Conserve and Revitalise Hong Kong Heritage - HKRep Education Hub

The location of the former Main Entrance during the period of Portuguese Community School (also known as Escola Camões) still retains many traces of the past, including the granite stones on both sides, the entrance platform, three flagpoles and the Portuguese name of the former school, "Escola Camões".
"Escola" refers to school while "Camões" is the name of Luís Vaz de Camões, the Portuguese patriotic poet. Camões had an important place in the hearts of the Portuguese people. 10th June was the date of death of Camões. This is a date to commemorate his death as well as to celebrate the Portugal’s National Day which was named after him, also known as the Day of Portugal, Camões, and the Portuguese Communities.

Stop 2: Corridor on Ground Floor

The space on this floor retains architectural features during the time when the building was used as a private residence. The upper floors were the living space of the master with higher ceilings to reflect the higher social status. The lower floor, the servants' area for food preparation and accommodation, emphasises on functionality and practicality with less need for natural lighting, and is characterised by its lower ceilings and smaller windows, reflecting the subordinate status of the servants.
The color and design of the windows together with the sharp black-and-white contrast of the walls and window create a theatrical effect.

Stop 3: Play Room on Ground Floor

The yellow glass wall inside the Play Room is an exemplary demonstration of upcycling and adaptive reuse of old materials. The revitalisation team shattered the old glass windows of the former school building, and added yellow pigment to transform them into new glass bricks, forming this attractive and functional partition wall inside the Play Room. Its color matches the Portuguese design of the building and echoes the colour of the exterior wall.

Stop 4: Outdoor Garden

The revitalised Education Hub still retains the distinctive Portuguese architectural features on its exterior, including the white architraves accented with yellow exterior walls, and a minimalist design with contrasting articulations.
The exterior walls of the building feature three different types of "plastering", also known as "rendering", including the roughcast plastering on the upper exterior walls, the finer plastering on the lower walls, and the stone-like "Shanghai plaster" on the white architraves that runs across the first and second floors.
The Garden still preserves the washbasins of the former Portuguese Community School, which are said to have been used as sanitary facilities for the students in the past.

Stop 5: School’s New Main Entrance

The new Main Entrance of the Education Hub is on the north side of the building, which was converted from the north side/rear entrance of the former Portuguese Community School. The new Main Entrance adopts Portuguese architectural features, with a simple design for the foyer and the detailing. Above the entrance, the metallic English characters read "HKREP EDU HUB", which is "Hong Kong Repertory Theatre Education Hub", with color and design similar to the wash grano finishes of the old school name, “Escola Camõe”, at the former Main Entrance. The texture of the metal material used is markedly different from the wash grano finishes, so as to highlight the difference between the old and new entrances. To comply with the requirement for barrier free access, a ramp has been added at the new Main Entrance.

Stop 6: Staircase

This staircase has been in place since the establishment of the former Portuguese Community School. Its wooden handrails and floor tiles, with a history of over 70 years, are originally installed in 1954. A removable black handrail frame has been added to comply with the safety standards.

Stop 7: Rooftop Skylight

During the renovation of the Education Hub, the glass skylight design was introduced in place of the original enclosed roof to improve waterproofing quality of the roof and also to bring in sunlight to the interior for achieving energy efficiency. The skylight is also equipped with the "Air Improvement Photovoltaic Glass", which has the functions of heat insulation, electricity generation, and air purification.

Stop 8: Rehearsal Studio on 2/F

This Rehearsal Studio preserves the large arched windows of the former Portuguese Community School. As this area serves mainly as a classroom for adult students, it adopts a mature and theatrical design. The colour of the walls and curtains are all in black, resembling the environment inside a black box theatre.
There was no buildings around the former Portuguese Community School in the past. With the building now surrounded by high-rise residential buildings, double glazing windows are used to allow light transmission, and for heat insulation and soundproofing. Sound absorbing materials have been added to the ceiling of the interior to avoid the noise of drama rehearsals affecting the neighboring residents, to ensure a harmoniously integration of the revitalised building and the community.

Stop 1: School’s Former Main Entrance