Hong Kong’s newest skyscraper church: a look inside Union Church and its contemporary design that gives a nod to the past and to nature
- The fifth Union Church since its founding 180 years ago is a radical departure from its predecessors but features a reference to an earlier neo-Gothic iteration
- The airy, light-filled sanctuary on the first floor of a 22-storey residential tower appears nestled within a garden. A smaller chapel is on another floor
The Union Church has existed in Hong Kong for nearly 180 years, and in that time, it has called five buildings home. The first opened in Central district on Hollywood Road in 1844, followed by one on Staunton Street in 1866 and then Kennedy Road in 1890.
That last church was destroyed during World War II and its replacement, completed in 1949, met the wrecking ball in 2017. Now, after six years of construction, the latest iteration of the church has opened with architecture that is decidedly contemporary yet rooted in previous generations.
“We wanted to respect the church’s development as a historical narrative,” says Paul Kember, director and senior architect at KplusK associates, the architecture firm that designed the new church.
At first glance, it’s a radical departure from all of the previous buildings that have housed the congregation, which was founded in 1844 by Scottish missionary and Chinese translator James Legge.
Whereas the 1940s-era building was known for its rustic granite walls and retiring presence, the new church faces Kennedy Road with a glossy facade that could pass for that of a luxurious block of flats.
In fact, that’s what it is – for the most part. The church had been planning redevelopment as far back as 1994, but its efforts were thwarted by restrictions imposed by the Town Planning Board.
