Leigh & Orange
Encyclopedia
Leigh & Orange Ltd, founded in Hong Kong in 1874, is an international architectural and interior design practice. The group has a total of 550 staff and operates through its headquarters in Hong Kong with branch offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Fuzhou, Bangkok, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar.
Middle East
's book. Having "enormous faith in the future of Hong-Kong", Granville Sharp had morphed into a major land dealer and acquired the nickname “the notorious professional philanthropist and champion land jobber”.
Connections were key to success. One close friend of Sharp’s, Sir Paul Chater, helped support the firm with commissions. Another fellow member of the Masonic Lodge
was the newly arrived William Danby, a qualified engineer and architect. By 1874 Sharp and Danby had agreed to a partnership; Sharp providing the land and Danby deciding what to build on it. Success brought growth and eventually, new partners. Mr Sharp left the firm in 1880, Robert K Leigh joined in 1882 and Mr James Orange in 1890. The early projects helped establish a reputation for institutional or ‘public’ work, such as Mr Danby’s design for the Clock Tower Fountain in Statue Square. When Danby left the firm in 1894, its name altered to Leigh & Orange, and then stayed that way.
During the 1890s, a period of intense construction ensued, spurred by the Praya Reclamation Scheme
, which gave the city a large chunk of what is now Central’s core land base between Des Voeux and Connaught roads. The architecture of the new buildings situated in this area expressed the gothic/classical style of the era, many with ground floor arcades to shelter from rain and sun. By now Leigh & Orange, encouraged by the patronage of Sir Paul Chater, was considered the prime architectural office of the colony. Where the Mandarin Oriental Hotel now stands, the firm built the Queen’s Building, a large office block that solidified the firm’s reputation. They then built the adjacent Prince’s Building, even larger. The St. Georges Building soon followed in 1904, a steel concrete structure with iron columns and teak floors. Such are the vagaries of historical records that there are some buildings no one really knows conclusively who designed, but Leigh & Orange’s early prominence in local architecture put them on shortlists for any number of the city’s major works. Yet the firm has never allowed itself to become specialized in only one or two building types, even if they were exalted ones. It designed go-downs, warehouses, docks and the Star Ferry wharves, critical components of the central city in the days when those zones were generally waterfront industrial in use. This fact also distinguishes Leigh & Orange from many other firms. The ability to move among genres helped the firm survive in tough times, and capitalize in good ones. Today from sports complexes to retail design, from residential and office towers to cultural and institutional projects and even to infrastructure work, Leigh & Orange can legitimately lay claim to an unsurpassed breadth of experience in project briefs.
One of the more eclectic buildings designed by the firm was the Ohel Leah Synagogue
in Robinson Road in 1901. It heralded a period of interesting projects including Marble Hall
, Chater's sumptuous residence on Conduit Road
, a building eventually donated to the government, later to become the colony’s Admiral House. St. Andrew’s Church
, finished in 1904, was also commissioned of L&O by Chater.
In 1911 Leigh & Orange began work on the Hong Kong University’s flagship building, Lok Yew Hall, still in existent, a handsome arcade and courtyard building of brick and stone in the colonial style. It was to be the start of another long relationship that saw the architects design many more campus buildings, including professors’ residences, the sports grounds and the staff Common Room Building. In 1918, the firm built the School of Tropical Medicine and Pathology, and in 1932 the Fung Ping Shan Library Building. Recently, they have completed the Pauline Chan Amenities Building, staff quarters, the Animal House & Dentistry Accommodation, swimming pools and sports grounds. An award has been attained for the Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building at the university.
Other surviving early 20th century works by the firm include the Chinese YMCA on Bridges Street and the landmark Helena May Institute
(attributed), opened in 1916 as a residence for single women in the colony. During the following decades, the firm’s fortunes rose and dipped along with those of the territory, affected by wars, occupation and reconstruction. Project types ranged from high-end residences to industrial storage buildings and everything in between, including more churches such as the Methodist Church in Wanchai (1955) and the Union Church in Kennedy Road (1949). Francis Howorth, a partner at L&O from 1954 designed the local landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel
, which replaced the old Queen’s Building in Central.
