free period.^[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcd'Cheung Kong Centre - The Skyscraper Center'. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013.
2. ^Robert O'Halloran, The Hong Kong Hilton taken from Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 1 August 1997
3. ^ ^abWinnie Wu, Agreement over Hilton premiums finalised in near termArchived 22 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 2 August 1995
4. ^Karen Chan, Exco agrees to property firm's redevelopment plans for Beaconsfield House Cheung Kong gets go-aheadArchived 22 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 28 April 1995
5. ^ ^abJoshua Fellman, Development plan for Hilton site passedArchived 22 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 16 September 1995
6. ^ ^abcKaren Chan, Office rents crumble at ritzy Central towersArchived 22 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 29 June 1999
7. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. ^ ^abCheung Kong CentreArchived 29 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Glass steel and stone
9. ^http://www.jefferies.com/OurFirm/Locations/Jefferies-Offices/166
10. ^https://www.ozm.com/about-oz/offices/hong-kong

External links[edit]

• Cheung Kong Center on CTBUH Skyscraper Center

Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC; Chinese: 香港藝術中心) is a non-profit arts organization established in 1977. It promotes contemporary performing arts, visual arts, film and video arts. It also provides arts education.

The centre comprises presentation spaces and venues including galleries, theatres, a cinema, classrooms, studios, restaurant and offices. It also includes sculpture, photography, ceramics, illustrations, and sound and visual installations. ^[1][2]

History[edit]

During the late 1960s, the City Hall was the only venue for contemporary arts in Hong Kong.^{[citation needed]} In 1968, local art associations and groups petitioned the Hong Kong Government for a piece of land on which to build an arts centre. S. F. Bailey, the Secretary General of the University Grants Committee, led the campaign. In June 1971, a piece of reclaimed land near Gloucester Road in Wanchai was successfully obtained after years of negotiation.^[1][2]

When only half of the required $28 million had been raised, construction was halted and was not resumed until Hong Kong Governor Sir Murray MacLehose facilitated loans using a government warrant. Li Choh-ming, the first Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, was the first Chairman of the Arts Centre, Sir Run Run Shaw was the first Vice-chairman, and Neil Duncan was the first General Manager.^[3]

The Hong Kong Arts Centre was inaugurated by the Governor on 14 October 1977.^[1]

Venues[edit]

Hong Kong Apartment Design

* Louis Koo CinemaThe Louis Koo Cinema is equipped for film screenings, and suitable for seminars, recitals, ceremonies and press conferences. The venue's capacity is 119.

* McAulay StudioThe McAulay Studio has movable seating. It is used for small-scale drama performances and workshops. The seating capacity is 76 – 100.

*Shouson TheatreThe Shouson Theatre has seats arranged at the stall and the circle. The venue is used for large-scale drama and dance performances, concerts, film shows and seminars. The seating capacity for drama is 439 (Stall – 260, Circle – 179); for film screenings is 425 (Stall – 246, Circle – 179)

*Goethe InstituteThe Goethe Institute is a German Cultural Institute that provides language courses and cultural exhibits.

* Pao GalleriesThe split-level exhibition gallery houses exhibitions of art and crafts all year round.

* Experimental Gallery (3/F)

* Jockey Club Atrium (G-3/F)

* HKAC Art Shop (G/F)

Hong Kong Art School[edit]

Hong Kong Art School (HKAS) was officially established as a division of the Hong Kong Arts Centre.^[4]

The school is an accredited institute. The programmes offered by the school focus on four core academic areas that include Fine Art, Applied Art, Media Art and Drama Education. Its academic levels include Foundation Diploma, Higher Diploma, Bachelor's degree, and master's degree.

It has a campus site in Shau Kei Wan and additional studio space at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in Shek Kip Mei.^[5]

Programmes organized by the Hong Kong Arts Centre[edit]

• Public Art Hong Kong (PAHK)
• Street Music Series
• Art of Commercials
• AFI Project 20/20
• A Lean Night
• Community projects e.g. Go Green Competition

Publication[edit]

ArtsLinkArtsLink is a publication featuring programmes and activities held at the centre. It is published in the last week of each month. ArtsLink is available for free at more than 150 locations and provides information about exhibition events, film programmes, theatre performances, and courses of the Arts Centre and the Hong Kong Art School.

Support for other Arts organizations[edit]

The Arts with the Disabled Association (ADA) Hong Kong

ADA was formed as a non-government organization in 1986. The association provides equal opportunity for persons with disabilities to have access to, participate in and enjoy the arts, and works with the general public to promote integration and inclusion in society through the arts.

Art in Hospitals (AIH)

AIH was established In 1994, under financial, administrative and office rental support of the Center, and was registered as a non-profit making charitable organization in 2003.

Aesthetic Education Programme

The programme was founded in 2001 by the Hong Kong Arts Centre's Art School, based on the model of aesthetic education that is practiced at the Lincoln Center Institute (LCI), New York, bringing art to primary and secondary schools.

Theatre Ensemble

Theatre Ensemble uses the centre as the home base for its theatre programmes presentation, it is a pilot scheme launched by HKAC since 2004. The centre also helped the ensemble run an artistic concept “PIP”(Pleasure In Play), conducting drama workshops.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Coordinates: 22°16′49″N114°10′15″E / 22.280236°N 114.170839°E

1. ^ ^abc'History of the Hong Kong Arts Centre'. Hong Kong Arts Centre. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
2. ^ ^abGao, Sally. 'A Brief History Of The Hong Kong Arts Centre'. Culture Trip. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
3. ^'Hong Kong needs another Sir Murray Maclehose'. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
4. ^'Introduction of HKAS'. Hong Kong Art School. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
5. ^''Harbour Arts Sculpture Park' Jockey Club Arts Education Programme - Public Art Symposium - Public Art Power: The role of art in society today | British Council'. www.britishcouncil.hk. Retrieved 6 June 2018.

10 Design Hong Kong