Hong Kong General Post Office

The General Post Office building in Central will be taken down, with no firm date yet. It was opened in 1976 and sits near Jardine House and the International Finance Centre, close to the waterfront. The land is valuable, with the Hong Kong Government seeking more revenue, and demand for the postal system is declining. The Hong Kong Post Office will need billions of dollars in the next few years to keep it afloat, like most postal systems around the world.

 The building is not spectacular; it looks like a building of its time, with modernist public architecture and nothing interesting on the outside. It looks like a box with a few small windows on top, but not much else. It was originally the distribution center as well, before a modern one was built near Kwun Tong. The idea is for form to follow function, since the distribution machines used didn’t need windows, which would bring in heat. It is only 120 feet due to the surrounding developments. The building is one of the few buildings remaining in Hong Kong from the 1970’s and replaced the more historic building, which was demolished to make room for the underground rail system.

 The interior has the feel of a grand old post office, which is something I like, being one of the few people I know who still sends postcards and sometimes mail when I can. It is a connection to the city's past, but also to my own. As a child, one of the best things was getting one of the many postcards my grandmother or mother would send when they were travelling.