PMQ

PMQ is a pair of long 1950s blocks built as married quarters for police officers on a Central hillside, on a site that had earlier held a school, and after standing empty for years they were converted and opened in 2014 as a home for small design businesses. The original plan survives: the flats are now around a hundred studios and shops opening onto external corridors around a covered courtyard, occupied by jewellers, ceramicists, leather workers, illustrators and clothing designers, many of whom work in the units. Excavated foundations of the earlier school are displayed in a basement gallery. Markets, pop-ups and exhibitions fill the courtyard, and entry is free.

History

The Central Government School, opened on Gough Street in 1862 as the first government school in Hong Kong to give a Western education to the public, moved to a new campus on this site on Hollywood Road in 1889 and was renamed Queen's College in 1894. The site later became quarters for married junior police officers, listed as a Grade III historic building in 2010, and in 2014, after nearly 15 years empty, it reopened as PMQ, its flats turned into studios, shops and exhibition spaces (Wikipedia, PMQ (Hong Kong)).

What you'll find

• Studios in former flats - a hundred units on open corridors.
• Makers working in the units - jewellers, ceramicists and leather workers.
• The excavated school foundations - the earlier site shown in the basement.
• Courtyard markets and pop-ups - the changing programme in the middle.

When to go

Year round. Two to three hours. Weekends bring markets and the fullest occupancy; some studios close on Mondays. Evenings are quieter.

Practical notes

Occupancy varies and some units are shut or empty on any given day. Prices in the design shops are high. It is a shopping destination more than a cultural one. The hill approach is steep from Sheung Wan.

Nearby

Tai Kwun is a short walk east; Sheung Wan lies below.

Key facts