"
HEAP HOWE
(Right) A striking photograph by the Golden Gate Studio
of the building.
(Above) View of part of the arcade.
The second portion of the development two years from the commencement of these boulders to complete the piling sys- of Alexandra House for Messrs. Hongkong piling operations. after the demolition of tem and avoid an unbalanced foundation. Land Investment & Agency Co., Ltd., the old Chung Tin and Hotel Royal (Cecil) This removal could only be done by divers occupying the triangular block contained Buildings; but much of the earlier part of and hoisting, in very cramped surround- by Des Voeux Road, Chater Road and Ice this period was occupied in dealing with ings which made impracticable the use of House Street, was completed and occupied an unprecedented state of affairs in any appreciable amount of mechanical by tenants on 1st April, 1956. The whole connection with the excavations for the equipment. Batteries of very powerful building covers some 30,000 square feet foundations. of ground, with the second portion occupy- ing rather more than half of the full area.
The building comprises 14 storeys, in cluding a complete basement, ground floor, mezzanine floor, eleven intermediate floors, main roof and pent houses over, the high- est part rising to a height of almost 170 feet above the surrounding street, and has a total volume of nearly 4,000,000 cu. ft. The position of the site in the centre of the business area makes the building a commanding feature in the City.
The ground floor is utilised for shops showrooms and offices, and all the upper floors are office space. There is no residen- tial accommodation.
In all, the construction of the second portion of the building took just under
pumps and a complete cofferdam of 40 feet long steel sheet piling, made little impression upon the immense upward water pressure from the harbour at high tides.
It was discovered that a strip of the site some 25 feet wide, extending down the complete length of the Ice House Street frontage area, must have been, in the past, a sea inlet or nullah estuary, The removal of these obstructions to which had been filled in with enormous the pile driving work took many months boulders to form level ground in the re- but once this foundation trouble was over-
In the lower come, clamation of all this area. portions of this filled valley, boulders weighing up to 5 tons were found to a depth of nearly 40 feet below the sur- rounding road levels, and of this depth more than 30 feet was under tidal water level at all high tides.
the work proceeded with marked rapidity, and the entire structure of the northern half of the new building rose from basement level to completion and occupation in the space of seven months. Partial erection of steelwork on the south- ern half became possible earlier than in the northern half.
Since this obstructed area represented a relatively small portion of a large building The recently completed second half of supported on a very uniform piling system the building is completely linked by con- driven to a depth of about 55 feet below tinuous arcades and corridors to the first road level, it was necessary to remove all half, built some four years ago.
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The