Design Trust Impact Grant | Highlights from Open House Hong Kong 2025

Design Trust Impact Grant Programme Open House Hong Kong 2025 returned for the second consecutive year under the theme of “What Makes a Good City?” to showcase over 80 sites across Hong Kong with more than 150 guided tours originally planned for November 22^nd-23^rd and 29^th-30^th 2025. The programme was officially launched on November 19^th at Soho House Hong Kong, marking the collaborative efforts of all the supporters, partners and venue hosts for their contribution to the initiative.

With this year’s theme “What Makes a Good City?”, over 80 sites and more than 150 guided tour were planned to highlight the rich architectural and urban culture of Hong Kong. A  diverse range of buildings and sites relevant to the themes of education, heritage, culture and creativity, inclusive community, production, business innovation, recreation and leisure, and the environment were selected. Newly installed programmes also include five thematic walks and two dialogues, featuring international speakers Chenvia Lee, author and manager of the renowned social media page "fuples" and Jinyoung Lim of Open House Seoul.

The first weekend of the event held on November 22^nd and 23^rd brought on a variety of tours led by expert docents. Notable visits included the City Hall Memorial Garden Tour led by Design Trust grant recipient Raymond Fung, CUHK Art Museum Lo Kwee Seong Pavilion Tour led by Rocco Design Architects, Kowloon Municipal Services Building tour by Design Trust grant recipient Ying Zhou, Lai Chi Wo village tour led by Professor Wong Kam Sing with Design Trust grant recipient Zero Lai, Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre tour, and Cheung Sha Wan Pier tour led by Design Trust Grant recipients Paul Tse and Evelyn Ting. Participants also had the opportunity to visit the studio of local neon master Wu Chi Kai, explore a 300-year-old Hakka village in Lai Chi Wo, and tour the Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre. The first weekend of November 22^nd – 23^rd was joined by more than 1,000 participants across Hong Kong with over 80 expert docents providing insights and hidden stories of the buildings and sites.

The entire event was scheduled to run across two weekends on 22^rd to 23^rd, and 29^th to 30^th November, and concluding on December 7^th. However, following the tragic fire in Tai Po, Design Trust and the team of Open House Hong Kong 2025 made the difficult decision and suspended all remaining tours originally planned for the second weekend and December. This decision allowed our team, venue hosts, docents, volunteers, and participants to prioritise supporting and caring for the community.

We are deeply saddened by this devastation, and our sincere condolences go out to the families who have lost loved ones and to all those affected by this tragedy. We are grateful for the incredible courage and dedication of our firefighters, first responders, and everyone who has offered their support during this difficult time.

Design Trust and the Open House Hong Kong 2025 team regret any inconvenience caused by the cancelation of the remaining events. Please stay tuned for the future editions of Open House Hong Kong.