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Approaching completion now in Ampang Road, Kuala Lumpur, is a new office building to house the Kuala Lumpur Branch of I.C.I. (Malaya) Ltd. and the Company's Agricultural Advisory Department. This new I.C.I. building will be two stories high, the lower being used as a warehouse. building is planned in the shape of an 'L', the angle enclosing a macadamised space for lorries to deliver and receive goods at the warehouse entrances.
The
A mezzanine floor provides accom- modation for air conditioned storage of special goods, a filing room and all lavatories for both sexes in the build- ing. On the first floce the 'L' shape allows suitable separation for
GENERAL OFFICE
METEND.
MANASEL:
AGRICULTURAL
HALL
RECEPTION
the
NEW: I.C.I. BUILDING
KUALA LUMPUR
general office and the Agricultural Advisory Department (which will con- tain a modern laboratory) and for a visitors waiting room. The mezzanine and first floors will be air conditioned.
The construction of this edifice is of reinforced concrete framing with brick in filling, and a special feature is provided in the provision of numerous glass brick panels below the windows of the ground floor. Additional glass bricks give added light above the win- dows of the upper floor. Generally the facing of the building will be in bush hamuiered work tinted a light cream, but the face of the prominent block accommodating the main entrance and the long vertical window will be treat- ed in Faience. The windows are hot dipped galvanised metal all purpose made and all are centre hung.
The main architectural feature ex- ternally is the boxing in of the win-
feature dows, an unusual
in Kuala Lumpur, and the windows are separated one from the other by slender rein- forced concrete mullions treated to match the bush hammering elsewhere. The roof is flat and will be treated with Onozute sheets 1 inch thick laid loose and butted closely together. The bitumastie roofing will come above this, saturated felt, 2 ply and 3 ply. On top of the final layer there will be a layer of 12" x 12" Malacca tiles.
The floor of the entrance hall to- gether with the staircase will be treated with a dignified shade of Mosaic and the upper floors will be of cork. The design has taken special care of the air conditioning require- ments and all the ducting is being ar-
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ranged in hollow reinforced concrete cornices round the rooms to be air conditioned. The sides of these cornices will be left open until all the ducting and grille work is in position and thereafter will be closed up in teak panelling which will be easily remov able in case of need. Specially design- ed bronze muin entrance doors are being fitted together with a special bronze grille above it. The walls of the main offices are to be treated with, 1.C.1. Supermatt oil paint, No lime is being used in any plaster work. Other internal features are 'Holoplast' par- titioning and bench tops, 'Perspex' partition windows, Silicate hardening of the warehouse floors and Dulux paintwork.
The construction of this building commenced late in June 1950, and the work Was due to be completed in December of the same year. The un-
the usual depth of
foundations, however, and the extremely fractions nature of the soil caused very consider- able delay from the outset. Virgin soil was not reached even at a depth of 18 feet and 20 feet except at the back of the premises where the original river bed of the Klang River emerged. However, permanent water was reached and it was decided to use bakau piles under the concrete foundations. To a eertain extent this difficulty was originally envisaged by the architect's recollection of previous work in the immediate vicinity. When these trou- bles, however, had been dealt with difficulties were encountered in respect of sharply increased prices of materials and in some cases the complete lack of certain essentials in the local market.