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Hong Kong upcycling group on urban renewal, community and making good use of what’s thrown away

Designers, cyclists, artists and architects show people in run-down To Kwa Wan how to turn waste into things of value, and hope to help preserve community’s spirit as redevelopment looms

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Paddy Ng at the Wheel Thing Makers’ workshop in To Kwa Wan. Photos: Jonathan Wong

In the crumbling old Kowloon neighbourhood of To Kwa Wan, cha chaan teng – Hong Kong tea restaurants – rub shoulders with traditional Chinese medicine shops and family-run grocery stores. The area of low-rise residential blocks and factory buildings near the city’s former Kai Tak airport has maintained much of its local character.

On a corner of Kowloon City Road, next to a string of car repair workshops, is the On Lok Factory Building. Although it’s no longer churning out commercial goods, it is still a centre of production as the base of creative group Wheel Thing Makers.

Sourcing their raw materials from refuse bins and workshops around the neighbourhood, the group upcycles anything useful they find into bikes, carts and various other items. Their inventions are usually given back to the To Kwa Wan community or put on display during regular exhibitions at the nearby Cattle Depot Artist Village.

A child’s toy and (at the rear) a food bike.
A child’s toy and (at the rear) a food bike.

A recent show at the artist village included wooden horses on wheels, with tyres for seating, which were painted by young children during a workshop.

Established by Gary Chan Pui-gay and Paddy Ng Pak-fung, Wheel Thing Makers welcomes people from all walks of life. The members include professional cyclists, designers, architects and artists.

Chan was nicknamed “Bike Mad” by local media after being arrested in 2014 for driving an unregistered vehicle. He was fined HK$3,000 and had his driver’s licence suspended for a year – a high price to pay for testing his experimental solar-powered bike on a public road.

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