Jessville Manor 譚雅士大宅
Reviving grandeur; reinventing a colonial home
One of Hong Kong’s rarest surviving examples of colonial mansions has been saved, restored and converted into four luxury residential apartments, turning the Grade 3 historic building into the now-named ‘Jessville Manor’.
We designed and oversaw the managed change of this historic mansion across pre and post-contract stages.
1931 mansion reborn
Since 2008, the future of the mansion, at Number 128 Pokfulam Road, had been uncertain.
In the face of threatened demolition, the brief was to create a financially and practically viable outcome, one that would not be impacted by adjacent high-rise developments, and altered in a way that could safeguard the historic building without harming the spaces and materials that made it significant.
Completed in March 2021, the sub-divided mansion apartments showcase the team’s careful blend of conservation, like-for-like repairs and creative, reversible interventions.
On behalf of the developer Samsbury Investments Limited and informed by our earlier Conservation Management Plan, we guided the adaptation of this and provided heritage advice on the neighbouring development, then the refurbishment of the external envelope and the surviving interior character-defining elements, in collaboration with WCWP who led the interior works.
Working towards maximum retention, like-for-like repairs, reversibility and interventions that were both honest and distinct helped shape sensitive contemporary spaces within the historic setting.
Subdividing and adapting the historic spaces for contemporary living without harming the mansions’ historic character was a major challenge, as was enhancing the building’s environmental sustainability.
A pioneering detail developed for the roof has dramatically improved its thermal performance, a form of insulation that is one of the first ever applied in a heritage building in Hong Kong.
The completed Jessville Manor successfully balanced heritage conservation with the brief to convert and adapt the historic home.
With creative thinking and a comprehensive understanding of the historic asset, we managed the fundamental changes in such a way that retains and enhances the key values that make this heritage property so important.
The works have secured for the building and the client a s long-lasting, valuable future as a much-loved home, as it was first designed to be in 1931.
Team
- Steve Phillips Partner
- Ryan Sun Associate
Details
- Client Samsbury Investments Limited
- Team Hong Kong Studio
- Country Hong Kong
