World-Wide House is an office building in Central

Central, Hong Kong

Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...

, Hong Kong. It is located between Connaught Road Central, Pedder Street

Pedder Street

Pedder Street is a major thoroughfare in the core of Hong Kong’s Central District. It runs south-north from Queen's Road Central, continues through Des Voeux Road Central, and ends at its intersection with Connaught Road Central.-History:...

 and Des Voeux Road Central.

History

The site is situated on land reclaimed

Land reclamation in Hong Kong

Land is in short supply in Hong Kong, and land reclamation has been conducted there since the mid-19th century.-Projects:One of the earliest and famous project was the Praya Reclamation Scheme, which added 50 to of land in 1890 during the second phase of construction...

 at the turn of the 20th century.

WWH was constructed on a 23000 square feet (2,136.8 m²) site vacated by the former General Post Office

General Post Office, Hong Kong

General Post Office is the headquarters of Hongkong Post. Built in 1976, it is located at Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong. The office is adjacent to former Star Ferry Pier, Jardine House and International Finance Centre...

, which was located there from 1911 to 1976. The GPO was relocated to Connaught Place

Connaught Place

Connaught Place is a place name of various places in the world:* Connaught Place, New Delhi in Delhi, India* Connaught Place, Hong Kong in Central, Hong Kong* Connaught Place, London in London, England* Connaught Place, Dehradun in Dehradun, India...

 for the construction of the Pedder Station (later renamed to Central

Central (MTR)

Central station is an MTR station located in the Central area of Hong Kong Island. The station's livery is firebrick red, except for the station's Tsuen Wan Line platform where its livery is dark brown...

) of TR. Below the building is the interchange of Hong Kong Station and Central Station

Central (MTR)

Central station is an MTR station located in the Central area of Hong Kong Island. The station's livery is firebrick red, except for the station's Tsuen Wan Line platform where its livery is dark brown...

 of MTR.

In the early 1970s, there were proposals for the site to be swapped for the Alexandra House plot, to create more open space in Central, and pedestrianised. The proposals were defeated mainly due to financial considerations.

MTR Corporation

MTR Corporation

MTR Corporation Limited is a company listed on the Hong Kong Exchange and included in the Hang Seng Index. MTR owns and runs the Hong Kong MTR metro system, and is also a major property developer and landlord in Hong Kong...

, which had been given the first refusal on the site, paid the Government approximately HK$212 million in cash for the rights for the site. The Government ended up receiving some $8,700 per square foot instead of its initial asking price of $10,000.

Cheung Kong, the enterprise founded by Li Ka Shing

Li Ka Shing

Sir Ka-shing Li, GBM, KBE, JP is a Chinese business magnate based in Hong Kong. He is the richest person of East Asian descent in the world and the eleventh richest person in the world with an estimated wealth of US$26.0 billion on 10 March 2011...

, obtained the right for the development of the above-ground structure. With a plot ratio of 15:1, CKH built a 32-storey single tower office-cum-commercial building. The arcade is connected to adjacent properties by the Central Elevated Walkway

Central Elevated Walkway

The Central Elevated Walkway is an extensive footbridge network spanning Admiralty and Central, near Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong.The system was built in phases by the Hong Kong Government and various developers, such as Hongkong Land, Jardine Matheson Holdings and Shun Tak Holdings. It has...

.

Shopping arcade

World-Wide Plaza is the shopping centre on 3 levels on the lower floors of Worldwide House. It is built in an "atrium

Atrium (architecture)

In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...

" style, but without skylight. Its first level is accessible from the Central Elevated Walkway or by escalator from the ground floor of the building.

The kiosks or shop units are typically from around 10 square metres, and are rented out to small traders, who sell telecommunications and banking services, to food, and magazines. The arcade is popular with the large Filipino population

Filipinos in Hong Kong

There are around 140,000 Filipinos in Hong Kong, a lot of whom work as foreign domestic helpers. Filipino maids are known by the locals as fei yung , fei being the first character in the Cantonese phonetic translation of Philippines and yung means maid...

, particularly on Sundays, as many of the shops are run by their compatriots. The wide assortment of typically small shops caters to their needs, selling merchandise from their homeland.