For more than a century, pilgrims seeking good fortune in life and love prayed to Wong Tai Sin at his namesake temple. The Taoist hermit’s legacy is reincarnated in Temple Mall for locals and visitors to fully immerse themselves in placemaking inspired by Wong Tai Sin within busy urban Kowloon.
Wong Tai Sin was born Wong Cho Ping in the 4th century and celebrated for his miraculous healing abilities. Success as a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner prompted Leung Yan-am to found a temple to the immortal in 1921 on a site that is now a Grade I historic building. Many refugees settling nearby looked to Wong Tai Sin for prosperity. Answered prayers led to the site’s expansion, with an MTR station, housing estates and shopping malls sprouting around the Wong Tai Sin temple complex over the past century. On major holidays, worshippers gather to kau chim, shaking out their fortune on bamboo joss sticks.
Sited in the foothills beneath Lion Rock, Temple Mall was formerly two shopping centres sliced by Lung Cheung Road, a major thoroughfare connecting east and west Kowloon. Lung Cheung Road is considered the Grand Canyon of Kowloon, with people who shop at north Lung Cheung Mall rarely frequenting south Wong Tai Sin Plaza and vice versa. The practice led to 60% duplication of shops and services, such as two McDonalds on either side of a footbridge. The malls were further eclipsed by a retail corridor spanning Festival Walk in the west to Hollywood Plaza in the east. Yet the malls had a lot going for them: both connected directly to Wong Tai Sin MTR station and they enjoyed substantial community footfall. An ambitious plan to elevate the two malls above their retail corridor competitors leaned heavily into what everyone knows: Wong Tai Sin and his eponymous temple complex are wellsprings for good fortune. Link revamped the malls into one integrated complex and called it Temple Mall.
Enhancement work for Temple Mall North commenced with the goal of reinventing the zone closer to Wong Tai Sin into a world class destination befitting one of Hong Kong’s top five attractions. Everything from its architecture to its on-brand logo formed a coordinated drive towards making a mark upon the Kowloon landscape. The path to Temple Mall North’s main entry slopes downwards from the complex, continuing the walk back into cosmopolitan Kowloon after pilgrimage. The underwhelming piazza was jazzed up to capture footfall from the MTR exit. Low ceilings heights within disrupting sightlines to the central atrium were adjusted. Hardware including floor tiles and ventilation were upgraded to international standards, while software such as management and marketing provisions enticed a new breed of tenants.
Design features did much of the heavy lifting to establish sense of place. Stylised super-sized incense coils in crimson and ochre suspended above the main entry welcome worshippers seeking refreshment. Referencing key hues in the complex, Temple Mall’s colour palette continues throughout the mall and extends to the footbridge connecting North and South. The Chinese character for Wong is reinterpreted as a pattern that resembles lattice windows common to Lingnan garden pavilions. Seen in red cladding the entire façade at different scales, it reappears on the footbridge and as floor tile patterns that weave together a tapestry of heritage. The atrium is a round hall that curls upwards, continuing the incense coil motif teased at the main entry.
After enhancement work completed for Temple Mall North in 2015, Temple Mall South followed. In comparison to the arresting aesthetics of its northern sister, South was positioned with a more local vibe through cafes, shops and services offering community comforts. Once all the redundancies were eliminated, a new mall emerged. An under- performing fresh grocer market on the ground floor was replaced by shops with trend appeal. Green-conscious drivers had reason to visit as South boasts 10 EV charging stations—a sustainable incentive to stay longer.
Today, the Wong Tai Sin district embraces all of Temple Mall as its own backyard. Tenant collaborations happen daily, with dance performances joining other pop-up cultural events in the centrally situated North atrium. Wheelchair-bound seniors spend countless hours on the second level with its panoramic view over the entire atrium checking out the day’s action. In 2024, a Taste X FRESH supermarket opened to service local demand and worshippers seeking delicacies to place at the altar of their favourite deity—which also attracts less pious tourists to one of Hong Kong Tourism Board’s recommended must-visit destinations.
Temple Mall is one of Link’s pillar enhancement projects. It stands proudly alongside Wong Tai Sin temple, secure in the knowledge that blessings will be granted to those who pay homage.
“We knew the two previous malls needed one identity. What could this identity be? We found the solution through playful integration of the Wong Tai Sin environment with Temple Mall’s architecture.”
“We added branding to the footbridge to connect the two malls better— and it is very eye-catching to drivers along Lung Cheung Road below”
“ My F&B journey began at Wong Tai Sin; it is especially meaningful for our Milk Cafe concept to launch at Temple Mall and proves that with the right partner, local businesses can thrive.”
