Arthur Benison Hubback

The Tsim-Sha-Tsui Terminal building was built in the British section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway on reclaimed land, overlooking the Victoria Harbour. It was the Asiatic terminus of the line from Calais across the Continent, Siberia, Manchuria to Hong Kong.

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Hubback’s Official Post/Role: F.M.S Government Architect A.B Hubback F.R.I.B.A. 

His professional services was provided by courtesy of the FMS Government. Design fees was $5000, exclusive of travelling and accommodation expenses to the Colony during his study visit.

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Year Designed: indeterminate

Laying of foundations: 1913.

World War I caused fittings and fixtures from Britain to be delayed.

Completion of clock  tower: 1915 (only with one side of a clock until 1921

Station's official opening:  28 March 1916 

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Architectural Style: Edwardian Classical Revival

 

Brief Architectural Description: Red Canton brick facing with columns and dressing in local grey granite on external walls.

Ground floor accommodation: Customs, Examination Hall, Concourse and Booking Offices, Lavatories, Refreshment Rooms and Station Offices.

1st floor accommodation: Railway Administration Offices

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The building was demolished in 1977/78, with the exception of the Clock Tower which remains at its old site. At present, the Hong Kong Space Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Art and Hong Kong Cultural Centre sits on the station’s former ground.

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Original Use: Train Station

Original Building Type: Terminal

Current State: Expunged except for its Clock Tower

Current Use: Clock Tower

Current Building Use: Clock Tower / Monument

Declared Monument of Hong Kong (1990)

Gazetted Name: Former Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower, Tsim Sha Tsu

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Source

http://hongwrong.com/hong-kong-clock-tower

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Building News, 31 November 1913

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Our Illustrations

Kowloon-Canton Railway, British Section, Terminal Station, Kowloon

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This terminus is in course of construction on Kowloon Point on the mainland, opposite the Island of Hong Kong, for the British Section of the Kowloon Canton Railway. The accommodation provided by this station comprises Customs, Examination Hall, concourse and booking offices, lavatories, refreshment rooms and the usual station offices on the ground floor. The whole of the railway administration offices are on the first floor. The fact that the whole of the site is reclamation ground has made the foundation very expensive, and expenditure had, therefore, to be curtailed on the building itself. The bricks used for facing are red Canton bricks, and columns and dressings are in a local grey granite. When the main lines in China are linked up this station will be the Asiatic terminus of the line from Calais across the Continent, Siberia, Manchuria to Hong Kong. The architect is Mr. Arthur B. Hubback, F.R.I.B.A, Government Architect to the Federated Malay States, who was specially engaged by the Government of Hong Kong.