Status Complete Completed 1972 Cost HK$$18,589,744 Floors 52 Floor area 7 ha | Type Commercial offices Opening 1973 Height 168 m, 178 m to tip Opened 1973 Owner Hongkong Land | |
 | ||
Location 1 Connaught Place
Hong Kong Address Jardine House, Central, Hong Kong Architecture firm P & T Architects & Engineers Ltd. Similar Prince's Building, Man Yee Building, Entertainment Building, Cheung Kong Center, Hong Kong and Shanghai | ||
Jardine House (Chinese: 怡和大廈), formerly known as Connaught Centre (康樂大廈), is an office tower in Hong Kong. The building is located at 1 Connaught Place, Central on Hong Kong Island. It is owned by Hongkong Land Limited, a subsidiary of Jardines. At the time of its completion in 1972, Jardine House was the tallest building in Hong Kong and in Asia. In 1980, the Hopewell Centre usurped the title of the tallest building in Hong Kong. The building is interconnected by the Central Elevated Walkway with buildings of Hongkong Land Limited like Exchange Square and the International Finance Centre.
Contents
Walk up jardine house 2016
Previous Jardine Houses
The first three generations of Jardine Houses were situated at 20 Pedder Street, at the corner of Des Voeux Road Central. The first Jardine House was probably built around 1841 after Jardine's successful bid for its lots on The Praya Central. In 1908, the second Jardine House was built. It was rebuilt in around 1956 as a 16-storey building. The building was sold by Jardines during the land acquisition exercise of the Landmark complex in Central and 20 Pedder Street is now occupied by the Wheelock House.
New Jardine House
The new building was constructed on a piece of reclaimed land, under a lease term of 75 years, which was secured by Hongkong Land Limited at a record price of HK$258 million in 1970, payable interest free over a period of 10 years. In exchange, the Government agreed that no building directly to the north of Jardine House would ever be built to obstruct its views. As a result, the height of General Post Office building was capped at 120 ft (37 m). Building costs were estimated at $120 million. Construction of the fifty-two-storey building took 16 months. Metal lettering from the Old Jardine House was salvaged and used in the lobby of the New Jardine House.
Design
The building is constructed with a metal frame, and a curtain wall with round windows. The thickness of the structural frame is reduced because of the shape of the windows. Unusually for a Jardine property, elevators were produced by Otis Elevator, while escalators were manufactured by Schindler Elevator.
The circular design of the windows has earned the building the nickname, "The House of a Thousand Arseholes."
Current tenants
In popular culture
Jardine House was prominently displayed in the 1988 NBC television miniseries Noble House as the headquarters for Struan's. It also appeared in establishing shots in The Amsterdam Kill and The Mighty Peking Man (1977). The building was also featured in the 1978 episode titled "The Chinese Web" of The Amazing Spider Man TV series.