Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station
Encyclopedia
The Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station, Water Supplies Department (前水務署抽水站工程師辦公室), sometimes called "The Red Brick House" (紅磚屋), is located at No. 344 Shanghai Street
, in Yau Ma Tei
, Hong Kong
. It has been classified as a Grade I historical building since 2000 by the Antiquities Advisory Board
in view of its historical and architectural merit. It is now owned by the HKSAR Government
.
in Hong Kong, even older than Tai Tam Tuk
Pumping Station (大潭篤泵房), which was constructed in 1917.
In 1890, Osbert Chadwick, consulting engineer of the Crown Agents, proposed the building plan for a water supply system
in Kowloon
. He suggested collecting subterranean water by building underground mud barriers. Although his proposal was not adopted immediately, it contributed to the construction of this pumping station subsequently.
Originally, the pumping station was a complex which comprised three two-storey buildings and a tall chimney for the boiler. The first building consisted an engine house and a boiler house. The second building had a workshop on the ground floor and fitters' quarters on the first floor. Between the first building and the second building was a chimney. For the third building, an office, a store, a boy and coolie room, a cook House and a latrine are the components of the ground floor, while there was overseers' quarters on the first floor.
The pumping station was equipped with steam-driven pumps, which were imported from England
, and able to abstract an estimated 400,000 gallon
s of water from three wells nearby for the early inhabitants in the Kowloon Peninsula
. With the supply of fresh water, commercial activities could take place and normal daily living was assured. As a result, the population of Kowloon was increased by 33% from about 23,000 in 1891 to 34,782 by 1897.
This pumping station became unimportant in the 20th century because of the construction of Kowloon Reservoir
in 1906 and other reservoirs
subsequently. In 1911, the pumping station ceased operation and the chimney was demolished one year later. The remaining buildings then underwent different adaptive reuse
. The first building, which had consisted of the engine house and the boiler house, was converted into a post office in the 1910s-1920s. The second building, which had consisted the workshop and the fitters' quarters, became a hazardous goods store. The third building, which had consisted the overseers' quarters and the office, became a hawkers
control office.
In the pre-war and early post-war days Yunnan Lane, which was located by the side of the post office, became a place where professional letter writers set up their stalls. There were as many as 37 stalls. This traditional trade gradually disappeared with raising literacy.
The post office ceased operation in 1967 with the opening of the nearby Kowloon Central Post Office
. The vacated post office was then used as a "Street Sleepers' Shelter" operated by the Salvation Army
, until the end of the 1990s, when the shelter for the homeless moved across the street to the building on 345A Shanghai Street.
At present, only one of the three buildings remains. Except for the engineer's office, the other parts of the pumping station have been demolished.
with Arts and Crafts
influence. The most significant feature of the building is the red brick façade. This refers to the construction of the walls of the building by red bricks, which account for the name "Red Brick House".
Being a fomer pumping station, the architecture of the building is of utilitarian design, which is also an typical example of the British industrial building. The building does not consist of much decoration, there are only some decorative brickwork features and ironwork balustrading.
There are not much structural alteration to the building. The pitched roof
is finished with double layer Chinese clay tiles
, with a single chimney stack and flue openings projects above the ridge. The windows of the building consist of wooden casements incorporated in window openings with granite
cills and lintels
. Above the lintels, there are rough brick relieving arch
es. Ornamental ironwork balustrades
with granite copings is retained from an arched verandah
, which is now enclosed with windows. Doors of the building which are cross braced and battened, are also made of wood. Cast-iron
rainwater pipes, hopper heads and gutters
along the wall of the building also have exectional level of significance to the building.
Inside the building, there are arched verandah and internal arcades on the ground floor. The walls are plastered and painted and the floor is screeded. For the first floor, the original wooden doors and windows, cornices, skirtings and floor boarding are still presented.
low-rise historic structures are found nearby, such as Yaumati Theatre
and Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market.
Architecturally they complement each other. The block next to the Engineer's Office features post-war tong-laus along Shanghai Street, which house the Hong Kong International Hobby and Toy Museum at No. 330.
) and Sun Hung Kai Properties.
At that time, the original identity of the building had been forgotten and it was simply referred to as "Red Brick House".
During the process of the study, two heritage specialists from The University of Hong Kong, Dr. Lee Ho Yin and Dr. Lynne DiStefano, raised questions about the original function of the anonymous Red Brick House.
The original identity and usage of the building was revealed when the original architectural drawings were found by an old British engineer at Water Supplies Department. In view of the building's historical significance and rarity, it was awarded a Grade I Historical Building status in 2000 and recommended for conservation. As a result, the building cannot be demolished. Therefore, Land Development Corporation and Sun Hung Kai Properties had to adjust the development plans to accommodate the 36-storey building on the site, without any influence on the engineer's office of the former pumping station.
