2022/3/20 上午11:22 Drones, other new technology to join front line of Hong Kong heritage conservation efforts | South

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Hong Kong/ Society

Drones, other new technology to join front line of Hong Kong heritage conservation
efforts
Secretary for Development says Hong Kong’s Architectural Services Department ‘needs to go with the
times’ to improve the effectiveness of conservation work
The biggest challenge, says surveyor Liny Lau Ling-yee, is to ensure historic buildings resist effects of rain
and other natural threats

Tony Cheung
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Published: 5:39pm, 19 Dec, 2021 Why you can trust SCMP

The Warehouse Teenage Club, which is housed in a graded historic

building in Aberdeen.

Hong Kong’s Architectural Services Department has been studying how to apply new technologies to heritage
conservation and help protect historical buildings from rain and termites, according to the city’s development
chief.

Writing on his official blog, Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun said the department was tasked
with conserving 74 heritage sites owned by the government, along with 135 graded historical buildings and
multiple sites with archaeological value, such as lighthouses, tombs, forts and rock carvings.

“The department is responsible for repairing and maintaining many old structures which have significant
historical, architectural and cultural value,” he wrote.

“It needs to go with the times, and study the use of new technology, such as using drones to inspect buildings,
so as to improve the effectiveness and performance of conservation work.”

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2022/3/20 上午11:22 Drones, other new technology to join front line of Hong Kong heritage conservation efforts | South China Morning Post

Secretary for Development Michael Wong says using new

technology, such as drones, can ‘improve the effectiveness
and performance of conservation work’. Photo: Edward Wong

Last month, the government announced that a century-old underground reservoir at Bishop Hill at Shek Kip
Mei that was saved from demolition would be open for free guided tours from mid-December. Authorities
made a U-turn last year after coming under pressure to conserve the structure, which features impressive
columns and soaring arches.

Speaking in a video posted on Wong’s blog, senior maintenance surveyor Liny Lau Ling-yee, of the
Architectural Services Department, said apart from daily maintenance and repair work, workers also had to
arrange for contractors to check the buildings’ ceilings, windows and other high-risk components.

“We also hired consultants to inspect the buildings … and conduct preventive maintenance work every four to
five years,” she said.

Lau said the biggest challenge in heritage conservation was to ensure historic buildings in Hong Kong, largely
built of wood and brick, resisted the effects of rain and other natural elements.

The surveyor said authorities had recently conducted maintenance work on the former Aberdeen police
station, a grade two historic building, even though the Architectural Services Department had just finished
some prevention work last year.

Last month, the government announced that a century-old

underground reservoir at Bishop Hill in Shek Kip Mei that was

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2022/3/20 上午11:22 Drones, other new technology to join front line of Hong Kong heritage conservation efforts | South China Morning Post

saved from demolition would be open for free guided tours

from mid-December. Photo: Martin Chan

Lau added that even though the building was now home to The Warehouse Teenage Club, it was difficult for
the club to help maintain the facility as it was located on a hillside.

“The plants on its external walls had returned … and water started to seep into the building after the rainy
season, so if we had not taken action, the wooden structures would be at risk,” she explained.

The department also helped to repair the wooden floor tiles of the building after they were damaged by
termites, she added.

Wong, the development chief, said the department had a special maintenance unit that helped to repair
historic structures during rainstorms or other emergencies.

Lee Ho-yin, director of the University of Hong Kong’s architectural conservation programmes, welcomed
Wong’s pledge that more new technology would be used.

“I know that the bureau has been testing the use of drones in heritage inspection for a few years, and it would
be great [to use them]. It is difficult for inspectors to reach some high points, and they may need scaffoldings
to help. But as drones can be installed with high-resolution cameras, and are cheap and easy to control, such
work would be more effective,” he said.

“Authorities should also consider using laser-scanning to help create detailed three-dimensional records of
heritage buildings.”

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