Monster Building

Monster Building
怪獸大廈
An upward view
Alternative names
Parker Estate
General information
LocationKing's Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
Completed
1972
Opened1972
Height
Top floor18
Technical details
Floor count18
Floor area11.000 Square metres
Monster Building
Traditional Chinese怪獸大廈
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationGwaai sau daaih haah
JyutpingGwaai3 sau3 daai6 haa6

The Monster Building is a group of five connected buildings on King's Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong.22°17′03″N 114°12′44″E / 22.284198°N 114.212300°E / 22.284198; 114.212300 lts official name is Parker Estate, named after the neighbouring Mount Parker. It is a popular location for photography and has been used as inspiration for several filming locations. There are 2,243 units in five blocks with 18 floors in height. Currently, 10,000 people live in the complex.

History and characteristics

The housing estate was originally built in the 1960s and named the Parker Estate, in reference to Mount Parker, south of the estate, and later sold. In 1972, the housing block was split into five blocks: the Fook Cheong Building, the Montane Mansion, the Oceanic Mansion, the Yick Cheong Building, and the Yick Fat Building. There are shops on the street front. The highest building is the Oceanic Mansion, with 18 floors.

The location is a private estate which became popular with tourists and locals after a photograph of it by Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze was widely shared in 2013. The photograph of the housing estate was the cover of his photo book Vertical Horizon. The location became so popular that residents have placed signs asking visitors to be respectful. The structure has inspired locations in films including Transformers: Age of Extinction and Ghost in the Shell and music videos including "Labyrinth" by Mondo Grosso and Hikari Mitsushima and "Cave Me In" by Gallant and Eric Nam. The building has acquired the nickname "Monster Mansion".

References

  1. ↑ Kate Springer (11 December 2017). "Pro tips: Shooting Hong Kong like a street photographer". CNN. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  2. ↑ @NatGeoUK (2018-02-25). "Neighbourhood: Hong Kong". National Geographic. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  3. ↑ "The beauty of urban Hong Kong through the lens of photographer Peter Stewart". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  4. ↑ 陳銘智 (2017-01-12). "鰂魚涌海山樓何以是打卡聖地？建築學者、前街坊還原真面目". 香港01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  5. ↑ Lin, Veronica (2019-07-16). "Romain Jacquet-Lagreze, the man who made the 'Transformers' monster building Instagram famous, on making poetry from Hong Kong's iconic street signs". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  6. ↑ "Hong Kong's vertical horizons". www.telegraph.co.uk. 2013-05-10. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  7. ↑ Marcus, Lilit (18 October 2021). "When your home becomes a tourist attraction". CNN. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "Quarry Bay 'Monster Building'". Alas Obscura. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  9. ↑ "Monster Building (Yik Cheong Building)". Time Out Hong Kong. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  10. ↑ "【影像熱話】海山樓張貼告示禁拍照 遊人懶理照「打卡」" (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 香港01. 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  11. ↑ "HONG KONG: EAT, PLAY, LOVE". clashboomband.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  12. ↑ Holliday, Grace (6 August 2025). "'This vertical city is so dense, the only way to build is up': Victor Cheng's best phone picture". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2025.

Further reading