Chau & Lee (Chau Iu Nin, Richard Lee)
1 University Avenue, Pokfulam
1951
The HKU University Lodge was built in 1951 as the private residence for the former Vice Chancellor, Professor L. T. Ride, of the University of Hong Kong. The building occupied the 1 University Avenue site until 1965 when it was replaced by Robert Black College, a guest house of the university for visiting scholars from overseas.
The architects Chau Iu Nin and Richard Lee succeeded in designing a plan that was unique, most notably with its portico and main entrance that jointly form a rhomboid shape. This arrangement allowed the constituent rooms in the entrance space to have their distinct areas while also having the effect of having one interconnected unit. In the farthest space inside the estate, the covered terrace connects the living room and dining room, allowing circulation in the case of a crowded room. As shown in the floor plan of the first floor, the squareness of the living room contrasts with the roundness of the dining hall. The architects built in such roundness by carving curved ornamental recesses in both of the inner walls and building the window side part of the room in the shape of a semicircle. To the west side of the living room is a study that is enclosed by an L-shaped tiled terrace. The rest of the first floor is occupied by the family room, pantry, kitchen, as well as several rooms for the helpers.
In the upper floor there are five bedrooms, each of which has a built-in closet. Three of these bedrooms have attached bathrooms, while the other two share a large bathroom between them. Other than these bedrooms, there are additionally the store-room and sewing worked into the design of the second floor.
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Main facade (Hong Kong & Far East Builder Vol. 9 No. 1 (1951-52))
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Site plan (Hong Kong & Far East Builder Vol. 9 No. 1 (1951-52))
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Ground floor plan (Hong Kong & Far East Builder Vol. 9 No. 1 (1951-52))
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First floor plan (Hong Kong & Far East Builder Vol. 9 No. 1 (1951-52))
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Side elevation (Hong Kong & Far East Builder Vol. 9 No. 1 (1951-52))
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Dining room (Hong Kong & Far East Builder Vol. 9 No. 1 (1951-52))
