One of the two major outdoor areas at Tai Kwun, the Prison Yard, was used as space for prisoners to exercise; it will now host performances and cultural programmes. Photography: Edmon Leong

A police station, magistracy and prison are probably the last places on most people’s ‘must see’ cultural hotspots list, yet this week the former Police Headquarters compound in Hong Kong has been unveiled as a new, non-profit, cultural hub called Tai Kwun, meaning ‘Big Station’.

警察局、裁判官和监狱可能是大多数人“必须看到”文化热点名单上的最后一个地方，但本周，香港前警察总部大楼被宣布为一个新的非营利文化中心，名为“大车站”。

The ambitious plan is unusual because centrally located sites are usually snapped up for high-rise commercial use, and this 300,000sq ft compound is only a few minutes’ walk from the city’s prime financial district.

这一雄心勃勃的计划是不寻常的，因为市中心的地块通常被抢购用于高层商业用途，而这座30万平方英尺的建筑群距离该市主要的金融区只有几分钟的路程。

Swiss architects Herzog - de Meuron, who are also responsible for designing Hong Kong’s M  museum of visual culture (opening next year), worked with conservation architects Purcell to revitalise 16 historic buildings built around a prison yard and parade ground dating between 1864 and 1925. Three of the buildings are declared monuments and the whole site is steeped in history; Ho Chi Minh was imprisoned there in the 1930s and it was a Japanese army base during the Second World War. The site was decommissioned in 2006, but much of it has been retained intact, including the prison cells with their original numbers and locks.

瑞士建筑师Herzog

The project’s aspects that involved building conservation and adaptive reuse were led by expert architects Purcell. Photography: Edmon Leong

该项目涉及建筑保护和适应性重用的方面是由专家建筑师Purcell领导的。摄影：梁家杰

The decade-long joint venture project is led by the Hong Kong Jockey Club in partnership with the Hong Kong Government. The designers have inserted two bold contemporary buildings in the complex; a gallery for contemporary art and a cube-shaped 200-seat auditorium for the performing arts, film screenings and events. Both are clad in monumental perforated aluminium bricks that stand out among the existing buildings’ handsome granite and brick facades.

这项为期十年的合资计划是由香港赛马会与香港政府合作进行的。设计师们在建筑群中插入了两座大胆的当代建筑：一座当代艺术画廊和一座可容纳200个座位的立方体大礼堂，用于表演艺术、电影放映和活动。这两座建筑都覆盖着巨大的多孔铝砖，在现有建筑美观的花岗岩和砖面中脱颖而出。

The Tai Kwun Contemporary not-for-profit art space will host six to eight exhibitions a year, starting with a group show titled ‘Dismantling the Scaffold’ (opening 9 June) and an exhibition of Chinese medicine-inspired works by local artist Wing Po So.

大观市当代非盈利艺术场地每年将举办六至八次展览，首先是一场名为“拆除脚手架”的团体展览(六月九日开幕)及一次由本地艺术家荣宝索创作的中医药展览。

‘We shift perspective from a European point of view to a Hong Kong view,’ says Tobias Berger, Tai Kwun’s head of arts. ‘It is the connection between heritage and contemporary that is important: the buildings are seamlessly connected and you see that also in our mentality.’ Elsewhere, an exhibition titled ‘100 Faces of Tai Kwun’ gives an intriguing glimpse into the history of the compound and its neighbourhood.

大观艺术主管托拜厄斯·伯杰(Tobias Berger)说，我们把视角从欧洲的观点转向了香港的观点。“重要的是遗产和当代文化之间的联系：建筑是无缝连接的，你也可以在我们的思维中看到这一点。”在其他地方，一个名为“大观的100张脸”的展览，让人们对这座建筑群的历史及其周边地区有了一个有趣的了解。

Finding one’s way through the various spaces is satisfyingly clear thanks to a new lane through the centre of the site linking the buildings. Restaurant offerings on site include the Café Claudel bistro, and a ‘Cha Chaan Teng’ neighbourhood-style teahouse by Tsui Wah. All eyes, however, are on the mid-June opening of local dining maven Yenn Wong’s Old Bailey, serving Jiangnan cuisine. §

找到一个人在各个空间的道路是令人满意的清楚，因为有一条新的车道，通过中心的网站连接的建筑物。酒店内提供的餐厅包括克劳德尔小酒馆，以及翠华的茶馆。然而，所有的目光都集中在6月中旬为江南美食服务的当地餐饮专家燕恩·王(Yenn Wong)的老贝利餐厅开幕典礼上。§

香港前监狱大院的外部，由赫尔佐格重新设计成全新的大观文化中心。

警方总部大楼於一九年落成，是大观塘内其中一幢令人印象最深刻的文物大厦。摄影：梁家杰1919年完成，警察总部大楼是大观建筑群中最令人印象深刻的遗产建筑之一。摄影：梁家杰

JC当代，住在一个全新的赫尔佐格

洗衣步骤坐在实际监狱洗衣车间使用的地方。该区域现在成为性能的空间。摄影：由大观观摩司提供的洗衣步骤，在该处所使用的实际监狱洗衣工场。该区域现在成为性能的空间。摄影:观景台观礼观

该建筑群的D厅曾在过去服务过各种功能，如一所女子监狱和一家医院。它现在有传统的讲故事空间，一家餐馆，和房子后面的设施.摄影：由大观综合大楼D厅提供，过去曾有多项功能，例如一所女子监狱及一间医院。它现在有传统的讲故事空间，一家餐馆，和房子后面的设施.摄影：大观提供