(戲曲) Activity Centre, providing a performing and practicing venue for small-scale Cantonese Opera performance. It would also serve as training venue for budding artists. This revitalization project was endorsed by the Public Works Subcommittee of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council
at its meeting on January 21, 2009.
Shanghai Street
Shanghai Street is a 2.3 km long street in the Jordan, Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok areas of Kowloon, Hong Kong. Completed in 1887 under the name of Station Street , it was once the most prosperous street in Kowloon. It originates from the south at Austin Road, and terminates in the north at Lai...
, in Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei, also known as Waterloo , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.-Name:Yau Ma Tei is a phonetic transliteration of the name 油麻地 in Cantonese...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. It has been classified as a Grade I historical building since 2000 by the Antiquities Advisory Board
Antiquities Advisory Board
The Antiquities Advisory Board is a statutory body of the Government of Hong Kong created in 1976 to evaluate old buildings in Hong Kong, and to recommend those with historical or architectural merit for listing as monuments. It is under the responsibility of the Home Affairs Bureau, directly...
in view of its historical and architectural merit. It is now owned by the HKSAR Government
Government of Hong Kong
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, commonly the Hong Kong Government, is led by the Chief Executive as Head of the Government, who is also the head of the Hong Kong SAR...
.
History
The Engineer's Office is the only remaining building of the former Pumping Station (舊水務署抽水站), which was built in 1895. It is the oldest pumping stationPumping station
Pumping stations are facilities including pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure systems, such as the supply of water to canals, the drainage of low-lying land, and the removal of sewage to processing sites.A pumping station...
in Hong Kong, even older than Tai Tam Tuk
Tai Tam Reservoirs
The Tai Tam Reservoirs , also known as Tai Tam Reservoir Group, is a group of reservoirs located in the Tai Tam Country Park in the eastern part of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong.The reservoirs consist of:* Tai Tam Upper Reservoir ,...
Pumping Station (大潭篤泵房), which was constructed in 1917.
In 1890, Osbert Chadwick, consulting engineer of the Crown Agents, proposed the building plan for a water supply system
Water supply network
A water supply system or water supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components which provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes:# A drainage basin ;...
in Kowloon
Kowloon
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
. He suggested collecting subterranean water by building underground mud barriers. Although his proposal was not adopted immediately, it contributed to the construction of this pumping station subsequently.
Originally, the pumping station was a complex which comprised three two-storey buildings and a tall chimney for the boiler. The first building consisted an engine house and a boiler house. The second building had a workshop on the ground floor and fitters' quarters on the first floor. Between the first building and the second building was a chimney. For the third building, an office, a store, a boy and coolie room, a cook House and a latrine are the components of the ground floor, while there was overseers' quarters on the first floor.
The pumping station was equipped with steam-driven pumps, which were imported from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and able to abstract an estimated 400,000 gallon
Gallon
The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...
s of water from three wells nearby for the early inhabitants in the Kowloon Peninsula
Kowloon Peninsula
The Kowloon Peninsula is a peninsula that forms the southern part of the main landmass in the territory of Hong Kong. The Kowloon Peninsula and the area of New Kowloon are collectively known as Kowloon....
. With the supply of fresh water, commercial activities could take place and normal daily living was assured. As a result, the population of Kowloon was increased by 33% from about 23,000 in 1891 to 34,782 by 1897.
This pumping station became unimportant in the 20th century because of the construction of Kowloon Reservoir
Kowloon Group of Reservoirs
The Kowloon Group of Reservoirs is located in the Kam Shan Country Park, north of Kowloon, Hong Kong. They include:* Kowloon Reservoir * Kowloon Byewash Reservoir* Kowloon Reception Reservoir...
in 1906 and other reservoirs
Reservoirs of Hong Kong
Reservoirs in Hong Kong are spread fairly evenly over the entire 1,104 km² of Hong Kong. There is plenty of space for small reservoirs in Hong Kong, as the hilly areas provide valleys suitable for water storage. However, the larger reservoirs, i.e. High Island Reservoir and Plover Cover Reservoir,...
subsequently. In 1911, the pumping station ceased operation and the chimney was demolished one year later. The remaining buildings then underwent different adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
. The first building, which had consisted of the engine house and the boiler house, was converted into a post office in the 1910s-1920s. The second building, which had consisted the workshop and the fitters' quarters, became a hazardous goods store. The third building, which had consisted the overseers' quarters and the office, became a hawkers
Hawker (trade)
A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with peddler or costermonger. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells items or food that are native to the area...
control office.
In the pre-war and early post-war days Yunnan Lane, which was located by the side of the post office, became a place where professional letter writers set up their stalls. There were as many as 37 stalls. This traditional trade gradually disappeared with raising literacy.
