Jardine House

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Jardine House (left) and Exchange Square (right)

Jardine House (Chinese: 怡和大廈) is an office tower in Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong, which, when construction finished in 1973, was the first office tower in Hong Kong and the tallest building in the former British Crown Colony. Construction of the fifty-two story building took a mere sixteen months, a record speed at that time.

At that time it was known as the Connaught Centre (康樂大廈). It is owned by Hong Kong Land, a subsidiary of Jardines. The offices of the Jardines tai pan are located on the top two floors. Supposedly the building has a nickname (among English speaking residents of Hong Kong) of the house of a thousand arseholes. This name refers to both the numerous circular windows on all sides of the building (which superficially resemble anuses); it also is rumoured to be an unflattering reference to those who work there.

It was replaced as Hong Kong's tallest building in 1980, when the Hopewell Centre was completed.

The building is interconnected with other major buildings like Exchange Square and International Finance Centre through Central Elevated Walkway. Elevators were made by Otis Elevator, while escalators were manufactured by Schindler Elevator.

[edit] Old Jardine House

The Old Jardine House was situated on 20 Pedder Street, where the site is now stood the Wheelock House. The original building was sold by Jardines during the land acquisition exercise of the Landmark Complex in Central.