The Repulse Bay in the city’s Southside is the most famous example. The luxury residential complex was built in 1986 by Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels. The company had demolished the iconic, colonial-style Repulse Bay Hotel—constructed back in 1920—to make way for a residential high-rise.
When the new property was completed, revealing the now-famous “holey” façade, it set tongues wagging.
“Legend has it that The Repulse Bay’s exceptional location is enjoyed by a family of dragons that lives in the surrounding hills,” says Martyn Sawyer, Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels’ group director, properties. It was believed that the development was built in such a way in order not to block the path of “the mother dragon and her children” to the ocean, he adds—obstructing their daily ritual of bathing in seawater would bring bad luck to the site.
Sadly for fans of the supernatural, this wasn’t what inspired the distinctive design— even though the architects behind The Repulse Bay did, in fact, take the principles of feng shui into consideration, explains Sawyer.
This story is from the February 2022 edition of Tatler Hong Kong.
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This story is from the February 2022 edition of Tatler Hong Kong.
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