Lugard Road is a road located on

Victoria Peak Victoria Peak is a hill on the western half of Hong Kong Island. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak only generally. With an elevation of , it is the highest hill on Hong Kong Island, ranked 29 in terms of elevation in H ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, named after Sir Frederick Lugard,

Governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. ...

from 1907 to 1912. Located some above sea level, the road is a popular walking path that forms part of the

Hong Kong Trail The Hong Kong Trail, opened in 1985, is a long-distance footpath from Victoria Peak to Big Wave Bay on Hong Kong Island. It is a walking route which passes through the five country parks on Hong Kong island.

, and is known for spectacular vistas over

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

.England, Vaudine (4 July 2012)
"Top 10 walks in Hong Kong"
''The Guardian''.

Description

Lugard Road lies approximately above sea level. It is a semi-circular road on Victoria Peak that mainly follows the contours of the hillside, connecting

Victoria Gap Victoria Gap () is an area and a mountain pass located between the summits of Victoria Peak (aka. Mount Austin) and Mount Gough, on Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It is the most touristic place within the area referred to as '' The Peak'', wh ...

in the east to the

Hatton Road Hatton Road (), also known as "The Morning Trail", is a paved, steep, motor vehicle-free road in western Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, on Lung Fu Shan. It is largely used as a fitness trail for walking, running, and cycling. Description The roa ...

Harlech Road Harlech Road () is a road in Hong Kong. It is high up in the Peak area of Hong Kong Island, The road starts at Victoria Gap, then goes along the south slope of Victoria Peak, then crosses High West Gap, and goes along the north slope of Hig ...

junction in the west."Victoria Peak and the Victoria Peak Tram Review "
''Fodors''

from the original on 6 June 2013. Joining Harlech Road seamlessly at its end, a circuit is formed around The Peak.Wordie, Jason (2002
"Lugard Road"
''Streets – Exploring Hong Kong Island''. Hong Kong University Press, pp. 91–97
Archived
from the original on 29 May 2009. Lugard Road is the initial section of Stage 1 of the

. Most of Lugard Road enjoys dense tree cover, and a variety of tropical vegetation can be found along its length. The views of the city below from Lugard Road are variously described in travel guides as "stunning" and "spectacular". The road is approximately wide at its widest and less than at its narrowest and, while not entirely pedestrian, has vehicular restrictions."LCQ5: Traffic on Lugard Road"
Government of Hong Kong. 25 June 2014 Permits to use this road are only issued to residents for access to their properties.

History

The road is named after Sir Frederick Lugard,

from 1907 to 1912. The Public Works Department issued an invitation for sealed tenders by 2 June 1913 to form a section of roadway from Victoria Gap to High West Gap. The cost of the entire road, whose construction was made difficult by the "rocky and precipitous nature of the hillside", was estimated at HK$55,000. In their 1913 annual report, the PWD noted that HK$11,373 had been spent on the section completed in the year.

��/nowiki> the road will be principally used as a promenade, a wonderful panoramic view of the City, Harbour and surroundings being obtainable from it. Starting from Victoria Gap, the road contours the hillside below the Mount Austin Barracks, being practically level until it reaches a point below Bishop’s Lodge, whence it continues westwards with a rising grade of 1 in 18 to the end of the first section. It is 8 feet in width and is generally cut out of the hillside. In some places, it has been necessary to construct retaining walls in order to avoid excessive cutting or to improve the alignment of the road."#107 Roads and Streets". ''Report of the Director of Public Works for the year 1913''. p. P55
archived
by University of Hong Kong.

The construction was interrupted by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Lugard Road History
Gwulo The next section built after the war, to join the existing road with Harlech Road, is described having "a minimum width of 8 ft. throughout with a maximum gradient of 1 in 20". It comprises "1,448 lineal feet of reinforced concrete decking and beams carried on 87 cement concrete piers, 1,543 lineal feet of rubble retaining walling and 1,859 lineal feet of hillside benching". In 1920, the Director of Public Works reported that all the substantial pier work for the bridging, rubble retaining walls, cutting and channelling for that section had been completed. The steep terrain made progress slow, and challenges included "numerous dangerous boulders, weighing up to 45 tons each", which had to be removed.#101(c) "Roads: Lugard Road Extension". ''Report of the Director of Public Works for the year 1920''. p. Q42
archived
by University of Hong Kong. By the end of that year, all that still remained to be done was "a small amount of work consisting principally of bridge decking, railings, and road surfacing". Construction was completed in March 1921, the total project cost being $88,165.#101(a) "Roads: Lugard Road Extension". ''Report of the Director of Public Works for the year 1921''. p. Q49
archived
by University of Hong Kong.

