The Standard Chartered Bank Building () is a skyscraper located in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

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 List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

. The tower rises 42 storeys and in height. The building was completed in 1990. It was designed by architectural firm P & T Architects & Engineers Ltd.

History

The site was previously home to the bank's former, 16-storey headquarters, built in 1959 and 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 ...

. In 1987, during the time of the negotiations of the Hong Kong sovereignty, the land "owner", The Standard Chartered Bank owned the life-time ( 999 years, until 2854) lease agreement with the

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the executive authorities of Hong Kong SAR. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino- ...

. Around this time, the bank signed an agreement with

Hang Lung Group Hang Lung Group is an investment holding company that engages in property development for sales and leasing, as well as management of car parks, properties, and dry cleaning businesses. Its subsidiary Hang Lung Properties is one of the largest p ...

, which now owns the land and the building and were responsible for the development cost and entire construction management. As part of the agreement, Hang Lung Group are required to lease back part of the floor area to

Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered plc is a multinational bank with operations in consumer, corporate and institutional banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in the UK, and around 9 ...

for a long period at a low fee. The new headquarters was designed, like its predecessor, by Palmer and Turner. It was constructed by a Gammon-Nishimatsu joint venture, and a superstructure topping-out ceremony was held on 21 March 1989. The new headquarters was officially opened in a ceremony on 30 May 1990 officiated over by bank chairman Rodney Galpin and Governor David Wilson. It cost approximately HK$600 million to construct. The building was financed through a unique arrangement, whereby Nishimatsu leased a portion of the building for a period of 25 years (until 2012), and then Standard Chartered leased most of this space back from Nishimatsu at pre-determined rates. Other areas of the building were let out directly by Nishimatsu. In December 1992, the building was sold to Amoy Properties, now called

Hang Lung Properties Hang Lung Properties, formerly Amoy Properties and currently subsidiary of Hang Lung Group, is a property developer in Hong Kong. It is a member of Hang Seng Index Constituent Stocks ( blue chip) and is headquartered in the Standard Chartered ...

, for HK$900 million, with Amoy assuming responsibility for leasing space from Nishimatsu on behalf of the bank.

Design

The building is 191 metres tall. Architect Remo Riva of Palmer and Turner led the building's design. The building is shaped so that the occupants can enjoy views of both

Statue Square Statue Square (; lit. "Empress' Statue Square") is a public pedestrian square in Central, Hong Kong. Built entirely on reclaimed land at the end of the 19th century, Statue Square consists of two parts separated by Chater Road into a n ...

and Government Hill. The lobby, on the side of the building that faces a small, dark alley, contains two huge stained glass windows, each 10 metres tall and 2.5 metres wide. They were designed by Riva and depict scenes of old and new Hong Kong. The windows were manufactured in London and shipped to Hong Kong. A third stained glass window faces the

HSBC Main Building HSBC Main Building is a headquarters building of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which is today a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based HSBC Holdings. It is located on the southern side of Statue Square near the location of the ...

and was designed by Patrick Leung, an interior designer at Palmer and Turner.

Current occupants

Currently, the building is home to the

headquarters and the headquarters of the

Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Standard Chartered Hong Kong (officially Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, ) is a licensed bank incorporated in Hong Kong and a subsidiary of Standard Chartered. It is also one of the three commercial banks licensed by the Hong Kong ...

, although the latter's main operation office is now located in Millennium City 1.

References

External links

Chartered Bank / Standard Chartered Bank building (1959–1986)
at gwulo.com {{coord, 22, 16, 48.26, N, 114, 9, 32.55, E, region:HK, display=title Skyscraper office buildings in Hong Kong 1990 establishments in Hong Kong Standard Chartered Bank buildings in Hong Kong Office buildings completed in 1990

History

Design

Current occupants

See also

References

External links