Awards and Recognitions

The Award aims to cultivate employers’ responsibility under the law, and give recognition to employers who strive to enhance retirement protection for their employees.

In response to the social challenge of double aging of population and buildings in Hong Kong and in alignment with the organisation’s direction, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) launched the training programme “Elderly-Friendly Environment Series”. Through diverse learning approach that encompassed of seminars, workshops and site visits covering various elderly-related topics, the training series enabled colleagues to increase their awareness and understanding, while also enhancing relevant knowledge and skills in building elderly-friendly environment.

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) was the first time to take on the sole responsibility of managing the application and vetting processes for the Starter Homes Project – eResidence Tower 3, which required URA staff to equip with relevant knowledge, mindset and skills within a limited timeframe for the new roles. As such, a holistic project training programme was designed to upskill and reskill the project team, fostering a deep understanding of compliance, case management system, customer service, resilience, and team building, enabling the project works to be completed smoothly and effectively. This remarkable experience resulted in a positive outcome, delivering a win-win-win situation for the staff, URA and society.

Architectural conservation emerged as a distinct profession in Hong Kong with the implementation of the 2007 Heritage Conservation Policy. Today, the revitalisation of heritage buildings through adaptive reuse has become a policy of the Development Bureau as well as the Urban Renewal Authority. The ever increasing number of architectural conservation projects that involve both government and private buildings has necessitated rigorous professional requirements based on international best practice standards. These professional requirements can be seen in the new administrative and statutory requirements that comply with international principles, standards and guidelines, such as the Burra Charter and China Principles.

The implication of such a development is that Hong Kong has caught up with international best practice in considering architectural conservation as an independent discipline and a specialized profession. In response to this, HKICON has been created by a small core group of professionals (the Founding Council), in consultation with other professionals and senior members of the Government. As a professional institute, HKICON is committed to the development of the profession and upholding best practice in the field of architectural conservation in Hong Kong.

A cluster of nine existing tenement buildings forms this revitalization project (H19), with one of which at 88-90 Staunton Street was Grade 2 historic building, located at the Central and Western District with a rich community history known as “30 Houses” neighbourhood.

Recognizing the strong aspirations in the Community Making Study, the buildings were preserved and revitalized with the aim to promote place-making, conserving the urban fabric and synergy with nearby revitalisation projects. The revitalized buildings are put to adaptive reuse as co-living spaces with common rooms and community farms.