T-PLAN FOR TERRACE HOUSES
Hillside Contours Retained
in New Territories
Development
CHRISTOPHER HAFFNER, B.Arch (Hons) (L'pool), ARIBA
Architect
PETER Y. S. PUN, Dipl Ing. DIC (Soil Mechanics), AMICE, FGS
CHUAN AN CO.
A CRITICISM that can be levelled at
many private housing develop ments outside the urban areas of Hong Kong is that they pay insuffi- cient respect to their location.
Often it seems that designs suitable for built-up areas have been transfer- red to a country location without any significant changes. The result is hillsides scarred with excessive site formation and an inappropriate use of certain building materials.
That expensive site formation work is not always necessary and that the natural contours of a difficult site can be retained is shown in a small ter- race development recently completed off Clear Water Bay Road in the New Territories.
The site is located at the side of a hill off the main road.
It has mag- nicent views to the east over Silver Strand Beach and Port Shelter.
There is an existing house on the same site at the top of the hill. The new houses are located to the side of this on an area which had pre-
Consulting engineer
General contractor
viously been partly formed. A road widening scheme for Clear Water Bay Road made it necessary to form a new access road to the existing house as part of the scheme.
To minimise further site formation. it was decided at an early stage that the new houses should be stepped down the side of the hill. This em- phasises rather than obscures the slopes in the area.
The widening line for Clear Water Bay Road cuts a curve as the road- side boundary. So as to give maxi- mum garden areas in front of each house, it was also decided to step the buildings in a horizontal plane. By doing this each house is given an in- dividuality beyond that normally as- sociated with terrace development.
Narrow Frontage
The existing house and garden oc- cupied a large proportion of the total area of the site. This meant that the three new houses would each have a
Far East Architect & Builder December, 1965
fairly narrow frontage. To give the required floor area. a system had to be devised to enable them to be deep from front to back and yet still have plenty of light and fresh air.
A T-shaped plan was developed. giving a large external wall area with plenty of space for windows.
One of the main features of the interior planning is the staircase con- necting the two floors. It is visible from both the dining and living rooms, and is rightly emphasised as it makes visitors immediately aware that they in a two-storey house rather than an apartment.
Although the stair is in the middle of the house, it has been well lit by fitting windows into a raised portion of the roof. The staircase is also re- lated to a change in level between the living and dining rooms, which proved possible as a result of the slope of the site, and enabled the largest room in the house, the living room, to have a higher ceiling than other rooms.
Both the living and dining rooms have large window areas facing the view, and each has access to the gar- den areas. These also exploit the levels of the site, and a higher paved terrace outside the dining room may easily be used for outside dining in suitable weather.
The upper floors were carefully planned for family use. It was felt that only the master bedroom need be large, and three smaller bedrooms have been fitted into the area which
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