In 1950, L&O completed the new Masonic headquarters, Zetland Hall
on Kennedy Road, and Edinburgh House for HongKong Land Investment Co. Schools appeared in the log books of the company in a big way in 1954, with the design of Sai Ying Poon School and the North Point Primary School. The Saint Francis School for the Canossian Mission soon followed, then a new wing for the Saint Mary’s School in Austen Road, Kowloon. Nineteen fifty-four marked the company’s commissioning for the new Jockey Club building in Happy Valley, which had to be constructed at a frantic pace to fit into the racing season. The building’s superstructure was erected at the rate of one floor every eight days, and followed the design of the grandstand at Bangkok. Both buildings were judged highly successful.
The ‘modern’ era was a busy one for the firm, with projects ranging across the programmatic map, and the geographical one. Many modern landmark buildings were constructed, and a new direction – or literally many directions – marked the firm’s growth. In 1990, Leigh & Orange established their Bangkok
office. Since then it has opened offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Yangon. This new regionalism has provided the firm with a plethora of opportunities and commissions across Asia and across programme types. Meanwhile, projects such as Ocean Park, Tuen Mun Hospital and Gaia restaurant, all in Hong Kong, widened the firm’s reference base. L&O has landed multiple sports buildings in the Middle East, and large scale residential and office projects in mainland China. Occasionally more unique briefs come along, such as the Integer Pavilion, an environmental experiment set up on the waterfront Tamar Site. Currently on the boards: a huge addition of buildings to the Hong Kong Science Park, in its Phase 2.
In a sense, it could be said of Leigh & Orange, “they were in the right place at the right times”, for they have been building buildings large and small in Hong Kong throughout booms and busts, from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel (1993) in Central to Beijing’s Lan Hua International Building (2003); from the Isola Italian Restaurant (2004) in Central to the Al Janadriyah Racecourse (2003) in Saudi Arabia; from the Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building (1999) in Pokfulam to the Franciscan Church in Kowloon Tong, whether it is a sports building in Bahrain or Dubai, or an office complex in Beijing, whether a chic restaurant in Hong Kong or a tranquil residence in Thailand, the architects of Leigh & Orange always seem to push their own experience and skills a bit further, and to try to enhance the particular sub-category with their entry. There is little doubt, looking at the firm’s projects, that the work is thoroughly contemporary even though it has an over 130 year legacy to uphold and continue.
The firm enjoys long standing working relationships with clients such as the Hong Kong Electric Company and the Hong Kong Jockey Club
. Robert Leigh retired from the firm in 1904 and James Orange in 1908. Since then, there have been a total of 23 other directors (currently there are five), but the masthead name never changed.
Locations
Asia- Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, SAR, - ShanghaiShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China - BeijingBeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China - FuzhouFuzhouFuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
, China - BangkokBangkokBangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Middle East
- DubaiDubaiDubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, United Arab Emirates - BahrainBahrain' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
- DohaDohaDoha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, Qatar
Selected works
- Hong Kong Science Park Phase 2, Hong Kong
- CEO Office Tower, Beijing, PRC
- Lan Hua International Tower, Beijing, PRC
- Ristorante Isola, Central, Hong Kong
- Al Shaqab Equestrian Academy, Doha
- Main Building, University of Hong Kong
- TVB City, Hong Kong
- World Finance Tower, Shanghai
History
Founded in Hong Kong in 1874, Leigh & Orange began as a company called Sharp & Danby. It took two decades and four name changes for the firm to evolve step by step, into Leigh & Orange. The company first started off by Mr Granville Sharp, a businessman who had been sent out to the colony of Hong Kong to open a branch of the Commercial Bank of India. The story of Granville Sharp (a distant cousin of the famous Conversation Sharp), and of his wife Matilda (in whose name Granville set up the Matilda Hospital, Hong Kong) is told in Joyce SmithJoyce Smith
Joyce Esther Smith is a British former long distance runner.Smith was born in Stoke Newington, London, and began running competitively in the 1950s, at which time the longest distance for women in international competitions was 800 metres. She won the English National Crosscountry Championship in...
's book. Having "enormous faith in the future of Hong-Kong", Granville Sharp had morphed into a major land dealer and acquired the nickname “the notorious professional philanthropist and champion land jobber”.
