APARTMENTS
AT
2-8 KOTEWALL RD
Architects:
T. C. YUEN Ở CO,
With the acute shortage of flat building ground in the Colony, the architect often encounters awkward hilly sites of irregular shape which challenge his ingenuity in providing all of his client's requirements within the given area.
It is up to him usually to economise as much as possible on site formation work and to reduce excavation to a minimum. Sometimes, because of necessity or in accordance with his client's wishes. the site is completely levelled and the problem then lies. not in planning the building itself, but in designing the retaining walls. At other times, maximum advantage is taken of the site's natural contours with usually very interesting results.
A new block of apartments was re- cently completed on IL. 947. Section B in Western District. The site lies between Robinson Road and Kote- wall Road. the latter being almost thirty feet higher than the former at the centre of the block. To com- plicate matters even further, Robin- son Road slopes down from east to west and Kotewall Road slopes down from west to east.
Photograph of the apartment block, looking down Kotewall Road
In this particular case, there was cases lead up to the ground. first and little the architect himself could do second floors, and down to the lower regarding the site formation as the ground floor, basement and garages. site had been partially prepared and The difference in levels between the an almost level platform created over two entrances on Kotewall Road is nearly the entire area; it was only made up by steps on the bridge en- necessary to do a certain amount of trances themselves. excavation in the western part of the
lot.
The difference in levels, however, made this an especially awkward site;
the
arranged on it a block of apartments architect, however, successfully of six storeys, including garages et the lowest level. On each of the up- per floors, there are four flats mak- ing a total of twenty.
The two main entrances are from Kotewall Road and take the form of bridges between the existing retain- ing wall and the apartment block itself. From these entrances stair-
(Left) View of the building from the east
(Below) Site plan
(Right) Section through the building
ROBINSON
ROAD
1. L. 947 SEC. B
KOTEWALL
ROAD
100
50
SCALE
33
150FT.
·ROBINSON
ROAD
Passages from the Robinson Road frontage, where there is a parking apron, lead back to the bottoms of the main staircases to give access to and from the garages.
Each apartment contains a com- bined living and dining room, three bedrooms one with a private bath- room, a second separate bathroom. kitchen and servants' quarters. All living rooms on the upper four floors have balconies overlooking Robinson Road.
The building is of conventional R.C.C. construction and walls are finished externally in stucco; some coloured cement tiles are used on the front of the balconies.
Living rooms and bedrooms have
7
EX RETAINING WALL
KOTEWALL ROAD
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