The Hong Kong Palace Museum stands in the West Kowloon Cultural District on a former landfill site. Rocco Design Architects was appointed directly, without a competition. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust donated HK$3.5 billion to build it. A subsidiary of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority operates it. Construction began in April 2019, and it opened on July 3, 2022.
The building covers 328,000 square feet (30,500 m2). The designer said its shape draws on Chinese bronze ding cauldrons and sycee ingots, and he made it intentionally different from the Palace Museum in Beijing. It has two exhibition halls, a 400-seat theatre, a gift shop and a restaurant.
The museum shows artifacts lent long-term by the Palace Museum, some never shown publicly before. The project drew criticism over the lack of public consultation.
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