Home > Sectors > Built Heritage
Built Heritage
by John Herbert | Director
Heritage buildings are a vital and vibrant part of history, and with Kelcroft's skill, experience and commitment, will ensure your heritage refurbishment project meets your requirements.
Above: The Foreign Correspondents Club, Albert Road, Central Hong Kong
[photograph by John Herbert]
Heritage projects are challenging, renovating and upgrading facilities to meet
the needs of modern society, within a hundred year old
structure requires innovation, patience, and attention to detail.
Knowledge and Experience
Having met these challenges, both here and overseas, Kelcroft's unique
experience adds distinctive value to your design team with heritage,
licensing, and project management skills honed to meet the challenge.
Let's take a closer look at one an example, in Albert Road, Central,
Hong Kong - presently occupied by the The Foreign Correspondents
Club (pictured above).
This splendid building erected circa. 1903, having a red brick
structure, and classified as grade II listed building by the
Antiques and Monument Department (AMD).
Amongst many outstanding features, the facade, high ceilings, the tile
roof and a fabulous space on the first floor, today converted to a dining
room. The dining room sports circular windows, and a timber open truss
structure supporting a tiled roof.
Renovating and refurbishing heritage buildings requires creation
of a built environment that must meet the criteria of serving the
needs of the end user, and compliance with modern code requirements.
The Fire Services Installation (FSI) is a challenge in any
building, especially licensed premises and
onerous for heritage buildings. The FCC renovation project also
incorporated complex phased programme to maintain an operational
facility during the execution of the works.
Other challenges included, designing new installation and systems
within the existing structural strength tolerance, and maintaining the facade.
Under the auspices of the Antiques and Monument ordinance, the
facade of gazetted (listed) buildings cannot be altered, without specific
written permission. Incidentally, this is a restriction applied to all
heritage properties.
Maintaining the visual environment, including the main dining room area
was a key client consideration from the outset, and deemed equally
important as achieving code compliance - it was a challenge successfully
planned and executed.
Details Matter
Attention to detail is a key part of the Kelcroft philosophy (details
matter). The next time you walk past the FCC take a look at the external storm water (rainwater) pipework,
and I think you will agree that my specification maintains the overall heritage of the building.
Further information
Having successfully completed heritage refurbishment projects both here in Hong Kong and overseas, Kelcroft helps owners solve built heritage problems. For further information contact Mr John Herbert at our Hong Kong office.