Flying Through The Vanishing Housing Estates in Hong Kong (3) - Kwun Lung Lau 飛越消失中的香港屋邨 (3) - 觀龍樓 скачать в хорошем качестве

Flying Through The Vanishing Housing Estates in Hong Kong (3) - Kwun Lung Lau 飛越消失中的香港屋邨 (3) - 觀龍樓

Kwun Lung Lau was one of the first public housing development in Hong Kong, It was built in 1967 on a steep hillside. It originally consisted of seven 20-storey connected blocks with long corridor on each floor spanning over 200 metres, end-to-end connecting over 100 units. There was a total of 2,073 units for a population of around 13,000. Aerial view would clearly show the 7 connected blocks are shaped like a winding dragon, hence its Chinese name which means Watching Dragon Building. Due to the lack of space, public facilities such as community centres, residents' committee offices, libraries, kindergartens, sports fields, etc. are arranged on the rooftops of various buildings. It was considered a low-cost construction. All 2,073 units were supported by only 6 lifts not stopping at each floor but every 4 floors. There weren't any interior decoration as well. Units were separated by red bricks, with minimal plastering internal to the unit. Exposed to the public corridor were raw bricks without plastering or wall painting. Corridor lightings were minimal giving a perhaps gloomy feeling. Reconstruction of Kwun Lung Lau was started in 2000 with 2 out of 7 blocks rebuilt into 40-storey buildings. The remaining 5 blocks were originally scheduled to be demolished and rebuilt in 2009, but due to various reasons, it was decided to shelve the demolition and instead renovate the interior and exterior with a much brighter and smarter look today. (Remarks: I was raised in Kwun Lung Lau, with many childhood memories.)