published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

This thesis explores what existing issue of the complex relationship between heritage conservation and popular tourism, and the related problems influenced by the development of tourism and economic. Currently, many problematic heritage conservation practices have occurred in China, such as heritage reconstruction, imitation of heritage, commercial packaging of heritage and losing the setting of heritage, etc. So, I supposed that there are deep socio-economic problems under those phenomena, and the value system of heritage conservation was occupied by the ideology of economic growth. Some local governments did some “big” so-called conservation projects for achieving revenue growth, and some government leaders even for their political achievements. Lack of the knowledge of heritage and conservation and dearth of talent in this area could still be obstacles to solve those problems. In Chapter 2, the authenticity of two different examples of heritage reconstructions are compared – Mo Chi Garden and Jianfu Gong Garden – through information sources based on charters and guidelines. In Chapter 3, I am focusing on the issue of commercial packaging, and using various cases to understand the motive and goal of doing problematic conservation from different angles such like local government, private sector, estate developer, tourists and residents. And another main issue of losing the setting of heritage and focusing on fragments is discussed in my fourth chapter. In my last chapter, I use an analysis of Yellow Crane Tower to state a effective of dual identity which cause a misunderstanding to heritage conservation in China as a conclusion. For those reconstruction buildings, we should be treating this as a reconstruction which happened time and again in the course of the history of man. And problems for those commercialized and setting-lost heritage structures and sites are not with whether they are cultural heritage or whether they compliant with the standards of being a cultural heritage, but the problem is on whether they keep the essence of history and preserve our culture. What makes something heritage, though, is that it records a long history and rich culture, which need inherit from us to the next generations. Today’s new building is tomorrow’s cultural heritage if we could give it meanings. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

“The great buildings of the past do to not belong to us only; they have belonged to our forefathers and will belong to our descendents unless we play them false.” William Morris (1834-1896) Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings 1875 Sustainable development has become a goal of the society in recent years. By creating a healthy and sustainable built environment, the distinctiveness and the character of the society can be maintained and strengthened. Conservation of the historic building has obvious relevance to this objective because, by definition, it conserves existing assets and can facilitate its adaptation to new uses. Adaptive reuse is a process to bring the historic building again into activity so as to achieve sustainability. During an adaptive reuse process, building professionals like Quantity Surveyors will usually get involved and contribute their professional knowledge into the adaptive reuse project so as to smooth away the obstacles encountered during the conservation process as early as possible. One of the ways to streamline the adaptive reuse project is to reduce claims from Contractor at construction stage by a well-prepared and well-written set of specification preliminaries. A standard set for specification preliminaries for adaptive reuse project not only helps in reducing claims but also is a useful tool for Quantity Surveyors to strengthen their professionalism and knowledge in the field of conservation. The research for my dissertation focuses on the specification preliminaries of the tender documents of the adaptive reuse projects in Hong Kong. The projects studied will be Old Tai O Police Station (historic building) and Hon Wah College in Kennedy Town (non-historic building). By comparing the similarities and differences of the specification preliminaries between these two projects, the difficulties and problems encountered in a heritage project can be identified (if any) and whether the standardization of specification preliminaries clauses for heritage projects is possible can be determined. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

During the author’s childhood days, she passed by a colonial red brick house every time she hiked up Mount Parker in Hong Kong. She wondered why such a beautiful yet dilapidated house stood so alone. It seemed to have no connection with its surrounding area, a very local district of Quarry Bay. Later in life, when the author began to take on more interest in Hong Kong’s architectural heritage, she then realized that the red brick house, “Woodside” (「林邊屋」或「紅磚屋」), used to be the staff quarters of Butterfield & Swire, a company that contributed a great deal to the development of Quarry Bay. Coincidentally, this company became the employer of the author, and this motivated the author to seek answers to her queries about the building, and reveal the stories behind this lonely building. Studying in the Architectural Conservation Programmes has provided the opportunity to put these answers on record, so that the public may access them in the future. The research of this dissertation focuses on the history and stories of Woodside from its construction in 1922 until its handover to the government in the 1970s. Through researching and documenting facts related to Woodside, its values (aesthetic, historical, social, rarity and architectural) and significances will be identified. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

Adaptive reuse of historical buildings was promoted by the government during the 2007 policy address regarding the conservation of Hong Kong’s Heritage. In the few years after this policy was launched, there were many changes to the statutory control related to the use of buildings, which has indirectly affected the occupants of these historical buildings. While it was widely criticized that there was no statutory protection to historic buildings other than those graded as Declared Monuments, these buildings related statutory controls also some effects on the conservation of historical building both positive and negative. This dissertation focus on Fringe Club as a case study, to review the effect of statutory controls to the adaptive reuse of a government owned historical building, in particular, the control through licensing. The objective is to provide holistic considerations for future improvement in applying statutory control on adaptive reuse of historic buildings. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

The conservation approach of “Heritage Rehabilitation,” as a means to give new life to deteriorated heritage buildings, seems to receive criticism from people of Hong Kong in recent years. While the government tries to promote this conservation treatment to strike a balance between sustainable development and heritage conservation, the news media appears to report related stories leaning to one side of public opinion: the side of conservationists, carrying a sense of criticism on government’s work to rehabilitate historic buildings. 　　　Studies in recent years indicated different preference on “what to conserve” among the government, scholars and the public in relation to heritage conservation. In addition, it also showed that the news media has an effect in pushing the conservation movement forward. However, there is limited research comparing the different opinions on “how to conserve” and investigating the news media’s effect on public perception on this conservation approach. 　　　This dissertation uses the rehabilitation of Wing Lee Street as a case study to explore and compare different perspectives on the rehabilitation work has been done on the street, ranging from those of the URA, architectural conservation scholars, those of the public expressed in questionnaires, the internet and via the news media, and news media interpretation. The comparison uses both statistical and text analyses. Findings suggested in the Wing Lee Street rehabilitation that there is no conflict in renovating the rundown Tong Lau and improving the street environments. 　　　However, concerning the degree of renovation, the use and maintaining the original community, there is a clear difference between the Urban Renewal Authority’s and other groups. While the Urban Renewal Authority put “Regulation” as its major reference for intervention, the scholars and public showed more concerns for the “Sense of Place” and the “Continuity of Life” on the street. 　　　The dissertation contributes to better understanding the different rationales and priorities for heritage rehabilitation from those expressed by the Urban Renewal Authority and architectural conservation professionals. In addition, it also illustrates public’s expectation on heritage rehabilitation, which will hopefully be a useful reference for a better outcome in future heritage rehabilitation projects. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

No description available.

No description available.

This study examines the sustainability of historic windows in comparison to modern replacement windows. A sustainable product is defined as one that lasts multiple generations without causing harm to the environment, either in its production, maintenance, or disposal. Historic windows are perceived as energy inefficient and are often removed and replaced. Historic windows can, however, be augmented to perform similarly to replacement windows. To determine sustainability, window materials were evaluated based on their life span, life cycle, energy efficiency, maintenance, and disposal. In general, historic windows are long lasting and retaining them conserves materials and energy used in their production. Based on the above criteria, historic wood windows were found to be highly sustainable due to their excellent energy performance (with the addition of storm windows), durability (with regular maintenance), and low environmental impact in processing and disposal. / Defining sustainability -- History of windows -- Window materials -- Windows and energy -- Embodied energy and life cycle analysis -- Durability -- Findings. / Department of Architecture