Introduction

Former Police Married Quarters on Hollywood Road (“PMQ”)

The Development Bureau and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau jointly invite proposals in March 2010 from interested organisations for the transformation of the former Police Married Quarters (PMQ) on Hollywood Road into a creative industries landmark.

The Musketeers Education and Culture Charitable Foundation Limited (the Musketeers Foundation), supported by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong Design Centre and the Hong Kong Design Institute of the Vocational Training Council, has been selected in November 2010 to conserve and transform the former Police Married Quarters on Hollywood Road into a creative industries landmark called “PMQ”.

Funding for conservation and revitalisation works of the project has been approved by the Finance Committee of Legislative Council in July 2011.

Conservation and revitalisation works for transforming the site into a creative industries landmark commenced in January 2012 and were completed in December 2013. The project was commissioned in April 2014.

The Musketeers Foundation has set up a special purpose company named “PMQ Management Company Limited”, which has acquired charitable status under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112), to be responsible for the implementation of the project and the day-to-day operation of the site after revitalisation, including the leasing of studio and other units.

The "PMQ" website has been launched by PMQ Management Company Limited. For information of guided tour, please refer to this link.

Background

Former Police Married Quarters on Hollywood Road
(The Original Site of the Central School)

THE SITE

The site i.e the former Police Married Quarters on Hollywood Road, being the original home of the Central School, is bounded by the Hollywood Road, Aberdeen Street, Staunton Street and Shing Wong Street. The site was re-zoned on the amended Sai Ying Pun and Sheung Wan Outline Zoning Plan, from "Residential (Group A)" to "Other Specified Uses"("OU") annotated "Heritage Site for Creative Industries and Related Uses". The site comprises a total area of 6000 square metres, and embraces four plateaux, namely the 1st Plateau, the 2nd Plateau, the 3rd Plateau and the 4th Plateau. Having been vacated since 2000 and being situated in a unique location and with a unique history, the site had been built with three buildings, namely former police married quarters Block A and Block B which constitute a total of about 15400 square metres gross floor area together with a total of 196 original living units, and a Junior Police Call Clubhouse (JPC Building) ancillary to the quarters blocks.

The Chief Executive (CE) announced in his 2007-08 Policy Address that for exploring revitalisation of the site, removed the site from the "List of Sites for Sale by Application" for one year. Government had extensively conducted a three-month public engagement exercise during February and May 2008 for collecting the views of the public on the revitalisation and adaptive-reuse of the site. The most prominent idea received was to preserve the two quarters blocks on the site. The removal was made permanent in CE's 2008-09 Policy Address as the site was dedicated for revitalisation with creative industries and related education uses. In the 2009-10 Policy Address, CE further announced to include the site into one of the eight projects under the "Conserving Central" initiative. Government has drawn up a plan for the transformation of the two quarters blocks into a creative industries landmark.

HISTORY

Built in 1889, the Central School was the first Government school to provide upper primary and secondary Western education to the public which marked a new phase in the development of public education in Hong Kong. The school was severely damaged during World War II and was demolished in 1948 to make way for building the former Police Married Quarters on Hollywood Road which was the first police quarters in Hong Kong to provide police officers accommodation for married rank and file officers, including Chinese, to enhance the morale of junior police officers.

ARCHITECTURAL INTEREST

Architecturally, the design of the two quarters blocks reflects the architecture of the modern movement. The direct fulfillment of functional requirement, construction and choice of materials reflect the architecture of the age. In view of this architectural character, it is desirable to retain the two quarters blocks for adaptive re-use that is beneficial to the community.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION AND FINDINGS

The Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) had conducted several investigations at the Site between December 2005 and July 2007. AMO found that the site was bounded by different types of retaining walls and boundary walls constructed in different periods. Remnants of the Central School were identified within and around the Site. They include granite shafts and plinths of the boundary walls, the retaining walls and the quoin stones at their corners, as well as the flights of steps linking different plateaux. In July 2007, AMO carried out an archaeological investigation and conducted subsurface excavation in the main courtyard between the two quarters blocks and in the 4th Plateau, covering an area of about 600 square metres. While the detailed findings of the archaeological investigation are available in the former Hollywood Road Police Married Quarters 2007 Site Investigation Report at AMO's website, the main ones are summarised below:

1. The following have been reasonably preserved:
   

   1. the existing retaining walls together with the unique trees along Hollywood Road and Shing Wong Street, and at the lower platform of the Site;

      

      

   2. the granite steps (stairs) leading to the 4th Plateau together with the remaining rubble wall; and

      

      

   3. the original granite plinths and pillars of the fenced walls along Staunton Street and Aberdeen Street.

      

2. Over 2000 pieces of relics were found at the Site. They are:

   

   

   

   

   
3. Other than the above, the foundations and other features of the Central School had been significantly disturbed by works in the past. Based on the findings of the site investigations, the chance of finding better-preserved parts within the Site through a further site investigation is slim. Taking into account the risk to the tree walls and the stability of underground features, further excavation work is not justified.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR REVITALIZATION

The following general principles are given for revitalizing the Site:

1. Preserving the historical relics of the Site;
2. Manifesting the heritage values and original ambience of the Site;
3. Revitalising the Site by giving it a new lease of life that may become a landmark for local residents and visitors;
4. Contributing to the holistic planning of the Hollywood Road area under the proposed "spot, line and area" approach for heritage conservation and the promotion of heritage tourism;
5. Responding to the community's concerns about over development in the area; and
6. Addressing the community's aspirations for more POS.

THREE-MONTH PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT EXERCISE

Over the years, the community has expressed various views on the future use of the Site. In order to gauge the community's views on how best the Site should be revitalised, the Development Bureau (DEVB) conducted a three-month public engagement exercise between February and May 2008. Details of the events are shown as follows:

PowerPoint Presentation material on "Conserving Central" (Chinese version only)