French Bank Building [c.1926-1963] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

French Bank Building [c.1926-1963]

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Submitted by David on Mon, 2013-11-18 17:00
Current condition: 
Demolished / No longer exists
Date Place completed: 
c.1926-01-01 (Year, Month, Day are approximate)
Date Place demolished: 
c.1963-06-30 (Month, Day are approximate)

5, Queen's Road Central. The southern end of Marine Lot 102.

 

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Photos that show this place

1945

Comments

Submitted by Herostratus on Mon, 2016-10-24 20:43.

In the Feb 1963 Lands Department aerial photos this building has been half demolished

Submitted by David on Tue, 2016-10-25 12:25.

Maps from the 1950s and early 60s show this named "French Bank Building", eg:

1950s Map of Central District
1950s Map of Central District, by Moddsey

I'm not sure yet if it was a different building from the Victoria Building, or the same building re-named. 

Submitted by Herostratus on Tue, 2016-10-25 14:04.

I'm trying to put together a complete history for this city block and what I have discovered for this lot so far is:

 

xxxx- 1924 Victoria buildings. On the HK land maps pre 1924 ML102 is shown as a single lot called the Victoria Buildings. I have assumed there were two possibly connected buildings one facing Queens Road the other the Praya. I have assumed 1924 as the demolish date as this is when HK land moved out and subsequent late 1920's/early 1930s photos show a new much taller office block on this site

 

c1925 - 1963 'French Bank Building'. The replacement for the victoria Buildings approximately 6 stories tall. The Bank of Canton was constructed on the Des Voeux Road north facing side at the same time. I have also seen this building referred to as the Hang Chong building in the late 1950s so I wonder if the name was changed before redevelopment of the site after the Hang Chong group purchased the property

 

Hang Chong Building 1965- 1994. HK land tried to buy this building in the 1980s so they could develop the whole block up to HSBC as a single building. I assumed 1994 as the demolish date as the Henley building started construction in 1995.

 

Henley House 1997 - Present: The current occupant of the site

 

The early history of the site is obscure. What happened a lot in the 1860's and 1870s is that extra stories and verandas were added to existing buildings rather than a complete demolish and rebuild. Is this then the same building?  A good photo of the original building in 1860 is here, labelled N.

 

 

Submitted by David on Wed, 2016-10-26 13:06.

I've found an article that gives some background on the Victoria Buildings, and made new Places for them then changed this page to be the Place for the French Bank Building.