First Tonglau Declared Monument - Lui Seng Chun

This month my blog continues the tonglau series by introducing Lui Seng Chun, the first tonglau to be declared monument in Hong Kong, which reflects the importance of vernacular architecture is gradually gaining official recognition, implies the hope of tonglau conservation. More importantly, Lui Seng Chun is the chosen site in my first group project 6 years ago, so I want to encore une fois to deepen the research.

On 18th November (Friday), I joined the guided tour (REGISTRER HERE), also asked the neighborhood for oral history. Their knowledge and insight provide bottom-up perspective to understand this building significance and revitalization effectiveness, which fill the gap of the official information.

Lui Seng Chun is a four-storey prewar tonglau built in 1931, designed by the architect W. H. Bourne, and owned by Mr. LUI Leung. It is a representative example of the third generation shophouse built of plastered red brickwork covered by cement and repainted in cream lime wash colour scheme, and reinforced concrete beams. The building was donated to the government by the Lui family in 2003 and then revitalized to a Chinese medical and healthcare centre with an herbal tea counter by the Hong Kong Baptist University in 2012 under Batch I of the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme (R-Scheme).

 

The shape of this building is like a ship in sweeping horizontal lines with rounded façade corner and projected canopies, looks ready to sail out from the Class B site[1] to the road. Actually, it is one of the characteristics of Streamline Moderne style architecture that emerged in the 1930s influenced by the advanced transportation and movement especially the fashion of the luxury ocean liner.

 

The first interesting part is that we can vaguely see the commercial advertisement letters on the granite column on the ground floor, which retain its historic value, greatly attributed to the effort of conservationist by handwashing with mild detergent.  

 

Building material is one of my interests, so I notice more the comparison of the material before and after revitalization. For example, the shanghai plastered exterior wall on the ground floor was finished in terrazzo in three colours – green, red and yellow. Some parts differ in colour code and composition, but they are distinguishable between the original and the new one. The original terrazzo tile is composed of black gravel, white and red oyster shells and polished to a high luster, which has a higher quality to be shiny under the sun. To retain the architectural significance of the place, the damaged terrazzo tiles were replaced by new terrazzo, which is like-for-like but duller. It reflects the rarity and loss of craftmanship.

 

On the exterior wall facing Lai Chi Kok Road, there was wooden shutters for the display windows. There are couplets on the both sides of the wooden shutters highlighting the business nature of Lui Seng Chun. According to the tour guide, it was used to sell bone-setting medicated wine which was convenient for passengers to buy the medicine outside the shop on the street. Some missing parts of glass panes and characters were kept in original state, which can retain authenticity.

In the interior area of the ground floor, there are two wooden plaques hung high at the entrance. The plaque bearing the name ‘’King Fook Tong’’ is the title of ancestral hall used to denote a particular branch of the Lui family, which is associated with the hometown of Mr. LUI Leung – King Fook Tong in Gongyi Port in Taishan. Taishanese always used the title of ancestral hall as the shop’s name, so the plaque tells the originality and the spiritual story of Mr. Lui’s medicated wine.

From 1/F to 3/F are the former residence of the Lui family, which illustrate the ‘shop below and dwelling above’ living style in the past. The front verandahs were the main living area for people since it is cooler than the interior rooms, and provide shade and shelter from the hot weather. The tour guide also said the descendant of Mr. Lui even rode a bicycle along the verandahs due to its circular shape.

 

Another interesting finding is that 1/F and 2/F are more decorative. There are some architectural elements and decoration only found in these two floors, such as the urn-shaped balustrade on the front verandahs, and the capital of the columns carved with the Greek key (this pattern symbolizes unity, infinity and the eternal flow of life through reproduction), which reflects the mix of architecture style in streamline modern and neoclassical design.

  

After revitalization, the front verandahs are transformed to exhibition areas and waiting zones for outpatient service. However, from 1/F to the rooftop are only open to people who register for the guided tour. I think the accessibility is low since the tour is organized on weekdays only, and known by a few people due to lack of promotion. There are lots of improvements in the revitalization project, but the architectural values are highly conserved which is worth appreciable!

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[1] “class B site”(乙類地盤) is defined by a corner site that abuts on 2 specified streets neither of which is less than 4.5 m wide, source from Cap. 123F Building (Planning) Regulations ─ Regulation 18A Site classification.