Wan Chai Market facade may stay

Plan to preserve part of Bauhaus structure

The Urban Renewal Authority is looking into the possibility of preserving the facade of Wan Chai Market, according to a source close to the issue. A residential block will be built on top of the three-storey market because of a requirement set down by the deed of mutual covenant, the source said. "The covenant states the four buildings [of the Zenith development] must share the management fee together. If no building is to be built on the Wan Chai Market site, it will be unfair to the residents of the other three buildings," the source said. The plan is one of the two options being considered by the authority. The other is to build a residential block on the hill next to the site, but this requires a change in land use which would have to be approved by the Town Planning Board. Wan Chai Market, built in 1937, is believed to be one of only two well preserved markets in Bauhaus style left in the world. The other is in Phnom Penh. Architects and conservationists have urged the authority to preserve the block. In 1997, property developer Chinese Estates Holdings formed a joint venture with the Land Development Corporation, the authority's predecessor, to redevelop the area. The project includes the Zenith development, which is supposed to comprise four blocks, including the one built at the Wan Chai Market site. Raymond Young Lap-moon, permanent secretary for development, told a Legislative Council planning, lands and work meeting yesterday the government was considering ways to preserve the market. A government source said keeping the facade was in line with the principle of heritage preservation. But further studies would have to be conducted to see if the suggestion was technically feasible. Architects who have been lobbying for the preservation of the market reacted positively to the proposal. Bernard Lim Wan-fung, Chinese University's architecture professor and member of the Antiquities Advisory Board, said preserving the fa�ade of the market was better than having it demolished. "The market is too valuable to be knocked down," he said. "Of course the best is to have the whole structure preserved. But if not, keeping the facade is still better than not keeping it at all." Wong Kam-sing, chairman of the Institute of Architects' board of local affairs, said that besides the facade, the authority should consider preserving the market's unique ventilation feature and use of daylight. Ng Mee-kam, associate professor from the University of Hong Kong's centre of urban planning and environmental management, cautioned that the design of the residential block above should match the architectural style of the facade. "I have seen preservation examples in Japan where the design of the building on top does not fit with the preserved facade underneath, the overall feeling of the whole block is quite awkward," she said. Activist Ho Loy said the proposal was unacceptable. "The market is a building with distinctive architectural features. If its facade is to be preserved, the inner structure should also be maintained as it is now." It has become controversial in Hong Kong to preserve building or premises of historical significance. Should we focus on economic growth or should we protect our history at all cost?