The Asia Society Hong Kong Center was founded in 1990 by a group of local Hong Kong business leaders. The new Center, which opened in 2011, is situated on a steeply sloped site at the Victoria Barracks, Former Explosives Magazine. The 1.364-hectare site houses four military buildings built by the British Army in the mid-19th century for explosives, ammunition production, and storage. In the early 20th century the site was expanded by the Royal Navy, then abandoned in the 1990s until the Hong Kong government granted it to the Asia Society. Through a combination of preservation, adaptive reuse, and new construction, the formerly derelict site has been transformed into a vibrant cultural center.