ARGYLE
STREET
LOBBY
OFFICE
AIR COHOMONING ROOM
F
F
C
TRANSFORMER
ROOM
LOBBY
CORRID
A
F
F
C
E
MEN'S LAV.
MANAGERS LAVATORY
LADIES'
PLANTY
LOBBY
(Above) Typical office floor plan.
(Below) Plan of the Bank premises on the ground floor.
AIR DUCT
WORKING SPACE
CLEANERS TEA RM
TONICE ENTRANCE
LOSSY
SEVICE CHOLES
LAR
WORKING
SPACE
PUBLIC SPACE
BOOK 'VAULT
MANAGER'S
ROOM
PUBLIC SPACE
C
SCALE
NATHAN
VESTIBULE
SAME ENTRANCE
ROA D
CASH ENCLOSURE
LOBBY
GANCE Dance
FLAT
1004
OPEN
YARD
sion this side of the harbour that we opened. in October 1948. a second smaller office at Mongkok.
ducts displayed during the last fort- was to assist in the post-war expan- night at the Eleventh Exhibition of the Chinese Manufacturers' Union, which in spite of all the present difficulties, continues not merely to flourish but to improve and to ex- pand; and given peace and freedom to import raw materials and to export their products these enterprises show every promise of successful expansion to the benefit of the Colony and of the whole of South-east Asia.
"It was to assist in the general expansion on the mainland that the Hongkong Bank opened its first office in Kowloon on January 2, 1929- exactly 25 years ago to-day-and it
"Subsequent development has far outstripped this second office's capa- city, however, and this new office has had to be built as a result. I can but hope that these modern and com- modious premises will fill the need for the present, but I feel that it may not be too optimistic to forecast that even this office will hardly suffice to keep pace with the developments of the future.
may be looked upon as an act of faith on the part of the Bank-in the first place faith in what the industry of the Chinese people, in conjunction with other elements in our cosmo- politan community, can accomplish under conditions of good government and the rule of law, and, secondly, faith in the future of Hongkong. Hongkong is the Bank's home; the Bank has its roots and its Head Office here and it was originally sponsored by local merchants repre- senting nearly every firm and indivi- dual trading in the Colony, so it is, in its origin, the Hongkong mer- chants' own Bank, and possibly because of that it has been a cardinal point of the Bank's policy not to be content with profit on mercantile transactions but to assist in the development of the Colony to the best of its ability.
"This new office is designed to pro- vide the people of Mongkok with all banking facilities, including a safe deposit department and a Savings Bank. Should any hesitate to bring their small savings to the Bank or be afraid to bother it with small transactions, I would remind them of the assurance given by one of my predecessors a long time ago: There is nothing too small for the Hongkong Bank and so far we have found nothing too big."
The new Mongkok branch is an eight-storey building. costing two million dollars, and is located at the junction of Nathan Road and Argyle Street, directly opposite the Broad- way Theatre.
32 years ago. Nathan Road ended approximately where the Po Hing Theatre is now located, the hill on which Kowloon Magistracy and the Kowloon Methodist Church and School now stand extending over Nathan Road and the present Alham- bra Theatre site. On the other side of the hill was Coronation Road, and most of the development at that time had been to the south of the hill.
now
A few years before the Pacific War, and since, Kowloon has seen a very
and rapid development
has reached the proportions of a city. During the last few years a number of fine buildings have been erected along Nathan Road northwards from 190 0" high Telephone House. the the Star Ferry; these include the
Princess Theatre Building, the Mira- mar Hotel Annexe, the premises of Gilman Motors. the eleven-storey Shamrock Hotel, the Broadway Thea- tre and the old Mongkok branch of The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank. Much of this development has been made possible by exemption orders from the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance. thus making welcome contributions to the relief of the shortage of both housing and business accommodation.
As the Chief Manager said, the "The opening of this new office reason for the building of the present
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