A giant mural depicting the bygone days of Kowloon City and Kai Tak has transformed a CLP substation on Shing Kai Road. Now, the station not only shoulders the responsibility of supplying power to the district, but has also joined hands with locals to create a sense of community and promote carbon reduction.
The mural on the station's outer wall celebrates 125 years with CLP, featuring cartoon-style characters and depictions of historic buildings. The mural is mainly yellow and white, matching the colors of a sun-drenched Lion Rock and evoking the tawny exterior of the former CLP headquarters on Argyle Street.
Atop the drawn buildings a plane flies, painted in CLP's iconic blue. A strip of the wall is deliberately left untouched, showing its grey, streaked underbelly now integrated into the mural as the old Kai Tak Airport runway.
The mural then transitions to the present day, with the Kai Tak Sports Park and the newest CLP headquarters against a background of solar-powered buses, wind turbines, and cargo drones – all of which form a blueprint for a future that thrives on green energy.
The team of artists used virtual reality technology to transfer the mural's sketch onto the wall, wearing VR headsets while tracing the work onto the concrete.
Members of the public who joined the project could then paint easily by following sketched lines.
Yiu Tze-kiu, a student from Po Leung Kuk No 1 W H Cheung College who participated in the painting, lives in Kowloon City and said she recognized daily sights from the mural, such as the Kowloon Walled City Park, which has beautiful scenery and preserved ruins, as well as pawnshops and neon signs.
Another student who painted the wall, Niyara Lam from Po Leung Kuk Ngan Po Ling College, believes the canvas will turn the substation into a local attraction. “People won’t just pass by a plain wall like they used to; instead, they’ll stop to admire it and take photos,” she said.
Since 2022, CLP has been beautifying substations as part of its program to promote energy-saving, low-carbon living. In collaboration with district offices, the initiative invites students from local design schools, non-profit organizations, and artists to blend community landmarks with historical, environmental, and cultural elements in artistic works. To date, 11 substations have been transformed into beautiful spaces within the community.
