Dapper Designer
Dapper Designer
Meet Edward Ram, the multitalented yet almost unknown Hong Kong architect behind some of the city's most famous buildings - including a recently rediscovered reservoir
Laid dormant and forgotten for the better part of five decades, the Bishop Hill Service Reservoir (also known as the Mission Hill Service Reservoir) in Hong Kong’s bustling, working-class Sham Shui Po district was thrust into the public consciousness in late 2020 after the discovery – or more accurately, rediscovery – of its rare Romanesque architecture.
Built in 1904, the circular-shaped underground reservoir was used to provide fresh water to residents in north Kowloon up until the 1970s, when it was retired following the commissioning of a much larger reservoir facility nearby.
Although the Water Supplies Department (WSD) clearly knew of its existence – it had embarked on demolishing the roof of the century-old structure, citing structural risks as it had been speared by tree roots – nobody had any idea of the splendor that lay within. It was only when the bulldozers smashed an opening on a sunny December day that the reservoir’s striking red brick arches and granite piers were revealed to an assortment of gobsmacked workers and elderly retirees who had wandered up Bishop Hill for their morning constitutional.
Fortunately, WSD had the good sense to immediately halt the demolition project and, thanks to photos that quickly went viral, Hong Kong heritage enthusiasts (myself included) went into a collective swoon.
Naturally enough, there were immediate calls to safeguard the site – and in more good sense, Hong Kong’s Antiquities Advisory Board soon rated the former reservoir a Grade 1 historical building, a status defined as ‘buildings of outstanding merit, which every effort should be made to preserve if possible.’
Further good news was to come. The government opened the site for guided tours in December 2021, although such is in the continued interest in the old reservoir that making a booking via the WSD’s online platform is very much a case of fastest finger first. So much so that I have never been able to secure a spot.
Fortunately, WSD recently introduced what they call self-guided tours, which happily are rather easier to book and which take only a few moments to complete. So off I went – and I’m very pleased I did. The Romanesque arches really are spectacular and are reminiscent of the much larger – and much older – Cisterna Basilica, the magnificent subterranean reservoir found near the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, one of Turkey’s most popular tourist spots.
For those who book self-guided tours, the WSD website suggests you download audio files to listen to whilst making your way around the site, which I duly did. These do a pretty good job in terms of explaining what you’re looking at and give quite a bit of detail in terms of the design and engineering requirements of the age. Sadly, however, neither the audio guide nor the small number of interpretation boards at Bishop Hill make any reference to the actual architect, which to my mind is a mistake.
Edward Albert Ram was born in Hammersmith, London in 1858 and was an articled pupil of the leading Victorian architect George Somers Clarke between 1877 and 1882.
An accomplished sportsman, Ram excelled at football in particular. A diminutive but speedy winger with an exceptional reading of the game, Ram was part of the Clapham Rovers team that won the FA Cup in 1880, beating Oxford University 1-0 in the final at the Kennington Oval.
After graduating from the Royal Academy of Schools for Architectural Studies, Ram studied further in Belgium and the Netherlands before establishing his own firm in Westminster, in the heart of the British capital.
In 1885, the dapper Ram moved to Hong Kong and shortly afterwards formed the architectural practice, Denison & Ram (later, Denison, Ram & Gibbs) - and quickly got to work. An extremely keen golfer, Ram designed the Hong Kong Golf Club (HKGC) clubhouses at both Happy Valley (1896) and Deep Water Bay (1898).
By 1900, Ram had been elected Captain of HKGC and business was booming. Aside from Bishop Hill (1904), his firm was responsible for many of Hong Kong's most notable structures - Matilda Hospital (1906), the HKGC’s Fanling Clubhouse (1914), the Old Halls at The University of Hong Kong (1915), the Helena May (1916) and the former - and utterly gorgeous - Repulse Bay Hotel (1920).
His other works included Hong Kong's public library and the Happy Valley racecourse stand. He also served the general community. During the plague of the mid-1890s he was appointed Secretary of the Sanitary Board. How he found time to also enlist in what became the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) and rise to the rank of major is beyond me.
Ram returned to London in 1927 and resumed practice before retiring and settling down with his wife in leafy Kensington. An avid boater hat wearer, the sartorially elegant Ram became a keen and talented water colourist in the years before his death, of bronchitis, in 1946 aged 88.
Sportsman, architect, public servant and volunteer soldier – the unheralded Major Edward Albert Ram certainly makes a case for being one of Hong Kong’s more interesting and prolific characters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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"Commerical considerations"? Simon, you should have been a diplomat! I think you are being immensely polite when referring to the notorious reputation that Hong Kong landlords have for being greedy, most especially commercial property landlords. This is why I have not seen a new building built here in the last 20 years which didn't have a lobby that looked like a subway station. No style, no grace - every square inch of a building must be milked to generate revenue. As for government buildings, it is not the need for revenue, it is simply the sheer lack of design talent in the ranks of government architects. A mere glance at those city parks built after 1990 proves this. That's why they are only referred to as "sitting out areas" rather than the more hopeful term "parks."
A great article and I agree, it's a shame the architect is not referenced with regard to Bishop Hill, I wonder if that's a simple oversight or a political decision. Nevertheless, the service reservoir is a fabulous discovery and proof enough that we never quite know what intriguing items lie beneath our feet !