Old Wanchai Market, Market hall in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
Old Wanchai Market is a two-storey market hall at 264 Queen's Road East, built in 1937 to a Streamline Moderne design by the Public Works Department under engineer Richard Henderson. Its rounded corner entrance, long horizontal window bands and projecting white bands make the symmetrical building read like a ship, with a railing along the roof edge. Only the front shell, walls, grey columns and staircase survive; the rear was demolished in 2009 for the residential tower One Wan Chai.
The first Wan Chai Market opened in 1858 on Wan Chai Road; the current building, its second generation, began operating on 1 April 1937. It was designed by the Public Works Department under engineer H. S. Ruttonjee and is now classed as Streamline Moderne rather than Bauhaus. The market closed on 1 September 2008, when traders moved to the new market in The Zenith opposite. In 2009 the rear half was demolished, leaving about 45% of the floor area.
The market's name 'Wet Garage' (濕車庫) comes from its early use as a wet market and a garage for bullock carts. During the Japanese occupation, the basement stored corpses. The building appears in the video game Deus Ex.
The preserved front section faces Queen's Road East at the Wan Chai Road crossing, opposite Stone Nullah Lane. Only the front shell, outer walls, grey pillars and staircase remain, with the residential tower of The Zenith now standing behind. The ground floor holds small shops, so walk around the curved corner to see the banded facade and the deep horizontal openings.
The building represents one of the earliest uses of steel frame construction in Hong Kong, standing alongside just a few other structures from that era. This early modern building technique made it possible to create larger open spaces without interior support columns.
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