Connections were key to success. One close friend of Sharp’s, Sir Paul Chater, helped support the firm with commissions. Another fellow member of the Masonic Lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
was the newly arrived William Danby, a qualified engineer and architect. By 1874 Sharp and Danby had agreed to a partnership; Sharp providing the land and Danby deciding what to build on it. Success brought growth and eventually, new partners. Mr Sharp left the firm in 1880, Robert K Leigh joined in 1882 and Mr James Orange in 1890. The early projects helped establish a reputation for institutional or ‘public’ work, such as Mr Danby’s design for the Clock Tower Fountain in Statue Square. When Danby left the firm in 1894, its name altered to Leigh & Orange, and then stayed that way.
During the 1890s, a period of intense construction ensued, spurred by the Praya Reclamation Scheme
Praya Reclamation Scheme
The Praya Reclamation Scheme was a large scale reclaimed land project carried out by the Hong Kong Land company in Colonial Hong Kong under Sir Catchick Paul Chater and James Johnstone Keswick.-Early proposal:The project was first proposed in 1855...
, which gave the city a large chunk of what is now Central’s core land base between Des Voeux and Connaught roads. The architecture of the new buildings situated in this area expressed the gothic/classical style of the era, many with ground floor arcades to shelter from rain and sun. By now Leigh & Orange, encouraged by the patronage of Sir Paul Chater, was considered the prime architectural office of the colony. Where the Mandarin Oriental Hotel now stands, the firm built the Queen’s Building, a large office block that solidified the firm’s reputation. They then built the adjacent Prince’s Building, even larger. The St. Georges Building soon followed in 1904, a steel concrete structure with iron columns and teak floors. Such are the vagaries of historical records that there are some buildings no one really knows conclusively who designed, but Leigh & Orange’s early prominence in local architecture put them on shortlists for any number of the city’s major works. Yet the firm has never allowed itself to become specialized in only one or two building types, even if they were exalted ones. It designed go-downs, warehouses, docks and the Star Ferry wharves, critical components of the central city in the days when those zones were generally waterfront industrial in use. This fact also distinguishes Leigh & Orange from many other firms. The ability to move among genres helped the firm survive in tough times, and capitalize in good ones. Today from sports complexes to retail design, from residential and office towers to cultural and institutional projects and even to infrastructure work, Leigh & Orange can legitimately lay claim to an unsurpassed breadth of experience in project briefs.
One of the more eclectic buildings designed by the firm was the Ohel Leah Synagogue
Ohel Leah Synagogue
The Ohel Leah Synagogue and its next-door neighbors, the Jewish Recreation Club and the Jewish Community Center, have formed the center of Jewish social and religious life in Hong Kong for over a century...
in Robinson Road in 1901. It heralded a period of interesting projects including Marble Hall
Marble Hall (Hong Kong)
Marble Hall was the private residence of Catchick Paul Chater. It situated at 1, Conduit Road, Hong Kong, and was constructed in 1901, from imported European marble. Historians regard it as one of the finest ever examples of architecture in Hong Kong....
, Chater's sumptuous residence on Conduit Road
Conduit Road
Conduit Road is a road in the Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong.-The road and buildings:Conduit Road was constructed in 1910. It is located in Western Mid-Levels. It is named after the aqueduct passing underneath which carries water from the Pok Fu Lam Reservoir to the Central area. It is...
, a building eventually donated to the government, later to become the colony’s Admiral House. St. Andrew’s Church
St. Andrew's Church (Kowloon)
St. Andrew's Church is located on 138 Nathan Road, Kowloon. It is a church of the Anglican Province of Hong Kong and in the Diocese of Western Kowloon. It is the oldest Protestant church in Kowloon. The church provides many services on Sundays...
, finished in 1904, was also commissioned of L&O by Chater.
