ground level. The whole building will have a total floor area of 170,000 sq. ft.
In conjunction with the project, access for pedes- trians in the form of a system of sub-ways and covered ramps leading to the hospital grounds will be built to separate them from vehicular traffic. The sub-ways and ramps will be so designed as to provide a gradual ap- proach to the hospital grounds which are some 45 ft. above Argyle Street. A new covered walkway from the new block will be built to join the existing covered walk- ways linking other buildings of the hospital.
A new radio paging system will be installed to faci- litate staff location within the whole of the hospital grounds and existing services, such as the central kitchen and boiler house, will be extended to serve the additional block.
A typical ward floor in the new block is H shape on plan and will contain two ward units, each housing 67 beds, separated by a central vertical circulation space containing lifts and stairway. Within each ward unit, two self-contained nursing sub-units are planned about a suite of ancillary rooms which will be shared between the two sub-units. The ancillary rooms will contain a day room, doctors' and sisters' offices, treatment and utility rooms, ward kitchen, stores and staff toilets. A sub- division of the ward unit will provide closer nursing super- vision as well as reducing the routine walking distances within the nursing units.
Architect responsible for the design and building of the new block is Mr. Edwin Wong, of the Public Works Department's Architectural Office. He said. "The plan- ning concept of the ward unit was based on analyses of ward arrangements considered to be suitable for local con- ditions. The enlarged ward unit was evolved to achieve economy in both staff and space requirements while main- taining the standard of accommodation already established in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital."
Mr. Wong added that the ward unit, as planned, "will be the prototype to the standard ward plan to be used for future Government general hospitals, such as the new Lai Chi Kok Hospital to be built on the Lai Chi Kok peninsula."
Site formation work for the new convalescent block has already been completed and construction of the sub- structure will follow piling operation which is scheduled to be finished by August this year. Work on the main building is expected to start in January next year and should be completed by June, 1969.
MILLION HOUSING UNITS IN 1966-72
HONG KONG'S Housing Board proposes an adjustment of the balance between the present resettlement and Govern- ment low-cost housing programmes to allow 650,000 units of resettlement accommodation and 350,000 units of Government low-cost housing to be constructed between April 1, 1966 and March 31, 1972.
Another recommendation by the board, to be sub- mitted for Government approval, provides for an in- crease of the space standard in redesigned resettlement blocks on first allocation from a minimum of 25 sq. ft. to 35 sq. ft. per adult in all but the large rooms.
The board's report for 1965-66, tabled at a meeting of the Legislative Council last month, states: "In spite of some delays in construction as a result of difficulties faced by a few contractors who were affected by the banking crisis of February 1965, the construction of resettlement and Government low-cost housing estates continued at an impressive rate. A total of 103.740 individual units of resettlement accommodation and 15,600 individual units of Government low-cost housing accommodation were completed between April 1, 1965 and March 31, 1966.”
The board considers that the time has come to de- sign and build a new Mark VI Resettlement Block with rooms of varying sizes up to a maximum of 245 sq. ft. so that the allocations can be made at a minimum rate of 35 sq. ft. per adult for all households up to and in- cluding seven adults. This would result in a great im- provement in general housing standards and a slowing down in the incidence of overcrowding.
No land other than that originally envisaged would be required, because the width of the building would be
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increased by only a few feet and this increase could be absorbed by the open space between buildings as this space is well above the minimum laid down in the Build- ing Ordinance.
The Board said that the Government Low-Cost Hous- ing Register, which had been closed since 1964, should be re-opened in view of the fact that there was still a need for properly managed accommodation for rental by families with an income of less than $500 per month,
The cost of building 650.000 individual units of re- settlement accommodation in the six-year period 1966-72 at HK$875 per unit would be $569 million, based on January 1967 building costs. At $969 per unit, the cost of building 350,000 units of Government low-cost housing would be $341 million, giving a grand total of $910 million.
SINGAPORE FLYOVER TENDERS
FRESH tenders will be called soon for the foundation work of Singapore's first flyover to be built at the intersection of Jalan Toa Payoh and Thomson and Whitley Roads.
This follows unsuccessful applications by nine tend- erers for the work. No reasons were given why none was accepted.
A Public Works Department spokesman said last month that new tenders would be called and work on the project would begin as soon as a tender was found ac- ceptable. He said the foundation work would take a few months, to be followed by actual construction of the flyover. The entire project, costing S$3.25 million, was expected to be completed by the end of next year.
The bridge, nearly 1,000 ft. long and 70 ft. wide, will connect New Jalan Toa Payoh Road with Whitley Road to allow an uninterrupted flow of traffic between east and west. It will have a central span of 120 ft. above Thomson Road, and 12 spans of 69 ft. each, with four smaller spans for the slip roads.
ARCON IN THE FAR EAST
Two subsidiary companies have been formed in the Far East by Taylor Woodrow (Building Exports) Ltd., a mem- ber of the Taylor Woodrow Group, London. The com- panies are Arcon Ltd.. Hong Kong and Arcon (Singapore) Ltd.
During the past 17 years Arcon steel-frame structures have been made in Britain and exported from there. They are widely used in South East Asia as mills, schools, fac- tories and community centres. Now they are to be manu- factured and marketed locally.
The principal operations of manufacture and mar- keting will be centred in new offices on the 10th floor of AIA Building. Robinson Road, Singapore. Local direc- tor of the two companies will be Mr. Ralph King.
FLYOVER AT HO MAN TIN
A FLYOVER, 300 ft. long is to be constructed across Princess Margaret Road near the Muslim Cemetery in the Ho Man Tin district of Kowloon, Hong Kong.
The concrete flyover will carry the heavy traffic ex- pected to move between the Hung Hom and Mong Kok districts when the new Fat Kwong Street, linking Princess Margaret Road with Chatham Road, is completed. This will maintain the free flow of traffic on Princess Margaret Road.
Two slip roads will be built to connect with the flyover to enable traffic to move between Fat Kwong Street and Princess Margaret Road. Work on the con- struction of the flyover, which will have a prestressed concrete deck, is expected to start in September and take 15 months to finish.
JOINT VENTURE
HONG KONG Structural engineer, Mr. Andrew Jean, has completed arrangements with T. Y. Lin International, structural engineers, of 15 Vandewater, San Francisco, for the setting up of a joint venture in projects involving pre- cast and prestressed concrete construction.
Far East Architect & Builder July, 1967