Location Central, Hong Kong Management Hongkong Land | Developer Hongkong Land Owner Hongkong Land | |
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The Landmark (Chinese: 置地廣塲) is an office and shopping development owned by Hongkong Land in Central, Hong Kong. It is commonly known as the home of numerous prestigious international brands and as a gathering place for well-heeled shoppers.
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History
It is partly built on the site of the former Hong Kong Hotel, which was in its day the best known hotel on Hong Kong Island. In the 1970s, Hongkong Land started the development of the Landmark under its Central Redevelopment Scheme. The first phase of the project was completed in the late 1970s and the whole project was completed in 1983.
When the development was completed in 1983, the development consisted of a series of levels of shops surrounding a large central atrium with two office towers on top, known as Edinburgh Tower and Gloucester Tower respectively, and an annex building, known as the Landmark East. In 2003, Part of Edinburgh Tower was converted into The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a boutique hotel.
Recent development
In 2002, Hongkong Land announced a 1 billion dollar plan - The Landmark Scheme - to renovate The Landmark to fit the growing needs of Central's business community. The whole scheme included extending the existing shopping atrium to 3/F and 4/F of the building, introducing a high-end department store Harvey Nichols and a boutique hotel The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and the redevelopment of The Landmark East into a new 14-floor state-of-art Grade A office tower named York House. The Whole Landmark Scheme was completed in October 2006 with the opening of York House. To expand and upgrade the Landmark’s retail offerings, architects Aedas and Kohn Pedersen Fox carved out areas in the existing retail atrium for several two-story flagship stores and added two new retail floors. A wall of folded glass panels envelopes the retail podium, unifying the project’s disparate elements. Conceived as a diaphanous veil, the zigzag glass screen both obscures and reveals the retail world within and brings this world out to the streets of Central. Lighting was integrated into the glass facade along Queens Road Central to maintain an exciting atmosphere even after stores have closed for the evening. At night, this wall emits a warm glow and a new facade along Pedder Street also uses glass as a crystalline scrim. Additional landscaping, including new trees, help to make the Landmark as airy and inviting on the outside as it is on the inside.