In 1911 Leigh & Orange began work on the Hong Kong University’s flagship building, Lok Yew Hall, still in existent, a handsome arcade and courtyard building of brick and stone in the colonial style. It was to be the start of another long relationship that saw the architects design many more campus buildings, including professors’ residences, the sports grounds and the staff Common Room Building. In 1918, the firm built the School of Tropical Medicine and Pathology, and in 1932 the Fung Ping Shan Library Building. Recently, they have completed the Pauline Chan Amenities Building, staff quarters, the Animal House & Dentistry Accommodation, swimming pools and sports grounds. An award has been attained for the Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building at the university.
Other surviving early 20th century works by the firm include the Chinese YMCA on Bridges Street and the landmark Helena May Institute
The Helena May main building
The Helena May main building is a declared monument of Hong Kong and a membership club located in the Central district on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong...
(attributed), opened in 1916 as a residence for single women in the colony. During the following decades, the firm’s fortunes rose and dipped along with those of the territory, affected by wars, occupation and reconstruction. Project types ranged from high-end residences to industrial storage buildings and everything in between, including more churches such as the Methodist Church in Wanchai (1955) and the Union Church in Kennedy Road (1949). Francis Howorth, a partner at L&O from 1954 designed the local landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong is a five-star hotel, located on Connaught Road in Central, Hong Kong, owned and managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. The hotel opened its doors in 1963 as “The Mandarin”, and quickly drew recognition for its service and elegance...
, which replaced the old Queen’s Building in Central.
In 1950, L&O completed the new Masonic headquarters, Zetland Hall
Zetland Hall
Zetland Hall is the name given to two buildings in Hong Kong, one historic, the other modern. Both have housed Masonic Lodges.-The original Zetland Hall:...
on Kennedy Road, and Edinburgh House for HongKong Land Investment Co. Schools appeared in the log books of the company in a big way in 1954, with the design of Sai Ying Poon School and the North Point Primary School. The Saint Francis School for the Canossian Mission soon followed, then a new wing for the Saint Mary’s School in Austen Road, Kowloon. Nineteen fifty-four marked the company’s commissioning for the new Jockey Club building in Happy Valley, which had to be constructed at a frantic pace to fit into the racing season. The building’s superstructure was erected at the rate of one floor every eight days, and followed the design of the grandstand at Bangkok. Both buildings were judged highly successful.
The ‘modern’ era was a busy one for the firm, with projects ranging across the programmatic map, and the geographical one. Many modern landmark buildings were constructed, and a new direction – or literally many directions – marked the firm’s growth. In 1990, Leigh & Orange established their Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
office. Since then it has opened offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Yangon. This new regionalism has provided the firm with a plethora of opportunities and commissions across Asia and across programme types. Meanwhile, projects such as Ocean Park, Tuen Mun Hospital and Gaia restaurant, all in Hong Kong, widened the firm’s reference base. L&O has landed multiple sports buildings in the Middle East, and large scale residential and office projects in mainland China. Occasionally more unique briefs come along, such as the Integer Pavilion, an environmental experiment set up on the waterfront Tamar Site. Currently on the boards: a huge addition of buildings to the Hong Kong Science Park, in its Phase 2.
In a sense, it could be said of Leigh & Orange, “they were in the right place at the right times”, for they have been building buildings large and small in Hong Kong throughout booms and busts, from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel (1993) in Central to Beijing’s Lan Hua International Building (2003); from the Isola Italian Restaurant (2004) in Central to the Al Janadriyah Racecourse (2003) in Saudi Arabia; from the Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building (1999) in Pokfulam to the Franciscan Church in Kowloon Tong, whether it is a sports building in Bahrain or Dubai, or an office complex in Beijing, whether a chic restaurant in Hong Kong or a tranquil residence in Thailand, the architects of Leigh & Orange always seem to push their own experience and skills a bit further, and to try to enhance the particular sub-category with their entry. There is little doubt, looking at the firm’s projects, that the work is thoroughly contemporary even though it has an over 130 year legacy to uphold and continue.
The firm enjoys long standing working relationships with clients such as the Hong Kong Electric Company and the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Hong Kong Jockey Club
The Hong Kong Jockey Club is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, founded in 1884 to promote horse racing. It was granted Royal Charter and renamed to "The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club" in 1959...
. Robert Leigh retired from the firm in 1904 and James Orange in 1908. Since then, there have been a total of 23 other directors (currently there are five), but the masthead name never changed.