Standing on a small hill in Kowloon, the Hong Kong Observatory was established in 1883 and designated as the Royal Observatory, Hong Kong in 1912. Built in a Victorian-Colonial style, it is a rectangular two-storey plastered brick structure characterised by arched windows and long verandas. The technical and operational units of the Observatory have been moved to new premises nearby, leaving the old building to house the office of the directorate and serve as the administration centre. The Hong Kong Observatory resumed its original name when Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty on 1 July 1997.
The Hong Kong Observatory was declared a monument in 1984.
