Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
(Day is approximate.)
Date closed / demolished
(Day & Month are approximate.)
The mid-1950's map at https://gwulo.com/media/14175 shows a development labelled "Peak Pavilions Government Quarters" on this site. Post war pics show a tower block occupying the site where the "Peak Pavilion" Government bungalow had stood from 1910/11.
Guy previously posted the following pic which appeared in a 1952 publication and referred to newly built flats for civil servants, i.e. the tall building in the middle on the skyline.
For this reason alone, I've chosen 1951 as the construction completion date.
Previous place(s) at this location
Photos that show this Place
1952
1954
1950s
Comments
Peak Pavilions
My grandparents, Jack and Mildred Bottomley, lived at Peak Pavilions from 1949-1956 when my grandfather retired. Jack was in Hong Kong during the War and interned at Shamshuipo and Argyle Street. However, my grandmother and the three children, Marjorie, David (my Dad), and John were lucky enough to be on leave when War broke out in Europe in September 1939 and remained there for almost ten years. My father and his brother returned to HK by air in late 1948 and his mother and sister Marjorie by sea aboard the "Canton" in early 1949. My father wrote this in his memoirs:-
"When we arrived in Hong Kong we stayed at the Government Hostel on Mody Road, Kowloon where my mother and Marjorie joined us mid-January. Some Government staff stayed at the Peninsula Hotel, but we didn't. Our flat at 11 Peak Pavilions, 160 The Peak, was under construction and was ready for occupation late-February 1949 and we moved in then. We were on the top floor with lovely views, but no air-conditioning so in warm weather the windows were always open. It was very damp at times, but all our things were kept in a hot room to keep dry. The address became 12 Mount Kellett Road in September 1960."
Completion and Demolition Dates
Thanks Robbot27,
I've amended the completion date to Feb 1949.
"The Peak: An Illustrated History of Hong Kong's Top District", by Richard J. Garrett (ISBN 978-988-77927-0-3), has this to say about the building;
"After WWII a low-rise apartment block, Peak Pavilions (12 Mt. Kellett Road), was built and was occupied by government officials until the early years of the 21st century. In the aftermath of the War designers were in short supply and a design intended for a hospital was used for the block. The same design was used for Government blocks on Mount Nicholson, and the layout, which provided wide corridors for moving beds and patients, was a little strange for a residence. The site was sold in 2007 for a record sum of $1.8 billion and the block pulled down in 2008 for redevelopment as luxury townhouses."
Peak Pavilions Flats
Thanks to Moddsey for linking the following article on Peak Pavilions from "The Hong Kong and Far East Builder" magazine of Jan & Feb 1949.
Hong Kong and Far East builder, vol.7 no.3 (January & February, 1949)
The article states that the Peak Pavilions design was similar to and based upon that for Leighton Hill Government Flats, rather than Mount Nicholson as mentioned in my last post. The November and December, 1948 edition of the same magazine contains the same claim re Leighton Hill Quarters and gives further details on the construction of Peak Pavilions Flats.
"...was started towards the end of 1947, and the foundations completed during January of this year. The concreting of the roof was completed in July, all brickwork and wall concreting work by the end of September, at which time joinery work and fittings were well in hand".