Mei Ho House

Mei Ho House
美荷樓

Mei Ho House in 2013, after renovation
General information
Location Shek Kip Mei Estate, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong
Coordinates 22°20′02″N 114°09′49″E / 22.33395°N 114.163705°E / 22.33395; 114.163705
Opening 2013
Management Hong Kong Youth Hostels Association
Affiliation Hostelling International
Other information
Number of rooms 129
Number of restaurants 1
Parking No
Website
www.yha.org.hk/en/hostel/yha-mei-ho-house-youth-hostel/

Mei Ho House (Chinese: 美荷樓), formerly part of Shek Kip Mei Estate, Hong Kong, is the last remaining example of a "Mark II" building in a single-block configuration. While the other buildings of the estate dating from the 1950s have been demolished, being replaced by new ones, Mei Ho House was chosen to be preserved.

History

Mei Ho during the 1956 riots. A banner can be clearly seen hanging from the building.

After a devastating fire in December 1953 that left thousands homeless, the Colonial government built a 29-block resettlement estate on the site of the burnt-down shanties to house the homeless victims.[1] Eight blocks (Blocks A to H), later renumbered as Blocks 10 through 13 and 35 through to 41, were constructed with the financial aid of the United Nations (Mei Ho House is Block H, later Block 41). These 7-storey blocks were constructed in an 'H' configuration consisting of 2 residential wings, with communal sanitary facilities linking them.

During the Hong Kong 1956 riots, the building was used as one of the bases for the rioters.

Preservation

Fullcup Cafe after revitalization in 2013
The hostel inside Mei Ho House

The building will be tentatively preserved as a record of Hong Kong's public housing development. It was listed as a Grade I historic building in 2005 and as a Grade II historic building in 2010.[2]

In 2008, it was part of the seven buildings of Batch I of the Hong Kong Government's Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme.[3] On 17 February 2009, the government declared that the building will be used by the Hong Kong Youth Hostels Association as "City Hostel". The capital cost of the project is estimated at HK$192.3 million. Estimated completion time is 2012.[4] The hostel will also have an exhibition area with guided tour detailing the living environment of public housing units in the past.[5]

Opening

Mei Ho House Youth Hostel will be open for business from Thursday, 24 October 2013. A dormitory room with four bunk beds costs from HK$260 per person. A double room costs from HK$680 per night while a family room costs from HK$1,320. At the opening, Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam described it as a "pioneering renovation project" for a public housing estate and "very meaningful."[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Choi, Barry (30 June 1975). "Housing means more than a roof" (PDF). South China Morning Post. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
  2. ↑ List of the Historic Buildings in Building Assessment Archived 22 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Conserve and Revitalise Hong Kong Heritage: Batch I of Revitalisation Scheme
  4. ↑ Batch I of Revitalisation Scheme – Result of Selection – Mei Ho House as City Hostel
  5. ↑ "Mei Ho House of Livelihood". Hong Kong Youth Hostels Association. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  6. ↑ Qi Luo (22 October 2013). "Hostel brings new life to estate block". The Standard.
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