Uncorking history(3)
In 2000, the government put forward a partnership proposal to invite private sectors for the revitalization of discarded military sites in Hong Kong. De'eb attended that conference and fell in love with the idea.
Four years of assiduous work and around HK$30 million later, the place was transformed into its current incarnation.
Today, the cellar occupies four of the original 12 pairs of bunkers. Three pairs are used for wine-cellaring while the other makes up the underground part of what's known as the Crown Wine Cellars clubhouse.
"It's like an American goldmine - the deeper you walk into the mountain, the higher it rises above you," says De'eb, before he dives underground.
The highest point corresponds with the innermost part of the clubhouse - the far end of the historic tunnel that lies 20 m below the ground and is beguilingly called "The Library".
It's a place to have conversation and to think - as the dimly-lit, history-imbued area induces in both intimacy and sobriety.
On the solid oak table, half-burnt candles are placed alongside about-to-bloom red roses and chrysanthemums. Under one roof, things are heading in two different directions - beautiful demise and brilliant rebirth. What else could be said of this place?
The most powerful reminder of history is the inner wall separating the two sister bunkers that make up the Library and the adjoining underground Main Reception Room. It is composed of one-inch outside brick, one-inch hollow space and one meter of solid concrete.
The purpose of the hollow space is to serve as a cushion in case an explosion occurs inside the bunker and pushes one wall against the other.
By retaining the original hard floors and walls, De'eb, who's a fan of the early-twentieth-century Bauhaus style, has embraced the soul of the building without losing his own design soul.
"I want people to see the wall, feel the hard floor," he says. "The rough feeling resulting from its old days as an ammunition depot translates easily into a minimalist, industrial style which I'm fond of."
However, you are wrong to think that any time spent inside the cellar is bound to be an entangled affair with the past. The journey ends in the light-flooded space above the ground, called "The Conservatory".
