About this collection
HSBC’s Chief Manager Vandeleur Grayburn handed the architectural firm Palmer and Turner a simple brief in 1931: “please build us the best bank in the world”. The site was 1 Queen's Road in the heart of Hong Kong, and the project was remarkable in its complexity. Sub-contracted specialists from multiple trades poured onto the construction site. The best possible materials were used and, when available, sourced from Hong Kong suppliers. A quarry and brickyard were purchased to ensure a ready supply of granite and bricks for what would become Asia’s tallest building at the time. The Royal Institute of British Architects considered it a “truly remarkable feat of construction”.
