Mei Ho House

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Mei Ho House

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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	24 October 2013; 11 years ago (2013-10-24)
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

Traditional Chinese

美荷樓

Simplified Chinese

美荷楼

Cantonese Yale

méih hòh làuh

Literal meaning

beautiful lotus building

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Měihé Lóu
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	méih hòh làuh
Jyutping	mei5 ho4 lau4

Mei Ho House (Chinese: 美荷樓), formerly part of Shek Kip Mei Estate, Hong Kong, is the last remaining example of a "Mark I" 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 and was reopened in 2013 as a youth hostel and heritage museum.^[1]

History

[edit]

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.^[2] 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 the Bauhaus architectural style^[3]^[4] with 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

[edit]

The building has been 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.^[5]

In 2008, it was part of the seven buildings of Batch I of the Hong Kong Government's Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme.^[6] On 17 February 2009, the government declared that the building would be used by the Hong Kong Youth Hostels Association as "City Hostel". The capital cost of the project was estimated at HK$192.3 million. Estimated completion time was 2012.^[7] The hostel would also have an exhibition area with guided tour detailing the living environment of public housing units in the past.^[8]

The renovation project received an Honourable Mention in the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2015.^[1]

Youth Hostel

[edit]

Mei Ho House Youth Hostel was 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."^[9]

Gallery

[edit]

Mei Ho House in 2007
Mei Ho House in 2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
Undergoing renovation in 2012

References

[edit]

^ ^a ^b "Project profiles for 2015 UNESCO Heritage Award winners" (PDF). UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. UNESCO. p. 5.
^ Choi, Barry (30 June 1975). "Housing means more than a roof" (PDF). South China Morning Post. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
^ "Why Hong Kong is Building Apartments the Size of Parking Spaces". Bloomberg.com. 9 November 2021.
^ Lai, Alexis (23 December 2013). "Hong Kong's Mei Ho House Museum and Hostel Brings New Life to Shek Kip Mei - WSJ". Wall Street Journal.
^ List of the Historic Buildings in Building Assessment Archived 22 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
^ Conserve and Revitalise Hong Kong Heritage: Batch I of Revitalisation Scheme
^ Batch I of Revitalisation Scheme – Result of Selection – Mei Ho House as City Hostel
^ "Mei Ho House of Livelihood". Hong Kong Youth Hostels Association. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
^ Qi Luo (22 October 2013). "Hostel brings new life to estate block". The Standard. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013.

External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mei Ho House.

YHA Mei Ho House Youth Hostel website
Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme: Mei Ho House Resource Kit
Virtual tour of Mei Ho House

Sham Shui Po District

Areas

Islands

Stonecutters Island

Landmarks

Transport

MTR stations	Cheung Sha Wan Kowloon Tong (part) Lai Chi Kok Mei Foo Nam Cheong Sham Shui Po Shek Kip Mei

Education

Tertiary

City University of Hong Kong

Primary and
secondary

History

Shek Kip Mei fire

This list is incomplete.

Heritage conservation in Hong Kong

Schemes

Notable cases

Demolished	Kowloon Station (1978) Hong Kong Club Building (1980) Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier (2006) Queen's Pier (2007) Lee Tung Street (2007) Ho Tung Gardens (2013) Tung Tak Pawn Shop (2015) Union Church (2017)
Preserved	Ohel Leah Synagogue (1987) Morrison Building (2003) Jessville (2007) King Yin Lei (2007) Wing Lee Street (2011) State Theatre (2017) Ex-Sham Shui Po Service Reservoir (2020)
Relocated	Murray House (2002) Blake Pier (2007)
Pending	Nam Koo Terrace Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen Stone House (Diamond Hill) Wan Chai Police Station

Adaptive reuse

Completed	Blue House Bridges Street Market Central Market Chai Wan Factory Estate Dairy Farm cowsheds Dairy Farm Depot District Office North Former Explosives Magazine Fanling Magistracy Former French Mission Building Island House Kowloon British School Kowloon Fire Station Lai Chi Kok Hospital Lui Seng Chun Ma Tau Kok Animal Quarantine Depot Marine Police Headquarters Mei Ho House North Kowloon Magistracy Old House, Hoi Pa Village PMQ Former RAF Kai Tak station buildings Former Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Shek Kip Mei Factory Estate Sheung Shui Police Station Stanley Police Station Tai Kwun (Central Police Station, Central Magistracy, Victoria Prison) Tai O Police Station Tai Po Police Station Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital Blocks of Victoria Barracks Wan Chai Post Office Western Market Blocks of Whitfield Barracks Yau Ma Tei Theatre
Pending	British Military Hospital Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station Fong Yuen Study Hall Haw Par Mansion Homi Villa King Yin Lei Luen Wo Market No. 27 Lugard Road Tai Tam Tuk Raw Water Pumping Station Staff Quarters Compound Old House, Wong Uk Village
Facadism	Old Mental Hospital Wan Chai Market

v t e Present-day hostels and hostelling associations by country
Australia	YHA Australia
Canada	Hostelling International – Canada Ocean Island Inn Ottawa Jail Hostel
England and Wales	Baden-Powell House Barrow House, Cumbria Bellever Birdoswald Castle Horneck, Penzance Greenhead, Northumberland Grinton Lodge Hartington Hall Holland House, London Ilam Park Kettlewell Kielder, Northumberland King's House, Slaidburn Mankinholes Ninebanks Once Brewed St Briavels Castle Thurlby, South Kesteven Wilderhope Manor Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales)
Germany	German Youth Hostel Association
Hong Kong	Mei Ho House Youth Square
India	Nariman House Youth Hostels Association of India
Ireland	An Óige
Israel	Ami'ad Avdat The Heritage House Khan al-Tujjar (Mount Tabor) Khan al-Umdan Sidna Ali Mosque
Jersey	Haut de la Garenne
Northern Ireland	Hostelling International Northern Ireland
Palestine	Khan Al-Ahmar Khan al-Tujjar (Nablus) Khan Yunis
Pakistan	Pakistan Youth Hostels Association
Scotland	Hostelling Scotland
Sweden	Jumbo Stay Swedish Tourist Association
United States	Hostelling International USA
Worldwide	Hostelling International YMCA YWCA

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History

Preservation

Youth Hostel

Gallery

See also

References

External links