HKU Bulletin June 2011 (Vol. 12 No. 2)

The compound of the Sheng Kung Hui Church is a repository of Hong Kong's social and religious history, containing one of the only buildings to have survived a major fire in the city in the 1870s. The Housing Society and St James' Settlement were founded there, Chung Chi College was based there for a while, author Han Suyin was rumoured to have written A Many-Splendoured Thing in its guesthouse, and 19 th century explorer and writer Isabella Bird made a stop at the Bishop's House. The Faculty of Architecture is now playing a role in preserving the church's rich legacy after being commissioned to draft a conservation management plan for the site, which is about to undergo major redevelopment. Four buildings are earmarked for conservation - the Bishop's House, the old Kei Yan Primary School, the Church Guest House and St Paul's Church - and Masters students in the Architectural Conservation Programme (ACP) have conducted detailed surveys of the buildings under the supervision of academic staff, Dr Lee Ho-yin. "The Anglican church is part of the Hong Kong government's 'Conserving Central' project. This is the first voluntary heritage impact assessment to be carried out in Hong Kong and hopefully the work we have done will set an example for future," says Tris Kee, Director of the Faculty's Community Project Workshop (CPW) which has helped to oversee the students' work. Recent MSc(Conservation) graduate Inaciso Chan Ping-chi, who is now Research Assistant in the CPW, was the co-ordinator. "In the end, we generated a management plan and assessment for the compound, which was in quite good condition because it had had regular maintenance. Our recommendation at the moment is that they don't need to do any major intervention." Stories in the bricks The students also uncovered fascinating information about the church's history, much of which had been dormant for decades, through documents such as public records and personal accounts written by people like Isabella Bird, whose visit to the Bishop's House helped to date the building because she arrived just after the 1870s fire that destroyed most of the city's structures. Han Suyin describes the church guesthouse in her book, although the students found no independent record of her staying there. They had better luck with tunnels that were dug during the Japanese occupation: records of these finally came to light after a meeting between the students and the church, when an engineer in attendance was able to track the records in the Lands Department. The final report was submitted to the church in April and will be a reference for not only the current redevelopment, but also any future projects. Ms Kee says they are also in talks with the church about doing oral histories of the buildings, including people who work there and the architects of the redevelopment. Inaciso says: "Conservation is all about people. If people don't understand the history and architectural value, it doesn't make sense to conserve the buildings." Assessing the buildings The students took measurements and surveyed the condition of the buildings, and examined everything from the windows, ceiling features, mosaic floors, staircases and stone carvings, to the type of paint used and the addition of structures such as enclosed balconies. All of this was photographed. They also carried out historical research which included archival searches and interviews with people who had used the buildings over the years, and they attended planning meetings with the architects of the redevelopment project. Building plans had to be carefully combed through because there had been a number of changes to the buildings and their use. There were five different versions of plans, making it a headache to determine the original purpose of different rooms. Teaching and Learning 27 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin June 2011 A Modern Assessment of a Historic Church The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (Anglican Church) has had a presence in Hong Kong for more than 160 years. The church plans to redevelop part of the site, but first sought out conservation advice from the Faculty of Architecture.