Former Central Government Offices

Office complex in Central, Hong Kong

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Justice Place
中區政府合署
Central Government Offices Building, view from the Peak
Map
Former namesFormer Central Government Offices
Government Headquarters
General information
Architectural styleInternational
LocationCentral
CountryHong Kong
Current tenantsDepartment of Justice
Completed1957; 67 years ago (1957)
Opened9 January 1957; 67 years ago (1957-01-09)
OwnerHong Kong Government
Central Government Offices
Traditional Chinese中區政府合署
Simplified Chinese中区政府合署
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōngqū Zhèngfǔ hé Shǔ
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationJūng kēui jing fú hahp chyúh
JyutpingZung1 koei1 zing3 fu2 hap6 cyu5
Government Headquarters
Traditional Chinese政府總部
Simplified Chinese政府总部
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhèngfǔ Zǒngbù
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationJing fú júng bouh
JyutpingZing3 fu2 zung2 bou6
Justice Place
Chinese律政中心
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLǜ Zhèng Zhōngxīn
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationLeuht jing jūng sām
JyutpingLoet6 zing3 zung1 sam1
Central Government Offices (Main Wing)
Central Government Offices (West Wing)
Central Government Offices (East Wing)
Central Government Offices in the Main Block of Central Government Complex (large building the background under construction)

The Former Central Government Offices (also the Government Headquarters), now called Justice Place, is an office building complex that formerly housed most of the major offices of the Hong Kong Government. The complex is located in Central, Hong Kong, occupying the lower level of Government Hill. The offices of the government have been relocated to the Main Block of the Central Government Complex, Tamar.

History

Completed in 1957 by the Government of Hong Kong, it replaced a two-storey colonial complex from the 1930s, the old Secretariat Building (built in 1847 and demolished in 1954).

Like Hong Kong City Hall, the complex was built in the International style.

Legislative Council

The Legislative Council of Hong Kong met here until 1985, when it moved to the old Supreme Court Building.

Government offices

All major government departments except the Department of Justice are now located at the Central Government Complex in Tamar. The Department of Justice remained at the former Central Government Offices Main and East Wing, which was renamed Justice Place.

Former home

The building that formerly housed the offices were actually a complex of three wings with a total of 76,000 square feet (7,100 m2) of offices:

The most familiar wing was the Main Wing, housing offices of the Chief Executive and site of most major protests against the Hong Kong Government (another site is the LegCo). In order to keep protesters who have not applied from entering the complex, a series of fences was erected in 1998 after the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997.

Plans are under way to replace the current buildings with a new 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m2) office at the Tamar basin and scheduled to be completed by 2010. Apart from government offices, the Tamar site will also house the Legislative Council and provide not less than 22,000 square metres of open space for public enjoyment. The cost for developing the entire Tamar site is estimated at HKD5.2 billion.

Plans after 2011 will likely see the Justice Department re-locate to the Main and East Wings. The government has proposed to demolish the West Wing while community groups are proposing to protect the historic site.[1]

List of tenants of the three complexes:

See also

References

  1. ^ CE lays out his vision for a greener and more vibrant Hong Kong

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Former Central Government Offices.