WHOLESALE FISH MARKET
T
'HE opening last month of the new Cheung Sha Wan wholesale fish market in the Sham Shui Po district of Kowloon, Hong Kong, marked the first stage completion of what will be the largest wholesale market com- plex in the Far East.
Erected on reclaimed ground at the junction of Lai Chi Kok Road and Fat Tseung Street, the fish market covers an area of 1.24 acres. It cost approximately HK$2.19 mil- lion, of which some $940,000 was contributed as an outright grant by the United Kingdom Government under the Colonial Development and Welfare Scheme.
A wholesale vegetable market, also part of the first stage and of similar design and construction, was opened in June last year on a site close by. Eventually a fruit market will be built on an area between these two buildings and a poultry and fish mar- ket and an abattoir will be erected nearby to complete the complex.
The fish market has a sea frontage and measures 300 ft. by 180 ft. Its
Far East Architect & Builder May, 1966
LEIGH and ORANGE
architects
FISH MARKETING ORGANISATION owners
PAUL. Y. CONSTRUCTION CO.
TONG SHEK KEE
whole area is covered with multiple spans of shell roof to an average height of 17ft. and rising from the centre of the site is a four-storey block for administrative offices and staff living accommodation.
Skylights
A shell roof was chosen in order to keep the number of pillars on the sales floor to a minimum. It incorporates skylights over each bay to provide maximum ventilation and natural light without the direct rays of the sun falling on the fish dis- played for sale.
The column grid is 52 ft. 6in, by 21 ft. 3in. and the shell is 24 in.
main contractors
jetties
thick at the crown, spreading to 51⁄2 in. thick at the springing.
con-
By following the same general de- sign for both the vegetable market and the fish market and keeping the radius of the shell roofs constant on both buildings, the architects achiev- ed considerable economy in struction. In the vegetable market which covers a larger area, the roof span is 47 ft. 6in. and the bay width 22ft. With only minor adjustment the steel shuttering employed was used again on the fish market.
The good finish achieved with this formwork has eliminated the need for internal plastering. External maintenance has been minimised by the use of Shanghai plaster in two
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