Adaptive Reuse of Heritage Building Lures Artists

20/07/2016

A board with Chinese handwritting name of the Cattel Depot Artist Village. Photo: alamy

The front gate of the artist village. Photo: peterlamphotography

A corner in the artist village. Photo: BWPI

Located on Ma Tau Kok Road, the Cattle Depot Artist Village is a revitalization of the Ex-Ma Tau Kok Animal Quarantine Depot which is the only existing pre-war slaughterhouse premises in Hong Kong.
 
Mr. Wilson led students from Pennsylvania University and Hong Kong University to this place at the end of the first day trip in Hong Kong. Being a good example of the repurposing of the antiquated structure, the artist village allows students to have a closer look at the combination of ancient architecture and modern use.
 
Due to the construction of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, the slaughterhouse and animal quarantine depot in Hung Hom was moved to Ma Tau Kok Road in To Kwa Wan. Completed in 1908, the Ma Tau Kok Animal Quarantine Depot occupied an area of 1.7 hectares, and included slaughter houses, a fodder store, offices and quarters as well as three sheds with the capacity for 120 cattle, 200 sheep and 400 pigs. It was closed in 1999 after a new slaughterhouse in Sheung Shui came into operation.
 
Possessing a style of the Victorian age farm houses and the historical value, the Depot was leased to local artists and was then renamed the Cattle Depot Artist Village by the Government in 2001. In 2009, the Depot was confirmed a Grade II historic building by the Antiquities Advisory Board.
 


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