Traditionally, architectural and construction development in Hong Kong relies on load bearing bricks for structural support. In the modern age after World War II, the common application of reinforced concrete structure in high-rise construction has seen a change in the use of brick as an infill material for reinforced concrete frame construction. Because load bearing brick cannot meet the structural requirement of high-rise buildings, it is no longer common used in construction, and brick buildings that have been built are gradually demolished for redevelopment.
For surviving brick buildings in Hong Kong, the ones built with red facing bricks are generally Western style buildings mostly located in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. For buildings built of Chinese grey brick, they are usually Chinese vernacular buildings, such as ancestral halls and temples, located in New Territories.
However, with the common availability of modern paint for redecoration as well as weather protection, some brick heritage buildings have been plastered with rendering and painted. The reason for this is that a smooth painted surface gives a neater appearance and the impression of being easier to maintain and clean. Of course, there are also some traditional Chinese vernacular brick buildings, particularly Hakka houses (客家屋), which have a tradition of having brick surfaces painted with white wash covered with lime plaster (Tsang Tai Uk at Shatin and Poon Uk at Yuen Long are examples).
With heritage conservation becoming more important, there are now more and more restoration work carried out on historical brick buildings. These projects are usually led by the Antiquities and Monuments Office and executed by the Architectural Services Department. One of the restoration problems faced in these projects is the removal of paint so that the original brick surface will be revealed.
This dissertation aims to concentrate on the common methods used in Hong Kong to restore painted brick surfaces and to evaluate these paint removal methods through case studies that involves buildings of red engineering facing brick and Chinese grey brick.
Through this dissertation, it will be demonstrated that restoring a brick surface is not straight forward technical work, but a process that must have a systematic conservation approach and planning. The dissertation will examine case studies of conservation projects involving paint removal work, and use the lesson learned to establish guidelines for paint removal in a planned and systematic way. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/174439 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Lee, Kam-sing., 李金成. |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B47584130 |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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