A good number of old private residential buildings constructed before the 1950s and 1960s can still be found in Sham Shui Po, with the majority of them concentrated along Cheung Sha Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok Road and Tai Po Road. Some of them are tong lau with verandahs. They first became popular back in the 1910s. The verandahs, extending over the pavement and supported by floor-to-ceiling pillars with foundations at street level offered shade from the strong sunlight and helped cool the living environment in these tenement houses. The building at No. 75 Un Chau Street is a typical example of tong lau architecture with a verandah. Constructed in the 1930s, it housed a textile workshop on the ground floor and residences on the floors above.

The balconies of later-built tong lau were not supported by pillars but cantilevers. An example is Nos. 130 and 132 Ki Lung Street, which was built in the 1940s and initially owned by a textile merchant. Typical tong lau in the 1950s were mostly composite buildings featuring commercial premises on the ground floor and residential spaces above them; the shop at street level would hang its signboard under the balcony or extend it to the façade of the residential units above it to attract customers’ attention.

These composite tenement houses were the common building type of the early and mid-20th century and bore witness to the economic activities and social lifestyle prevalent in this era in Hong Kong.