Triple story public toilet blocks

Submitted by wongm on Mon, 02/16/2015 - 14:37

Around Hong Kong there are many triple-story public toilet blocks / bathhouses, some of which appear to date back to the 1950s or 1960s.

Here is one on Shek Ku Lung Road in Kowloon City:

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@22.332433,114.187648,3a,44.6y,23h,104.24t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sRrQYgobPTglhgZ-y6La1Mw!2e0

Off Tung Tau Tsuen Road in Kowloon City:

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@22.330319,114.193314,3a,75y,93.5h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sy-XBFwh0A4Ez7ecaMmdutA!2e0

And on Cheung Chau:

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@22.207313,114.030349,3a,75y,344.32h,98.24t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sReUUDjAZzWZwGup2F0ZIEQ!2e0!3e5

The usual layout has the ladies toilet on the ground floor, the men's toilet on the first floor, and the caretaker's residence on the top floor.

Does anyone know more about the history of the design?

Hi there,

I believe first such public bath/toilet was built at the junction of Pound Lane & Tai Ping Shan Street in Sheung Wan. The building still exist and is still in use. It was built after the plague in the Tai Ping Shan area in the turn of the 20th Century.

It had become a talk of the town in recent months because it had been considered an obstacle of the proposed Pound Land Escalator Project. Don't know what would become of it. But for something that old, shouldn't it be protected? If they must built the escalator, could they build an elevated one instead, just like the one in Central?

T

One can refer to the HKGRO for information on public bath houses. 1902 PWD Annual Report mentions that a public bath house with boiler was built on Cross Street, Wanchai. This would have been the first public bath house constructed. The one at Pound Lane came a year later in 1903. Both locations are still in use but not with their original designs.

Hi there,

Was I being misled by those recent news clips concerning the escalator project then?

Anyway, I could not recall how did the one in Cross Street look like. I wonder when was it being rebuilt.

Thanks & Best Regards,
T