HK Telephone Building / Telephone House, Nathan Road [c.1948-c.1976] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

HK Telephone Building / Telephone House, Nathan Road [c.1948-c.1976]

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Submitted by David on Sun, 2009-01-18 19:10
Current condition: 
Demolished / No longer exists
Date Place completed: 
c.1948-12-31 (Year, Month, Day are approximate)
Date Place demolished: 
c.1976-01-01 (Year, Month, Day are approximate)

This was described as Kowloon's 'first skyscraper', all of 12 storeys high! It certainly stands out in photos from the 1950s.

It stood at the junction of Cameron & Nathan Roads, on the northeast corner.

Tags: 
1950 Military Installations Closed Areas
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1948
1948
1949
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Comments

Submitted by David on Sun, 2010-02-28 19:00.

I've set the completion date to the end of 1948:

  • The newspaper clipping from 2 Feb 1948 reported that the first piles would be driven the same week, and that the building would be completed within one year.
  • It appears in a photo from Flickr dated 1948.

But... it could just as easily be 1949. I ran a search through the 1948/9 newspapers for 'telephone', but only found the clipping shown above. Can anyone else confirm the completion date?

Submitted by P (not verified) on Sat, 2010-03-20 00:54.

Perhaps it was completed in 1949, here's why---

In the September-October issue of the HK and Far East Builder periodical (Vol 8, No. 1, available in HKU Library) shows an article of this building on pp. 9-11. 

It shouldn't have taken so long for the journal to run an article on the building if it had been completed a year earlier?

Submitted by P (not verified) on Sat, 2010-03-20 00:55.

sorry, missed out the most important detail:

September-October 1949, Vol 8 No. 1 

Submitted by moddsey on Sat, 2010-03-20 14:24.

In 1949, the Telephone Exchange Building was renamed Telephone House.

Submitted by annelisec on Fri, 2010-09-03 13:28.

The Telephone Building appears to have been toward the middle of the block.  Perhaps we could move the marker, so that the building at the intersection, that stands out in this 1920s postcard, can be properly located.

Nathan Road

Submitted by David on Fri, 2010-09-03 15:42.

I think the current marker's about right. The newspaper clipping above says it was built "at the corner of Nathan and Cameron Roads".

Submitted by David on Tue, 2020-07-28 11:48.

I've added a guess at a demolition date based on the completion date for the next building on this site.