SHELL HOUSE ERECTED ON OUTSTANDING QUAY SITE
Architects :-
Swan and
Maclaren.
was
HELL House, Singapore,
originally to be constructed before the last war when full work- ing drawings were prepared. After the war it was found that require- ments had altered considerably as a result of which the earlier pro- posals were abandoned and a new scheme prepared which has resulted in the multi-storey building just completed on Collyer Quay.
The site in Collyer Quay is an impressive one and its magnificent outlook over the inner and outer roads of Singapore Harbour clearly indicated a high-point building in order to derive maximum benefit. from the situation. Density consid erations of course limited the floor area and consequently the height, but this factor was overcome by sterilising land around the building over and above the minimum re- the quirements for the building, sterilised land being later used for car-parking by the company's em ployees.
The entire permitted floor area was required by the Shell Co. of Singapore Ltd. for their administra- tive offices but, in addition, a thea- trette to accommodate 100 persons and a large staff restaurant had to be provided. The staff restaurant was accordingly located on the roof with a viewing terrace overlooking the harbour whilst the theatrette together with air-conditioning plant rooms, electric substation, switch rooms, baggage stores etc. were ac- commodated as a basement. This resulted in a building 15 storeys above street level with a two-storey basement.
The basement itself provided problems. Excavation had to be carried out to a depth well below
32
Frontal view of Shell House.
sea level and the high incidence of large boulders in the clay sub-strata as revealed by soil investigation car- ried out had already established that
any
form of piling would be unreliable as a foundation.
It was accordingly decided to use a cellular raft as a foundation. the bottom of the raft to be approxi- mately 40 ft. below the surface of Collyer Quay,
The perimeter of the site was then revetted with Larrsen steel piling driven to as great a depth as the peculiar nature of the substrata would allow. The excavation was carried out in stages as far as foundation level and a reinforced concrete cellular raft 10′0′′ high constructed on a specially prepared
cushion. The reinforced concrete re- taining walls then followed, these having a system of articulating joints designed to absorb any movement due to anticipated raft settlement without damage to the walls or to the waterproof seal.
Thereafter the structural steel framework for the basement and the rest of the building was erected followed by the hollow tile floors, walls and finishings.
The building itself is of contem- porary design both internally and externally and is air-conditioned throughout. Finishings are of a high order and careful attention has been paid throughout to detail. colour treatment and furniture, all of which specially designed for the building.
was
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER
VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2