Old Dairy Farm Depot
Building in Central, Hong Kong
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Old Dairy Farm Depot, or Old Dairy Farm Building, is a building in Central, Hong Kong, which currently houses the Hong Kong Fringe Club (South Block) and the Foreign Correspondents' Club (North Block). It is located at 2 Lower Albert Road. The back of the building is located along Wyndham Street, while its edge faces Glenealy.[1]
| Old Dairy Farm Depot | |
|---|---|
舊牛奶公司倉庫 | |
A view of the curved, striped end of the South Block from Glenealy | |
 Interactive map of the Old Dairy Farm Depot area | |
General information | |
| Status | Leased – arts venue & clubhouse |
Architectural style | Late Victorian eclectic |
| Classification | Grade I declared monument |
| Location | Hong Kong, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central |
| Current tenants | North Foreign Correspondents' Club South Fringe Club |
Construction started | 1890 |
| Renovated | 1913 |
| Landlord | Government Property Agency |
| Design and construction | |
Architecture firm | Danby & Leigh |
| Main contractor | Dairy Farm |
| Renovating team | |
| Awards | Antiquities & Monuments Office's Award of Merit |
| Old Dairy Farm Depot | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 舊牛奶公司倉庫 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 旧牛奶公司仓库 | ||||||||||||
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| Old Dairy Farm Building | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 舊牛奶公司寫字樓 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 旧牛奶公司写字楼 | ||||||||||||
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History
In 1892, Dairy Farm built a low-rise brick and a stucco building on Lower Albert Road in Central for use as a cold storage warehouse. It was designed by Danby & Leigh (now Leigh & Orange).[2] The original depot only comprised about half (the southern part) of the present premises. This warehouse was later renovated and expanded in 1913, 1917 and 1925 to include a dairy shop, a room for meat smoking, a cold storage room for winter clothes and residency for the general manager. The building later evolved into the company headquarters until the company moved in the 1970s.[3]
The Foreign Correspondents' Club started occupying the North Block in 1982. The South Block has been leased by the Hong Kong Fringe Club since 1984.[3] It has undergone many major renovations since the Fringe Club moved in.[citation needed]
Architecture
The building is built in the Eclectic architectural style with strong Neoclassical and some Arts and Crafts influence. The facade features polychromatic "bandaged" brickworks.[3]
Conservation
The building is located along the Central and Western Heritage Trail.[4] It was listed as a Grade II historic building in 1981, and as a Grade I historic building in 2009.[5] The project of renovation and refurbishment of the Old Dairy Farm Building and its conversion into the Hong Kong Fringe Club was a winner of the 2001 Hong Kong Heritage Awards, organised by the Antiquities Advisory Board and the Antiquities and Monuments Office.[6]
