Architectural Features of HSBC Branch Buildings in Manchuria

The article is devoted to the architecture of HSBC Bank in Manchuria in the first half of the 20th century on the example of its surviving branches located in Harbin, Dalian and Shenyang. The background for the construction of bank branches in Manchuria and their activities and adaptation to changes in domestic and foreign policies are briefly considered. The compositional and spatial solutions of the former bank branches are reviewed, and changes in their role in the formation of the street ensembles are highlighted. The architecture of the HSBC bank buildings features a lack of uniform requirements for space-planning, compositional and stylistic solutions distinguishing it from other large banking institutions in Manchuria in the period under review.