Former Central Government Offices

The Former Central Government Offices (also the Government Headquarters), now called Justice Place, is an office building complex that formerly housed most of the major offices of the Hong Kong Government. The complex is located in Central, Hong Kong, occupying the lower level of Government Hill. The offices of the government have been relocated to the Main Block of the Central Government Complex, Tamar.

Justice Place
中區政府合署
Central Government Offices Building, view from the Peak
Former names	Former Central Government Offices Government Headquarters
General information
Architectural style	International
Location	Central
Country	Hong Kong
Current tenants	Department of Justice
Completed	1957 (1957)
Opened	9 January 1957 (1957-01-09)
Owner	Hong Kong Government

Central Government Offices
Traditional Chinese	中區政府合署
Simplified Chinese	中区政府合署
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngqū Zhèngfǔ hé Shǔ Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jūng kēui jing fú hahp chyúh Jyutping Zung1 koei1 zing3 fu2 hap6 cyu5
Government Headquarters
Traditional Chinese	政府總部
Simplified Chinese	政府总部
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhèngfǔ Zǒngbù Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jing fú júng bouh Jyutping Zing3 fu2 zung2 bou6
Justice Place
Chinese	律政中心
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǜ Zhèng Zhōngxīn Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Leuht jing jūng sām Jyutping Loet6 zing3 zung1 sam1

Central Government Offices (Main Wing)

Central Government Offices (West Wing)

Central Government Offices (East Wing)

Central Government Offices in the Main Block of Central Government Complex (large building the background under construction)

History

Completed in 1957 by the Government of Hong Kong, it replaced a two-storey colonial complex from the 1930s, the old Secretariat Building (built in 1847 and demolished in 1954).

Like Hong Kong City Hall, the complex was built in the International style.

Legislative Council

The Legislative Council of Hong Kong met here until 1985, when it moved to the old Supreme Court Building.

Government offices

All major government departments except the Department of Justice are now located at the Central Government Complex in Tamar. The Department of Justice remained at the former Central Government Offices Main and East Wing, which was renamed Justice Place.

Former home

The building that formerly housed the offices were actually a complex of three wings with a total of 76,000 square feet (7,100 m²) of offices:

• Main Wing (18 Lower Albert Road) – 8 floors and Annex
• East Wing (20 Lower Albert Road)
• West Wing (11 Ice House Street) – 7-13 floors

The most familiar wing was the Main Wing, housing offices of the Chief Executive and site of most major protests against the Hong Kong Government (another site is the LegCo). In order to keep protesters who have not applied from entering the complex, a series of fences was erected in 1998 after the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997.

Plans are under way to replace the current buildings with a new 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m²) office at the Tamar basin and scheduled to be completed by 2010. Apart from government offices, the Tamar site will also house the Legislative Council and provide not less than 22,000 square metres of open space for public enjoyment. The cost for developing the entire Tamar site is estimated at HKD5.2 billion.

Plans after 2011 will likely see the Justice Department re-locate to the Main and East Wings. The government has proposed to demolish the West Wing while community groups are proposing to protect the historic site.

List of tenants of the three complexes:

• West Wing
  • Civil Service Bureau
  • Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau
  • Economic Development Bureau
  • Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau
• Main Wing
  • Constitutional Affairs Bureau
  • Security Bureau
  • Chief Executive
• East Wing
  • Security Bureau

See also

• Central Government Complex, Tamar
• Government Secretariat (Hong Kong)
• Legislative Council Building

References

• Sing Pao Star Daily, 23 October 2005 No 176, p 50–52

External links

• Old Secretariat Building
• "Our Government Hill"
• Public Views Invited on the Proposed Gradings of the Post 1950 Former Central Government Offices, Plans and Photos, Reference materials
• Central Government Offices, Historic and Architectural Appraisal Archived 13 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine, 2009
• Antiquities Advisory Board. Historic Building Appraisal. Former Central Government Offices (CGO), Central, Hong Kong. Pictures: Site, Main Wing, East Wing West Wing