e idea
dard
achieves
living in Aberdeen low
cost housing project
LOW cost housing need not mean
low standard living as architect Mr. T. C. Yuen has admirably de- monstrated in a five block project for the Hong Kong Housing Society at Aberdeen.
Mr. Yuen has achieved a feeling of spaciousness. cleanliness and pri vacy by the use of one major feature surprisingly simple in conception.
His idea. briefly. is a multi-storey. open-sided street in place of a corridor,
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He first put the plan on paper in 1957 in the form of tentative architectur il layout for the then proposed Aberdeen low-cost housing scheme.
Since the actual building begun his broad idea has been adopted in one or two other local buildings.
Take an average low cost housing structure. Each of its eight of nine
stories is divided down the centre by a narrow corridor.
Washing goes out the front win- dows, possessions and people cram the corridors. Cooking, toilet and other odours float through the stuffy, enclosed building.
Now, imagine a pair of giant hands grabbing either side of the building and pulling it apart from the spinal corridor leaving a gap of four to five feet on either side.
Build a connecting bridge to each pair of units, leave the rest wide-open and horizontally and vertically there you have the essence of Mr. Yuen's idea.
Most of the washing can be placed out of sight between the bridges. Air continually circulates through the open ends of the "streets" and down through the two open sections of roof ... sweeping away smells and drying clothes.
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER - VOLUME 18, NUMBER 1
A tenant can walk out his door. over the little bridge he shares with his neighbour and onto the "street." As he walks down the "street" he is greeted by a view of the sky and the surrounding countryside instead of a patch of light filtering through a corridor window. There is no "shut- in" feeling.
Possessions that have to be left outside the housing units rest on the bridge and do not clutter the "street."
Each unit is divided by a four and a half inch brick wall that reduces sound to give added privacy.
All have their own balcony, water closet. kitchen. shower, con- crete kitchen bench. food cupboard. wardrobe sink and desk (handy for children doing homework.)
The actual layout of rest of the space as far as beds, dining tables etc. are concerned has been left to individual tenants.
However for all types of units ranging from 5 to 12 person size- Mr. Yuen has suggested layouts that make excellent use of the small amount of space available.
An added feature in each building is a large party room for wedding receptions, celebrations and meetings.
The Aberdeen housing scheme. consisting of five reinforced concrete structures with brick infilling and cement plaster surfacing. is being conducted in two phases. It will have a total of 1.184 units accomo- dating 7,734 people.
Phase One, of three eight storey blocks, was completed recently and is now occupied. (655 units. 4.017 people).
Phase Two the remaining two blocks have yet to be started (529 units, 3.717 people). Tenders will be called for within a week or so and the buildings should be completed within the next 14 months.
A total of $7,200,000 has been This budgetted for the scheme. includes all fittings, the widening of Aberdeen Reservoir Road, which passes along one side, from 10 to 40
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