Hong Kong Palace Museum plans throw doubt on consultation
Documents emerge showing detailed layout for controversial Palace Museum project, despite bosses’ claims they are still seeking public views
An apparent floor-by-floor layout plan for the controversial Hong Kong Palace Museum has raised questions over whether continuing public consultation on the project is cosmetic or genuine.
A 16-page document, acquired and released on Tuesday by FactWire, a local news agency, was said to be the design plan detailing the exterior design and facilities of each floor of the planned museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District.
FactWire reported that the layout design included floor plans for eight levels, showing the locations of facilities and galleries. It cited a document of “Project P”, generally understood as the code name for the Palace Museum project, which was undertaken in top secrecy until former chief secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor signed the memorandum confirming it would go ahead, in Beijing last month.
Aside from details of each floor, the document also revealed a cross-section plan and elevation plan which showed a ding, an ancient Chinese cauldron, exterior design and the use of glass walls to allow natural light in.
“Design consultant Rocco Yim Sen-kee has a more or less finalised concept regarding the exterior design of the museum, so the public consultation probably could only influence the location of facilities within,” FactWire wrote.
After the plan emerged, Yim’s company, Rocco Design Architects Limited, said: “The disclosed design layout is one of the preliminary designs studied by the architect. The overall design of the museum is still in the early stages of development.”