Comments to Hong Kong Town Planning Board (on Former Central Police Station Complex)

I have sent my comments to the Town Planning Board of Hong Kong and they are as follows:

First a big thank you to the team who was involved in this project, not only is this about the project, but also about starting a new chapter (or perhaps, the beginnings of the book) of conservation in Hong Kong.

I think it is essential that with the argument of sustainable development, the essential aesthetic, architectural, historical, engineering fabrics should be kept intact. Because, to me, these are the essence that will make people understand / create new dialogs based on the significance in the past. Future uses of these 'fabrics' must respect and relate to these 'fabrics'. If this is not done appropriately, we are left with the facade of a historical building, but no core value or essence that will tell the story of its past or of Hong Kong's past.

With such concerns in mind, in my opinion, it is essential that the building height of the new building in planning should have a height restriction. The argument for this is that the reason why this new building exists is because of the old existing building.

If we look at this plan as a movie / a song, the new building should be supporting artist to reveal the core value or essence of the main artist as well as the plot of the movie / movement of the song. If the supporting artist performs well, it would mean that he / she has done his / her best to be a supporter.
If he / she takes over the main artist, then he/she is not performing his/her task as a supporting role. This will create a discord and disrupt the harmony of the film / song. And the audience will be left in confusion as to which narrative they should follow.

Here's the link to their website:
http://www.centralandwestern.org/Y.H3.4/index.html