rooms, an increase in space in areas of minor importance, and the pro- vision of additional facilities.
It was only possible, within the financial limits, to meet these sugges- tions in part. The spare rooms were laid out for inter-departmental re- search and can be used in the future for new specialized work, as required and when funds become available.
Apart from the parts already men- tioned as being air-conditioned, the only other rooms to be so served are those where delicate instruments are used or stored. The position of the building across the head of a nullah allows for the breezes to be funnelled through the building, providing plea- sant natural conditions in the student laboratories.
The main building is served by two lifts a normal passenger lift, ac- cessible from the foyers on all floors, and a service lift connecting the un- der-building car park also to all floors.
Lighting
Artificial illumination throughout is designed to give 30 lumens per sq. ft. at bench level. Flourescent light-
is ing
used almost exclusively throughout the building, though the lecture theatres are fitted with both incandescent and flourescent lamps to provide the control already men- tioned.
The main building is simply con- structed with a reinforced concrete frame to a standard module, the floors being constructed on the flat- slab principle to exclude projecting beams.
A feature of the building is large horizontal ducts which occupy the space below window level and run the full length of the building on each floor on both main elevations. These carry the services and, being faced externally with louvred con- crete blocks, allow for the ready in- stallation of unit air-conditioners in
52
any room into access panels, which As have been liberally provided. there are wall benches in most rooms under the windows, easy access is obtained to the services for future re-arrangements or alterations to the layout.
Internal finishes are utilitarian, walls being generally plastered except where specially hygienic conditions are required, such as in the dissecting rooms and the cage rooms in the animal house, where white glazed tiles are used. The floors are covered in light grey plastic tiles or, where frequent washing is required, in brown coloured clay tiles.
Wall and island benches provide the features of the decor, constructed mainly in teak with plastic sheet covering to cupboard doors and drawer fronts. Bench tops are left in untreated teak to enable users to pro- vide acid-resisting or other finishes as required.
External finishes are mainly in white Shanghai plaster, a well-tried maintenance-free finish in Hong Kong: plinths and retaining walls are either constructed or faced in grey granite random rubble.
Ground slopes are grassed, and every endeavour has been made to preserve the existing trees; only one tree needed to be felled.
Costs
A geological survey of the site be- fore planning started indicated that good ground conditions existed just below the surface, and this proved correct; attention was paid in the de- sign of the building to minimize site formation work.
The total cost of the project, in- clusive of site formation, external works, all services, and fees is estim- ated at HK$4,900,000.
During the period when the work- ing drawings were being prepared, there was a colony-wide progressive rise in building costs, mainly in
A typical laboratory, occupying the full width of the building
wages, but of sufficient magnitude to cause widespread concern. It was in- evitable that the tenders received for this project were higher than original- ly estimated. The contract price was reduced to an acceptable level by a reduction in the quality of finishes and by the omission of a proportion of built-in furniture mainly under- bench cupboards and fitments, which may be added back at a later date,
The architects for the project were Professor W. G. Gregory, B Arch, ARIBA, and Mr. B. Nedberg, Arch NTH, MNAL.
The consultant engineer was Pro- fessor S. Mackey, ME, B Sc, Ph D, AMICE, MI Struct E, FGS.; and the quantity surveyors were Langdon and Every (Far East).
Yick Lee & Co., Ltd., were the main contractors.
Sub-contractors included: British General Electric Co., electrical and lift installation: Shun Shing, plumb- ing: Central Engineers, Ltd, unit air- conditioners and refrigeration equip- ment; Haden Gilmans, Ltd., lecture room air-conditioning; and Aristoc Industries Pty. Ltd., lecture room seating.
Books
Concrete Mix Design by J.D. Mc- Intosh (Cement and Concrete Asso- ciation, London, 25 shillings).
Standardisation of quality in long runs of concrete can only be main- tained at a high level by careful control of the mix. Much of this book deals with methods by which suitable mix proportions can be estimated from a knowledge of the properties of the materials available and the mix design data which have been recorded.
The book will be of value to people concerned with the prepara- tion of specifications and to those who have to work with them in practice. A companion
book, Concrete Mix Design Data, has also been published by the Association, price 5 shillings.
The World's Great Bridges (2/e re- vised) by H. Shirley-Smith (Phoenix, London, 25 shillings).
This is a descriptive work, as up- to-date as the Forth Road Bridge and comprehensive in its mention of the bridges of the 19th century, the middle ages, and the Roman era.
Whilst the number of bridges men- tioned is considerable, it is evident that each has been chosen to illus- trate some special feature or stage of development in the ars pontifex. One must also give the author credit for recording failures which are as in- structive at least as successes, which latter in the past at any rate have been attributable more to over gen- erous dimensions than to deliberate design.
Far East Architect & Builder May, 1965