.JPG) Entrance of Duddell Street fromIce House Street | |
| Native name | 都爹利街 (Yue Chinese) |
|---|---|
| Location | Central, Hong Kong |
| Coordinates | 22°16′49″N114°09′27″E / 22.28017°N 114.15749°E /22.28017; 114.15749 |
| South end | Ice House Street |
| North end | Queen's Road Central |
| Construction | |
| Construction start | 1875 |
| Completion | 1899 |
| Duddell Street | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 都爹利街 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Duddell Street is a smallstreet located near theLan Kwai Fong district inCentral,Hong Kong. Named after George and Frederick Duddell, it stretches fromIce House Street toQueen's Road Central. The street is noted for containing the city's last fourgas lamps.
This short street includes, at its southern end, a flight of granite steps that were built between 1875 and 1889;[1][a] these lead up toIce House Street. The street was named in honour of brothers George and Frederick Duddell, who werelandowners in the early days of thecolony, having emigrated fromMacau after theBritish Empireannexed Hong Kong Island in 1841.[3] George was an auctioneer and ultimately a significant property owner in the area around the present Duddell Street in the mid-19th century.[4] When Frederick and his wife died, they were both buried back in Macau at theOld Protestant Cemetery.[3]
The street is famous for its fourgas-poweredstreet lamps, which are the only surviving and working examples of their kind in Hong Kong since the electrification of street lights in 1967. The four gas lamps, along with the flight of steps on the street, have beendeclared a monument since 1979.[5][6]
The gas lamps are two-light Rochester models supplied by the London-basedWilliam Sugg and Company and were erected in the early-20th century. They are mounted in pairs at either end of the street's steps, and were designed with shorter posts so that they could be mounted on thenewels.[2][5][6]
The gas lamps were originally lit manually, but are now operated automatically.[5] They are lit from 6 pm to 6 am everyday and are maintained byThe Hong Kong and China Gas Company and theHighways Department.[2][6]
On 16 September 2018 duringTyphoon Mangkhut, the four lamps suffered varying degrees of damage, with one of the lamp posts snapping in two. The broken lamp and two others were removed, while one remained with a broken lampshade. Large sections of handrails and thebalustrades on the steps were also damaged by falling trees. Repairs cost an estimated HK$4 million and was completed after 15 months.[2][6][7]
In June 2009, Hong Kong retail design storeG.O.D. collaborated withStarbucks and created a store with a "Bing Sutt Corner" at their store on Duddell Street. It is a concept that fuses the retrobing sutt, a Hong Kong teahouse style with the contemporary look of a coffeehouse.[8]
In April 2012, the flagship store of clothing retailerShanghai Tang was opened at 1 Duddell Street, known as the 'Shanghai Tang Mansion'. It is close to 1,400 m2 (15,000 sq ft) in size and is the largest branch in the world, designed by Shanghai-based design firm Design MVW.[9]
