me for the construction of low-cost housing, mainly multi-storey flats for the squatters and the lower income group," he comments.
Mr. Chow had five principal ob- jectives in mind when he undertook his French tour lost year the need
for economy, speed of construction. maximum output. minimum use of skilled labour and the maintenance of quality in the finished product.
A varied and wide range of dis cussions was held with French specialists connected with various building trades. Numerous visits were made to factories of prefabricat- ed building systems, building sites and completed housing projects. Listed on Mr. Chow's busy itinerary
were:
Factories and building sites of the "Societe Coignet" at Aulnay-sous- bois;
Visits organised in conjunction with Services of the Municipality at Lyon;
Discussions with Monsieur Guyon- net, chef des Relations Exterieures, Ministere de la Construction, and a visit to Marly-les-Grandes-Terres:
Discussions with Monsieur Pro- thin, directeur-general. Establissement Public pour l'Amenagement de la Region de la Defense;
Factories and building yards of "Societe Camus" at Montesson;
Factories and building projects at Thais of 630 flats, and at Meaux of 1,890 flats by the Procede "Tracoba";
Visit to Suresnes Procede "Teco- fer";
Factories and building project at Thais of 750 flats by Procede "Bellancy,"
Visit to new development project Z.U.P. de Cancrian-Ville. Le Havre;
Factories and building yard at La Courneuve by Procede "Estiot” of 4.000 flats;
Factories and building project at Chartres of 1,530 flats by Procede “Costa Magna";
Discussions with Monsieur Hier- holtz of C.S.T.B.;
Visit to building projects at Ville- franche by Procede "Bonnet Calad";
Visit to school building at Gonesse by Procede "Fillod."
Mr. Chow described his visit to the housing development at Meaux, by Procede Tracoba, as one of his "most fruitful and informative," be- cause it gave him the opportunity to learn a very useful lesson which was important as far as architecture and the design of a housing scheme were concerned. In this project he found that many studies were made in the planning stages, and there was full co-operation, understanding and un- prejudiced discussion at all times between the architect, the client and the engineers. As a result, a scheme had been evolved that was unique. architecturally satisfying, without sacrificing any aesthetic quality, structurally sound and economical. Furthermore, these qualities were combined with "an amazing speed in construction."
Haji Ismail, the Commissioner of Kuala Lumpur. "The need for housing is urgent", he said.
These are some of Mr. Chow's general comments on French systems of prefabrication:
"There are quite a good number of building systems in prefabrication in France. Generally the principles behind these systems are very nearly the same. They differ mainly in the use of mechanical and automatic processes, methods in the jointings, vertical and horizontal. between the various components in the building. and the organisation and planning of the work.
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER—VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1
"Basically, all these systems in- volve the casting or manufacture in the factory, to exact dimensions and to their final state, of all the building components, such as wall panels. partitions, floors, roofs and staircases. These are then brought to the site. and assembled by specialised ma chinery to form the finished building.
"It must be noted that the process of prefabrication covers the whole of the superstructure, which of course can be erected with the necessary precision. The sub-structure of the building must be constructed on traditional lines, and
S0 are the foundations, depending on the nature of the soil. However, all these erec- tion details of prefabrication for the superstructructure are flexible, and are applicable both to the construc- tion of single-storey or two-storey buildings and to multi-storey blocks of flats.
"Practically all these systems in France are only applicable and economical for units of not less than 300 to 500 flats, grouped in one or several blocks of buildings not too distant from one another and also depending upon the simplicity of the architectural design; and their ad- vantages increase with the number of repetitions of identical units."
In recommending that this system of construction can be applied to Kuala Lumpur. Mr. Chow suggests that the standard flat units should be of very simple design, consisting of two bedrooms, living and dining room, shower and W.C.
From his observations, he was particularly interested to note that:
Skilled workers are reduced to a mimimum. thereby compensating for a shortage of this class of worker that has always been apparent in Malaysia;
Practically no formwork is neces- sary in the course of erection;
The completed building is rendered structurally monolithic, to give it the necessary stability;
com.
The structural components prise most of the necessary finishes, including door and window frames and ducting for all services such as electricity, water, heating. flues and even television;
The system is flexible enough to be adaptable to widely varied archi-
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