The post office ceased operation in 1967 with the opening of the nearby Kowloon Central Post Office
Kowloon Central Post Office
Kowloon Central Post Office is the main post office in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is located at 405 Nathan Road, Yau Ma Tei, just beneath the Kowloon Government Offices.-References:...
. The vacated post office was then used as a "Street Sleepers' Shelter" operated by the Salvation Army
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
, until the end of the 1990s, when the shelter for the homeless moved across the street to the building on 345A Shanghai Street.
At present, only one of the three buildings remains. Except for the engineer's office, the other parts of the pumping station have been demolished.
Architecture
The building with two storey is built in a colonial Neo-Classical styleNeoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
with Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
influence. The most significant feature of the building is the red brick façade. This refers to the construction of the walls of the building by red bricks, which account for the name "Red Brick House".
Being a fomer pumping station, the architecture of the building is of utilitarian design, which is also an typical example of the British industrial building. The building does not consist of much decoration, there are only some decorative brickwork features and ironwork balustrading.
There are not much structural alteration to the building. The pitched roof
Pitched roof
A pitched roof is a roof for which one or more roof surfaces is pitched more than 10 degrees, and alternately a roof with two slopes that meet at a central ridge. Some definitions are even more general, including any roof with a sloping surface or surfaces....
is finished with double layer Chinese clay tiles
Glazed tile
Glazed tiles were used in China since the Zhou Dynasty as building material for roof top. During the Song Dynasty, the manufacture of glazed tiles was standardized in Li Jie's Architecture Standard...
, with a single chimney stack and flue openings projects above the ridge. The windows of the building consist of wooden casements incorporated in window openings with granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
cills and lintels
Post and lintel
Post and lintel, or in contemporary usage Post and beam, is a simple construction method using a lintel, header, or architrave as the horizontal member over a building void supported at its ends by two vertical columns, pillars, or posts...
. Above the lintels, there are rough brick relieving arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
es. Ornamental ironwork balustrades
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
with granite copings is retained from an arched verandah
Verandah
A veranda or verandah is a roofed opened gallery or porch. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure...
, which is now enclosed with windows. Doors of the building which are cross braced and battened, are also made of wood. Cast-iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
rainwater pipes, hopper heads and gutters
Rain gutter
A rain gutter is a narrow channel, or trough, forming the component of a roof system which collects and diverts rainwater shed by the roof....
along the wall of the building also have exectional level of significance to the building.
Inside the building, there are arched verandah and internal arcades on the ground floor. The walls are plastered and painted and the floor is screeded. For the first floor, the original wooden doors and windows, cornices, skirtings and floor boarding are still presented.
Neighbouring Historic buildings
Yau Ma Tei is the oldest developed urban area in Kowloon. Some otherlow-rise historic structures are found nearby, such as Yaumati Theatre
Yaumati Theatre
Yaumati Theatre , once the largest theatre in Kowloon, is located at the junction of Waterloo Road and Reclamation Street, in Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong. It is classified as "Grade II Historic Building" The abandoned building is the only remaining pre-World War II theatre in Kowloon. It is to be...
and Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market.
Architecturally they complement each other. The block next to the Engineer's Office features post-war tong-laus along Shanghai Street, which house the Hong Kong International Hobby and Toy Museum at No. 330.
Preservation
In early 2000, the sole surviving building of former pumping station was slated for demolition in preparation for the 36-storey, twin-tower residential project, No. 8 Waterloo Road, which was jointly developed by the Land Development Corporation (the predecessor of the Urban Renewal AuthorityUrban Renewal Authority
The Urban Renewal Authority is a statutory body in Hong Kong responsible for accelerating redevelopment to provide a better living environment and neighbourhood.-History:...
) and Sun Hung Kai Properties.
At that time, the original identity of the building had been forgotten and it was simply referred to as "Red Brick House".
During the process of the study, two heritage specialists from The University of Hong Kong, Dr. Lee Ho Yin and Dr. Lynne DiStefano, raised questions about the original function of the anonymous Red Brick House.
The original identity and usage of the building was revealed when the original architectural drawings were found by an old British engineer at Water Supplies Department. In view of the building's historical significance and rarity, it was awarded a Grade I Historical Building status in 2000 and recommended for conservation. As a result, the building cannot be demolished. Therefore, Land Development Corporation and Sun Hung Kai Properties had to adjust the development plans to accommodate the 36-storey building on the site, without any influence on the engineer's office of the former pumping station.
Revitalization
The building is now vacant awaiting a suitable adaptive re-use. It is proposed that the Red Brick Building will revitalize in conjunction with the Yau Ma Tei Theatre as a XiquChinese opera
Chinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE...
(戲曲) Activity Centre, providing a performing and practicing venue for small-scale Cantonese Opera performance. It would also serve as training venue for budding artists. This revitalization project was endorsed by the Public Works Subcommittee of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong.-History:The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule...
at its meeting on January 21, 2009.