The Commissioner for Heritage’s Office under the Development Bureau and the Antiquities and Monuments Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department are the key offices which research and monitor issues involving archaeological matters, monuments and historic buildings. Teams of EO colleagues are posted in these offices to provide support for administrative work — including support on policy matters, secretariat work (e.g. the Antiquities Advisory Board and the Advisory Committee on Built Heritage Conservation), as well as scheme and fund management (e.g. the Built Heritage Conservation Fund, the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme and the Financial Assistance for Maintenance Scheme).
Under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance (Cap.53), the Secretary for Development may declare a place, building, site or structure to be a monument. The Antiquities Advisory Board also considers the heritage value and grading of historic buildings from Grade 1 to Grade 3. At present, there are 117 declared monuments and 1 444 graded historic buildings in Hong Kong, and some of them are government premises with EO teams carrying out their day-to-day work in these amazing workspaces. Government House, the Court of Final Appeal Building (formerly the Old Supreme Court, the exterior of which is declared monument while the interior was accorded Grade 1 status), the former Court of Final Appeal (the former French Mission Building), the Hong Kong Observatory and the Antiquities and Monuments Office (the former Kowloon British School) are all declared monuments. Moreover, the former Central Government Offices, including the Main, East and West Wings, have been accorded Grade 1 status. Here, a number of EO colleagues have made significant contributions to facilitate the adaptive use of these historic government buildings so they can be opened up to the community for wider public use.
This article covers the stories of three very distinct monumental buildings — Government House, the Hong Kong Observatory and the Court of Final Appeal, which were built in 1851, 1883 and 1912 respectively. Our editorial team interviewed EO colleagues working in these buildings as well as those who have made contributions to the buildings from other perspectives. Their experience sharing allows us to better appreciate the Government’s commitment to conserving the city’s built heritage and sustainable development for our future generations. |
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This is the address for the new Court of Final Appeal (CFA) Building and also home to many EOs who helped in restoration works to reinstate the former vitality of the 106-year-old building.
We met with Polly Wong and Janet Lai, Senior Executive Officers (SEO) who participated in the conversion project and subsequent maintenance work. |
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Set in a busy financial hub in close proximity to world-famous landmarks such as the headquarters of two international banks, the CFA Building is the place for those seeking a final legal judgement and a definitive symbol of the rule of law in Hong Kong.
The new CFA Building is a heritage building, with its exterior declared a monument and its interior accorded Grade 1 historic status. After its official opening in 1912, the neo-classical style building was home to the former Supreme Court until 1984 when the Court was moved to the High Court Building on Queensway. It later housed the Legislative Council from 1985 to 2011. Thus, some still call it the ‘former Legislative Council Building’. When the building re-opened in September 2015 as the new CFA Building, it was in fact a homecoming journey for the CFA as our highest and final appellate court.
Polly Wong, SEO, joined the project office in September 2013 and was thrilled to take up the challenging task
of helping restore the building back to its original court setting. Similar to our experience in taking up special tasks, it is no surprise that she started working in a lean team of three EOs. Polly is also the venue manager of the High Court Building and needs to coordinate major works in three other court buildings.
It took two full years from July 2013 to July 2015 for the Architectural Services Department (handling architectural, conservation and building services engineering matters), the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (handling audio-visual, broadcasting, multi-media and simultaneous interpretation systems) and their respective contractors to complete the conversion and restoration works on the building. Led by a Chief Executive Officer and assisted by her and an Executive Officer I, the team was the critical bridge between the works departments and end users of the Judiciary. To ensure a flawless audio-visual system during court operations, Polly learned a lot about the system and put together a tender document for its requisition. In 2016, she took a short course, Introduction to Building Services Engineering, at the continuing education arm of a local university to further enrich her technical knowledge. Though not yet an expert, Polly is now much at ease with commenting from the user's perspective on architectural design, building services engineering and audio-visual system operations.
Working on a heritage project can be a headache when you have so much to do while, at the same time, there is so much you cannot do. But Polly considered it a highly satisfying experience in participating in the conversion of a 106-year-old heritage building into a fully functioning modern court with new technology hiding behind walls and inside the benches, while preserving and restoring its important heritage features. She reflected, “We have rejuvenated an old lady back to her heyday!”
Polly noted that ‘shared mission’ and ’teamwork’ were key drivers to ensure the successful completion of the project. She said, “As EOs, we have to exercise good common sense and management skills when facing an army of professionals with technical jargon on a whole slew of architectural and engineering issues.”
Following the challenging relocation exercise, the CFA building became home for around 50 public officers. The ‘rejuvenated old lady’ now demands specialist care from a team of two EOs (Janet Lai, SEO and Chan Cheong Wang (Wang), EOI) as venue manager and assistant venue manager of the building, particularly for its unique facilities such as the courtrooms and chambers. The fact that there was no air-conditioning when the building was built more than 100 years ago, threw up unique challenges for the installation of modern electrical and mechanical facilities. Janet recalled an incident where a defect was found in the ceiling of The Court, i.e. the main Courtroom, which is more than 10 metres high. Due to site constraints, it took a significant amount of time and effort to identify the root cause. Janet expressed, “It was really a strenuous experience to liaise with various parties to carry out the rectification works, which lasted for a whole month, but finally the works were completed ahead of schedule with the concerted efforts of all parties.”
Since moving in, Janet and Wang never turned off their mobile phones. Wang once received a phone call from a security guard at midnight seeking urgent advice. The CFA Building really became their second home. Luckily, they have the support of colleagues in handling the challenging tasks of repair and maintenance in a monument which requires much more complicated procedures and works than regular facilities. Janet expressed with confidence, “With no background of any architectural and engineering knowledge, I am now able to raise essential technical questions and give comments which sometimes shock the professionals.”
Polly and Janet highly recommend their job to EO colleagues. They concluded, “Despite all the hard work, when you know that the end-product will remain there for decades and probably outlast you, it’s a source of immense joy and pride.”
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| Remains of Bridge of Sighs |
While enjoying the virtual tour and taking a peek at its different facilities, do remember that members of the EO grade have played a critical role in the CFA conversion project and in facilitating its current operation. For the EOs concerned, this is a once-a-lifetime experience which they surely savour for the rest of their careers. |
