Bank Street, Hong Kong

Bank Street, with Bank of China Building on the left, HSBC Building on the right and Former French Mission Building in front
HSBC Building (second generation) at the corner of Queen's Road Central and Wardley Street, c. 1908.

Bank Street (Chinese: 銀行街) is a short street in Central, Hong Kong. It links Des Voeux Road Central to Queen's Road Central. It is named after its location between HSBC Building and the Bank of China Building,[1] the headquarters of HSBC in Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific and the former headquarters of the Bank of China Group in Hong Kong respectively.

History

The street was constructed shortly after the demolition of and in replacement of the nearby Wardley Street.[citation needed][clarification needed]

Wardley Street

Historically a street known as Wardley Street was located metres[quantify] west of Bank Street, between Connaught Road Central and Queen's Road Central. During the early 1930s, an extra portion of land was required for the construction of the third generation of HSBC Building, which required the demolition of both the southern portion (between Des Voeux Road Central and Queen's Road Central) of Wardley Street[clarification needed] and the western part of the former City Hall.[2]

The first generation of the bank's headquarters bearing the 1 Queen's Road Central address on Marine Lot No. 104 was the Wardley House,[3] named after W. H. Wardley and Company, sharing with the Chartered Mercantile Bank, and some subsidiaries of the bank were named Wardley into the 1990s.[4][5][6][7] The flooring of the atrium of the present-day HSBC Building features the road grid of Central in the 1910s.

See also

References

  1. ^ Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 144. ISBN 9789622099449.
  2. ^ "HSBC Headquarters Building (2nd generation) [1886-1933] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong".
  3. ^ History timeline | HSBC Holdings plc › Who we are › Our history
  4. ^ "HSBC sinks Wardley under group". SCMP. 8 February 1995.
  5. ^ WARDLEY LIMITED (b1981-09-11) Webb Site
  6. ^ Dan Waters, "Hong Kong Hongs with Long Histories and British Connections", Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 30 (1990), pp. 219-256 (38 pages), Victoria City, Hong Kong: Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
  7. ^ Hong Kong's Banking Giant, The New York Times, 16 July 1984
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