Jardine House

Jardine House
怡和大廈
Jardine House, as seen from Victoria Harbour; General Post Office in the foreground.
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Commercial offices
Location	1 Connaught Place Hong Kong
Coordinates
Completed	1972
Opening	1973
Cost	HK$$18,589,744
Owner	Hongkong Land
Height
Roof	178.5 m (585.6 ft)
Top floor	168.5 m (552.8 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	52
Floor area	700,000 sq ft (65,032 m2)
Lifts/elevators	24 + 2
Design and construction
Architect	Palmer & Turner
Developer	Hongkong Land
Main contractor	Gammon Construction
References

Jardine House (Chinese: 怡和大廈), formerly known as Connaught Centre (康樂大廈), is an office tower in Hong Kong. The building is located at 1 Connaught Place, Central on Hong Kong Island. It is owned by Hongkong Land Limited, a subsidiary of Jardines. At the time of its completion in 1972, Jardine House was the tallest building in Hong Kong and in Asia. In 1980, the Hopewell Centre usurped the title of the tallest building in Hong Kong. The building is interconnected by the Central Elevated Walkway with buildings of Hongkong Land Limited like Exchange Square and the International Finance Centre.

History

File:Tcitp d219 old premises of jardine matheson and co.jpg

First generation Jardine House in the 1900s.

Second generation Jardine House in the 1930s.

Previous Jardine Houses

Jardine House (first building from the right) is located in the central business district on Hong Kong Island, next to the HSBC Building, Cheung Kong Center and the BOC Tower.

The first three generations of Jardine Houses were situated at 20 Pedder Street, at the corner of Des Voeux Road Central. The first Jardine House was probably built around 1841 after Jardine's successful bid for its lots on The Praya Central. In 1908, the second Jardine House was built. It was rebuilt in around 1956 as a 16-storey building. The building was sold by Jardines during the land acquisition exercise of the Landmark complex in Central and 20 Pedder Street is now occupied by the Wheelock House.

New Jardine House

The new building was constructed on a piece of reclaimed land, under a lease term of 75 years, which was secured by Hongkong Land Limited at a record price of HK$258 million in 1970, payable interest free over a period of 10 years. In exchange, the Government agreed that no building directly to the north of Jardine House would ever be built to obstruct its views. As a result, the height of General Post Office building was capped at 120 ft (37 m). Building costs were estimated at $120 million. Construction of the fifty-two-storey building took 16 months. Metal lettering from the Old Jardine House was salvaged and used in the lobby of the New Jardine House.

Design

The building is constructed with a metal frame, and a curtain wall with round windows. The thickness of the structural frame is reduced because of the shape of the windows. Unusually for a Jardine property, elevators were produced by Otis Elevator, while escalators were manufactured by Schindler Elevator.

The circular design of the windows has earned the building the nickname, "The House of a Thousand Arseholes."

Current tenants

• The East Asia Regional Headquarters of BASF are located on 19th and 42nd to 46th floor.
• The tai pan of Jardine Matheson keeps an office on the top two floors.
• British Airways and Qantas Airways ticket office is on the 24th floor.
• The Hong Kong headquarters of Rolex are located on the 14th floor.
• JPMorgan Chase financial firm has an office on 2-floor.
• The Hong Kong office of Ashurst is on the 11th floor.
• The Hong Kong office of Slaughter and May is on the 47th floor.
• The Hong Kong office of Clifford Chance is on the 28th floor.
• The Hong Kong office of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken is on the 17th floor.
• The Hong Kong office of Norton Rose Fulbright is on the 38th Floor
• The Hong Kong office of Mannheimer Swartling Advokatbyrå is on the 33rd floor.

In popular culture

Jardine House was prominently displayed in the 1988 NBC television miniseries Noble House as the headquarters for Struan's. It also appeared in establishing shots in The Amsterdam Kill and The Mighty Peking Man (1977). The building was also featured in the 1978 episode titled "The Chinese Web" of The Amazing Spider Man TV series.

Gallery

• Jardine House seen from IFC2.jpg

  Jardine House seen from IFC2

• Jardine House taken from the Pedestrian bridge skywalk entrance.jpg

  Taken from the Pedestrian bridge skywalk at Central/IFC

• HK Central Jardine House C1.JPG

  Jardine House, 2007

• HK Statue Square Xmas Tree Mandarin Oriental Hotel.JPG

  The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Jardine House and IFC2 seen from Statue Square, 2006

• 

  Jardine House Lift Lobby in Ground Floor

See also

• List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong
• List of tallest buildings in Hong Kong

External links

• Jardine House, Hong Kong Land website
• Pictures of Jardine House at skyscraperphotos.com