Chater House () is an office tower in Central,

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 Delta i ...

. Opened in March 2003, it is a part of the Hongkong Land portfolio of properties. It has a three-level retail podium, known as Landmark Chater. The building was built on the site of the former Swire House, and was named after

Sir Paul Chater Sir Catchick Paul Chater ( hy, Փոլ Չաթեր; ; 8 September 1846 – 27 May 1926) was a prominent British businessman of Armenian descent in colonial Hong Kong, whose family roots were in Calcutta, India. Biography Early life Chater was ...

. The building faces streets on three sides:

Chater Road Chater Road is a three-lane road in Central, Hong Kong named after Sir Paul Chater. It begins at its intersection with Pedder Street and Des Voeux Road Central in the west, and ends at Murray Road in the east. It divides Statue Square int ...

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 Connaught Road Central.

Plot history

There were three buildings on the site between 1905 and 1958, namely Mansions Building (Hotel Mansions, later renamed Union Building), King's Building and York Building.gwulo.com
Swire House (originally named "Union House") 962–1998/ref>

Union Building

Following the Praya reclamation of 1890–1904, a building was constructed and opened in 1905, that served as offices of Canadian Pacific Ocean Services (G/F) and Hong Kong, Canton & Macao Steamboat Company (1/F). This building was acquired in 1921, and used as its headquarters by the Union Insurance Society of Canton Ltd., and then became known as Union Building (). It was bought by The Hongkong Land Company in 1946, and was demolished in 1950. Hongkong Land later acquired the adjacent King's Building and demolished it in 1958 to complete the Union House complex.

King's Building

King's Building was built in 1905 and was for some time home to Marconi Wireless. The building was located along Connaught Road, next to the Union Building. It was demolished in 1958.

York Building

York Building was built in 1905 and demolished in 1958.

Swire House

The 23-storey building, initially called Union House (), was completed in 1962, and had a total floor space of 34,000 square metres (370,000 sq ft). in the 1970s, the

Swire Group 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, ...

, gained naming rights for the building, which was renamed Swire House () in 1976. In 1997, the main tenant of the building was Cathay Pacific, which occupied about 30% of the floor space. Other tenants included other Swire group companies, including Swire Pacific and Swire Industries. Swire House was demolished on 5 October 1998.

Chater House

The site was again redeveloped by Hongkong Land when the new

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...

opened in 1998. The building's main tenant, Cathay Pacific, relocated to Cathay City when the airport moved to its new site at

Chek Lap Kok Chek Lap Kok is an island in the western waters of Hong Kong's New Territories. Unlike the smaller Lam Chau, it was only partially leveled when it was assimilated via land reclamation into the island for the current Hong Kong International ...

, while Swire Group moved to Pacific Place in Admiralty. Chater House has a total floor area of 438,500 net sq.ft. (498,000 sq ft. gross), was designed by architects Kohn Pedersen Fox. It was originally configured into 30 floors – 474,000 net sq. ft – of office accommodation above a three-level retail podium of 45,000 net sq.ft. (81,000 sq ft. gfa) and a three-level basement, which includes 112 parking spaces. When the project was announced, in 1997, the estimated cost was HK$2.3 billion, and would complete in 2003. Architecture firm Aedas were the architect for the Chater House. The main contractor was Gammon Construction. The building is linked to the

Central Elevated Walkway The Central Elevated Walkway is an extensive footbridge network spanning Admiralty, Central and parts of Sheung Wan, near Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. The system was built in phases by the Hong Kong Government and various developers, such as ...

, also owned by Hong Kong Land. In 2014, the display of Antony Gormley's art installation ''

Event Horizon In astrophysics, an event horizon is a boundary beyond which events cannot affect an observer. Wolfgang Rindler coined the term in the 1950s. In 1784, John Michell proposed that gravity can be strong enough in the vicinity of massive compact ob ...

'' at Chater House was cancelled when US investment bank

JPMorgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the w ...

, which has offices in the building, asked Hongkong Land – the sponsor of ''Event Horizon'' – to cancel its support for the show after bank employee Dennis Li Junjie jumped to his death from the building's roof.

Tenants

The main tenant of Chater House is

, who have their

Asia Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...

headquarters in the building. Other current tenants include

Franklin Templeton Investments Franklin Resources, Inc. is an American multinational holding company that, together with its subsidiaries, is referred to as Franklin Templeton; it is a global investment firm founded in New York City in 1947 as Franklin Distributors, Inc. It is ...

Jane Street Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fi ...

and previous tenants include the Securities and Futures Commission. Previously the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors was headquartered in the Swire House.Home page
Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors. February 6, 1998. "1934 Swire House, Chater Road, Central, HONG KONG."

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* Exchange Square *

Mandarin Oriental Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group International Limited (MOHG) is a Hong Kong hotel investment and management group focusing on luxury hotels, resorts, and residences, with a total of 33 properties worldwide, 20 of which are fully or partially ow ...

(formerly Queen's Building) *

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Prince's Building Prince's Building is an office tower with a six-level shopping centre, known as Landmark Prince's. Located along the western side of the southern section of Statue Square in Central, Hong Kong near Central station, the building is connected to ...

* The Landmark *

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* HSBC Building *

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* Three Garden Road *

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References

External links

Chater House
on Hongkong Land website {{Cathay Pacific Group Central, Hong Kong Hongkong Land JPMorgan Chase buildings Skyscraper office buildings in Hong Kong Shopping centres in Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Kohn Pedersen Fox buildings Office buildings completed in 2003 2003 establishments in Hong Kong