Old Wanchai Market Building

The Old Wanchai Market Building was constructed in 1937. It is located at 264 Queen's Road East, at the Wan Chai Road crossing, opposite Stone Nullah Lane in Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island.[1] It is a Grade III Historic Building.[2]

Old Wanchai Market Building
灣仔街市
(Old) Wan Chai Market in 2008
General information
Architectural styleStreamline Moderne
ClassificationGrade III Historic Building
LocationWan Chai, Hong Kong Island
Address264 Queen's Road East
CountryHong Kong
Completed1937
RelocatedSeptember 2008
Old Wanchai Market Building
Traditional Chinese灣仔街市
Simplified Chinese湾仔街市
(New) Wanchai Market at the Zenith

Its architectural style is influenced by Streamline Moderne (also known as Streamlined Moderne or Art Moderne) architecture, a popular style of building of the 1930s. It is often erroneously referred to as a Bauhaus-style building.[3][4]

Wan Chai Market, the wet market housed in the old market building since 1937, has moved into the new market complex on the lower levels of "The Zenith", a newly built residential development located just opposite to the market building, in September 2008.

The Wan Chai Market was initially a wet place where merchants would sell their belongings. It was also used as a garage for Bullock Carts and thus was called the 'Wet Garage' (Chinese: 濕車庫). It was named in 1917.

History

During Japanese occupation, the basement of the Wan Chai Market was used by Japanese soldiers for the storage of corpses.[2]

In 1961, the Market underwent a renovation to improve its facilities and environment so that the Market could compete with other market places in the district.[2]

The Land Development Corporation obtained approval from the Executive Council to acquire land in Wan Chai, including this site, for redevelopment as part of an urban renewal project. A consortium was formed comprising Chinese Estates (40%), Kwong Sang Hong (25%), Chi Cheung Investment (20%) and Peregrine Group (15%).[5]

Chinese Estates, controlled by Joseph Lau Luen-hung, agreed with the Urban Renewal Authority in 1996 to jointly redevelop the site into a luxury residential-commercial complex. Phase two of the project, which requires the demolition of the building, was scheduled to start early 2008 and be completed by mid-2011.[6]

In 2007, the Urban Renewal Authority and the Development Bureau jointly announced that the facade and the front part of the historic market building will be preserved in the redevelopment project; the front part will be used as a shopping centre. A residential building will stand at the back of the market building.[7]

Facilities

There is a basement and staff quarters in the building.[3]

In the successful video game by Eidos, Deus Ex, Wan Chai Market is used as the basis for a portion of the game.

  • Wan Chai Fruit Market
  • Wan Chai Market Main Entrance
  • Wan Chai Market Ground Floor Interior
  • Wan Chai Market Office
  • All the stores have been vacant since 2008/08
  • Wan Chai Market Level 1
  • Stairs in Wan Chai Market
  • The banner against the removal of the market

See also

References
  1. List of FEHD Public Markets and Cooked Food Archived 11 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  2. A Study on Historical and Architectural Context of Wan Chai Market
  3. Film Service Office: Wan Chai Market Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Lee, Ho Yin and DiStefano, Lynne, "Wan Chai Market: Rediscovering Streamline Moderne Architecture", Architectural Conservation Programme, University of Hong Kong (2 May 2009)
  5. Joshua Fellman, LDC gets approval for Wan Chai site development Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 5 October 1996
  6. Una So & Stephanie Tong, Hopes raised for historic market Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 4 August 2007
  7. Wan Chai facelift to save historic market, The Standard, 21 December 2007 Archived 20 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine

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