PMQ

The former Police Married Quarters (Abbreviation: PMQ), located in Sheung Wan, in the middle of SoHo, has been revitalized as a creative hub for local design talents. It occupies the location of the second campus of the Central School (Queens's College) formed in 1862 and built on this site in 1889. Later on it transformed into the Police Married Quarters. Finally, in mid- April, 2014, the building was renamed as PMQ and open to the public. The building transformed residential units into design studios, shops and offices for creative enterprises and places for organizing exhibits. The mission of PMQ is to nurture local designers, provide a stage for creative happenings and create a place for visitors to experience creative lifestyle.

The Central Government School was built on Gough Street in 1862 and it was the first government primary and secondary school in Hong Kong, which provided western education to the public. In 1889, due to the increasing number of students, the school had to relocate to a new campus on Hollywood Road. Later on the school was renamed 'Victoria College', then Queen’s College in 1894. Many local leaders and talent have been nurtured at this school, including the Father of Modern China, Dr Sun Yat-sen and business tycoons such as Sir Robert Ho Tung. They were all elites at the time and contributed a lot to Hong Kong and China’s development. However, during the Japanese Occupation in 1941, the building was destroyed. In 1948, the remaining building was demolished. In 1951, in order to increase the police recruitment in response to the influx of Chinese immigrants after the Chinese Civil War, PMQ provided 140 single room units and 28 double room units for the rank and file officers serving at the nearby Central Police Station. The current and ex- Chief executive C.Y. Leung and Donald Tsang, respectively, both lived there. In 2000, the building was emptied. In 2009, the 'Conserving Central' project mentioned in the Policy Address that eight heritages sites in Central including PMQ should be renovated. Finally in 2014 PMQ started to operate as a creative hub.

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