About the CPD Talk

Recognised as a declared monument in 1989, the Former French Mission Building was completed in 1919 as a procurator’s house for the Missions Etrangères de Paris. Its long history of adaptive reuse began when the Hong Kong Government acquired this iconic building in the 1950s. It had since undergone decades of alterations to suit the new uses – from government offices, to a courthouse, and now to offices for law-related organisations forming a part of the legal hub on Government Hill.

The project architectural conservationist, Henry Lo, and the project architect, Raphael Ying, will share their experience in conserving the Former French Mission Building while upgrading it to meet the current statutory and functional standards, and the approaches and techniques used in restoring the beautiful historic building fabric.

About the Speakers

Henry Lo 

Henry joined the Centre for Architectural Heritage Research (CAHR) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2002. During his 14-year service at CAHR, he participated in more than 100 different projects across the architectural heritage spectrum including research, consultancy projects, public education, etc. In 2016, Henry established his own company, Ptah Heritage, to further pursue his career as well as extending his horizon in the field. The company has taken up various significant projects since, such as the Hakka Life Experience Village @ Lai Chi Wo, funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club. 

Having worked in the built heritage field for 18 years, Henry has worked on a wide variety of architectural conservation projects, ranging from traditional Chinese vernacular structures, to colonial buildings, to constructions of the modern era. The projects span all scales: simple repair and renovation, full-scale conservation, detailed feasibility studies as well as large-scale adaptive reuse projects. Examples include conservation of Chik Kwa Study Hall in Pat Heung, Fat Tat Tong in Sha Tau Kok, Old Tai Po Police Station, Former Supreme Court, PMQ complex, Chai Wan Factory Estate, and many more. The project “Revitalisation of Old Tai Po Police Station into a Green Hub” received the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2016. 

Raphael Ying 

Graduated from Australia, Raphael is a registered architect and authorized person in Hong Kong. He is currently a director of Design 2 (HK) Ltd, a local architectural firm. As a practising architect in Hong Kong for more than 20 years, he has participated in a wide range of conversion, alteration, and extension projects, strengthening his understanding and knowledge on the constraints, technical demands, and implications on statutory issues that are often associated with interfacing between new and existing works. This well-prepared him to participate in his first heritage conservation project of the shophouses at 202 and 204 Prince Edward Road West in 2012. He then took up the next challenge of leading the Haw Par Mansion revitalisation project in 2013, which ignited his passion in architectural conservation and eventually led him to pursue an MSc in Conservation at the Division of Architectural Conservation Programmes of the University of Hong Kong in 2016. 

Having first teamed up with Henry and his CAHR team during the Haw Par Mansion revitalisation project, Raphael has further built up this partnership with Henry in the Former French Mission Building project.