Houses

While the Peak is a prestigious address, there are few houses along Lugard Road. Not designed for vehicular traffic, its width is insufficient for cars to pass in most places, making the houses close to inaccessible. Furthermore, the escarpments present challenges for construction. There was controversy when planning permission was lodged (and granted) to convert one of the properties along it into a luxury hotel in 2013.

Built heritage

* No. 1 Lugard Road, the

Peak Tram The Peak Tram is a funicular railway in Hong Kong, which carries both tourists and residents to the upper levels of Hong Kong Island. Running from Garden Road Admiralty to Victoria Peak via the Mid-Levels, it provides the most direct route and o ...

ways Office built about 1927 as a workshop, with an additional floor added in 1953, now serves as offices for the Peak Tramways Company. It has a highly unusual shape that can best be described as an

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

. It was listed as a Grade III historic building in 2010.List of the Historic Buildings in Building Assessment (@ 21 September 2012)
* No. 26 Lugard Road. Hong Kong Archive records show that a dwelling was constructed c.1890 on Rural Building Lot 52. The house was sold in 1899 to Joseph Charles Hoare, then

Bishop of Victoria The Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong was (from 1849 to 1951) the Ordinary of a corporation sole including Hong Kong and South China that ministered to 20,000 Anglicans. Bishops *18491865 (ret.): George SmithHandbook to the Diocese of Victoria (Hong K ...

, for HK$34,000. The property, thus named "Bishop's Lodge", was owned by Hoare and passed to his wife upon his drowning in a typhoon in 1906. In 1917, the property was sold for $20,830 to

Robert Hotung Sir Robert Ho Tung Bosman, (22 December 1862 – 26 April 1956), also known as Sir Robert Ho Tung, was a businessman and philanthropist in British Hong Kong. Known as "the grand old man of Hong Kong" (), he was knighted in 1915 (Knight Bachel ...

, who surrendered the lease to the Crown in June 1950, a process usually of exchange for other land. * No. 27 Lugard Road. The oldest house in Lugard Road is a two-storey private residence located at No. 27 designed by

Palmer and Turner P&T Group (), formerly known as Palmer and Turner Hong Kong (Chinese: 公和洋行; "Kung Wo Yeung Hong"), is an architectural firm in Hong Kong. It is one of the oldest architecture and engineering firms in the world, and it has designed many ...

and constructed in 1914. It was given Grade II historic building status by the

Antiquities Advisory Board The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of advising the Antiquities Authority on any matters relating to antiquities and monuments. The AAB was establish ...

in September 2013. The neo-classical colonial mansion was designed by

Lennox Godfrey Bird Lennox Godfrey Bird (1878–1956) was a British architect who was a prominent practitioner in Hong Kong. He was partner in Palmer and Turner (now P & T Architects & Engineers Ltd.) from 1907 to 1935. Bird was director of the Shek O Developmen ...

and owned by his brother

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

until it was sold to the Taikoo Dockyard & Engineering Co. in 1930 and used as a residence for their staff."N18: No. 27 Lugard Road"
. ''Historic Building Appraisal''. Leisure and Cultural Services Dept (June 2013)

Butterfield & Swire Swire Group () is a Hong Kong- and London-based British conglomerate. Many of its core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, where traditionally Swire's operations have centred on Hong Kong and mainland China. Within Asia ...

(太古洋行), successor to Taikoo Dockyard, turned the house into a staff mess. In September 2012, the property was acquired for HK$384 million by Ashley Pacific, a company that also owns and runs the Butterfly Hotel and Serviced Apartment Group. The new owners submitted application to the Town Planning Board (TPB) to transform the property into an up-scale boutique hotel. They proposed to expand the property by building two additional villas of two to three storeys each, making a total of 17 lettable units with a floor area of in excess of . Despite stiff objection from local groups and the District Council, the TPB approved the plan. * No. 28 Lugard Road is a pitched roof bungalow built by Lennox Bird, constructed in 1924. It was owned and occupied by Bird up to the war, after which it was sold. * No. 35 Lugard Road, Victoria Gap Substation, was built in 1928 by the

Hongkong Electric Company The Hongkong Electric Company (HEC; ) is one of Hong Kong's two main electricity generation companies, the other being China Light & Power. The company is owned by several companies including Power Assets Holdings, State Grid Corporation of Chi ...

to distribute electricity to different populated areas and serve as quarters for its engineers. The 4-storey neo-Georgian building still functions as a staff residence and an electric substation for the locality. The plant is located on the ground floor, while there is a flat on each of the remaining levels.Brief Information on Proposed Grade 3 Items, Item #888
. It has been a Grade III historic building since 2010.

References

External links

"No. 27 Lugard Road"
''Historic Building Appraisal'', Leisure and Cultural Services Dept. p. N18 {{HKislandroads Victoria Peak Roads on Hong Kong Island