Jardine House (), formerly known as Connaught Centre (), is an office tower in Hong Kong. The building is located at 1 Connaught Place, Central on Hong Kong Island. It is owned by Hongkong Land Limited, a subsidiary of Jardines. At the time of its completion in 1973, Jardine House was the tallest building in Hong Kong and in Asia. In 1980, the Hopewell Centre usurped the title of the tallest building in Hong Kong. The building is interconnected by the Central Elevated Walkway with buildings of Hongkong Land Limited like Exchange Square and the International Finance Centre.

There is also another Jardine House in Hamilton, Bermuda, which serves as the registered office for Jardines' Bermuda-domiciled businesses (most of Jardines' businesses including Jardine Matheson Holdings and Hongkong Land are incorporated and domiciled in Bermuda).

History

thumb|220px|left|1st generation Jardine House in the 1900s.

thumb|220px|left|2nd generation Jardine House in the 1930s.

Previous Jardine Houses

The first three generations of Jardine Houses were situated at 20 Pedder Street, at the corner of Des Voeux Road Central. The first Jardine House was built in 1864. This first building was designed in a style typical of many commercial buildings in 19th Century Hong Kong and borrows elements (arches and pillars) from Neoclassical architecture. In 1908, the second Jardine House was built. It was rebuilt in around 1956 as a 16-storey building. The building was sold by Jardines during the land acquisition exercise of the Landmark complex in Central and 20 Pedder Street is now occupied by the Wheelock House.

New Jardine House

thumb|300px|Jardine House (first building from the right) is located in the central business district on [[Hong Kong Island, next to (from left to right) the BOC Tower, Cheung Kong Center and the HSBC Building. Taken in May 2009.]]

The new building was constructed on a piece of reclaimed land, under a lease term of 75 years, which was secured by Hongkong Land Limited at a record price of HK$258 million in 1970, payable interest free over a period of 10 years. In exchange, the Government agreed that no building directly to the north of Jardine House would ever be built to obstruct its views. As a result, the height of General Post Office building was capped at . Building costs were estimated at $120 million.

Jardine House was prominently displayed in the 1988 NBC television miniseries Noble House as the headquarters for Struan's in a subtle nod to James Clavell using Jardines as a model for Struan's. It also appeared in establishing shots in The Amsterdam Kill, and was climbed by a giant gorilla in the climax of The Mighty Peking Man (1977). The building was also featured in the 1978 episode titled "The Chinese Web" of The Amazing Spider-Man TV series.

Jardine House is featured in the Dockside track in Burnout 3: Takedown

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File:Jardine House seen from IFC2.jpg|Jardine House seen from IFC2 in May 2013

File:Jardine House taken from the Pedestrian bridge skywalk entrance.jpg|Taken from the Pedestrian bridge skywalk at Central/IFC in September 2011

File:HK Central Jardine House C1.JPG|Jardine House in April 2007

File:HK Statue Square Xmas Tree Mandarin Oriental Hotel.JPG|The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Jardine House and IFC2 seen from Statue Square in December 2006

File:HK Jardine House Lift Lobby.jpg|Jardine House lift lobby in Ground Floor in June 2008

Base foodhall in Jardin House 2024.JPG|Base foodhall in Jardin House basement

</gallery>

See also

  • Timeline of tallest buildings in Hong Kong

References

  • Jardine House, Hong Kong Land website
  • Pictures of Jardine House at skyscraperphotos.com
  • Gwulo entry with details about the early Jardine Houses