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Former French Mission Building

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The Former French Mission Building is a declared monument located at 1 Battery Path, Government Hill, Central, Hong Kong. It served as the Court of Final Appeal from 1 July 1997 until 6 September 2015. Built on a podium due to the hilly terrain, it was originally a mansion called Johnston House before being transformed into a three-storey building in the 1870s and 1880s. The current structure, resulting from a major renovation, was completed in 1917. The building, constructed in granite and red brick in Neo-Classical style, dates from the Edwardian period and is possibly based on an earlier structure called 'Beaconsfield.'The site has a rich history, with the first Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Henry Pottinger, residing there from 1843 to 1846. It later housed various notable occupants, including the tai-pans of Augustine Heard and Company, HSBC, and the Russian Consulate in the 1870s. After being leased by the government in 1879, it housed offices such as the Sanitary Board and Registrar-General's office by 1911.In 1915, the Paris Foreign Missions Society acquired the building and undertook a major renovation, adding a chapel with a cupola and refacing it with red bricks. It reopened in 1917 as the 'French Mission Building.' The building was sold back to the Hong Kong government in 1953 and was used for various purposes, including housing the provisional Government of Hong Kong from August 1945 to April 1946, following the Japanese occupation. It also served as the St. Ignatius Language School and was occupied by the Education Department, Victoria District Court, Supreme Court, and Government Information Services before becoming the Court of Final Appeal in 1997.The building was declared a monument on 14 September 1989. In 2011, it was decided that it would be repurposed for adaptive reuse following the relocation of the Court of Final Appeal to the Old Supreme Court Building in 2015.

Inserted: 21-12-2024 21:12:58

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