The 176-year-old "Murray House of Murray House" in Hong Kong was relocated in its original outfit – highlighting the conservation spirit of Hong Kong people.
Built in 1846, Murray House was originally a barracks for the British Army in Hong Kong. Named after sir George Murray, then Director of Ordnance.
It blends Chinese and Western architectural styles, with Western-style columns and Chinese tile roofs, which is the most common architectural design in Hong Kong's colonial period.
During the Japanese rule, the Japanese used it as the headquarters of the gendarmerie and housed several prisoner cells and prison pens, where it is said that 4,000 people were killed.
After the end of World War II, the Murray Building was used as a government office building, and the government arranged for the ceremony, and the then director of the Transportation Department, Brian Wilson, invited 70 monks to chant and burn incense, spending two hours to comfort the dead.
In 1982, the Hong Kong government sold Murray House for HK$120 million to bank of China Tower, one of Hong Kong's landmark buildings, designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei.
The Hong Kong government decided to preserve and relocate the historic building of Murray Building in its entirety. More than 3,000 pieces of the building, including local granite, were numbered and stored in government warehouses.
Sixteen years later, in 1998, Murray House was rebuilt in Stanley. Become the oldest surviving and representative of Hong Kong's colonial characteristic architecture.
The only fly in the ointment is that the smoke pass that was originally used as ventilation was lost when it was dismantled, and it was replaced by 8 smoke passes from a mental hospital with a history of 100 years old when it was rebuilt.
For one of these reasons, Murray House was downgraded from a Grade I historic building to no rating.
Because of this, today's Murray Building has been widely used in a variety of commercial platforms, including international brands.
Wander the black-and-white tiled promenade and touch the brown wooden doors as if wandering through the time of history.
Looking out over the railing, drinking a nostalgic cocktail, I can't help but think of it.
(The last picture is of another conservation building in Hong Kong.
