Tai Kwun – Herzog & de Meuron
Comprising the Central Police Station, Central Magistracy, and Victoria Prison, this walled compound is one of Hong Kong’s most significant colonial-era heritage sites. Decommissioned in 2006, the site—set on a hillside in the heart of the city—has been transformed into Tai Kwun, a cultural and civic hub that blends adaptive reuse with contemporary intervention.
Designed by Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with Purcell, the revitalization retains the compound’s defining elements: two expansive open spaces—the Parade Ground and the Prison Yard—now reimagined as public courtyards for gathering, leisure, and cultural exchange. Amid one of the world’s densest urban fabrics, Tai Kwun becomes a rare spatial void, an urban oasis of openness and calm.
New architectural volumes, subtly inserted among the historic buildings, preserve the site’s identity while reprogramming it for contemporary use, establishing a powerful dialogue between past and present.
