ELECTRA
HOUSE
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CABLE AND WIRELESS
t
Electra House, the new headquarters for Cable & Wireless Limited in Hongkong, is an outstanding building housing the activities of one of the most amazing organizations in the world. Radio, wireless and cable communication is the main- stay of modern commerce and is also widely used by the human race in all its social and domestic activities. It takes its place with all the scientific marvels of the twentieth century which have been commercialised into the fabric of modern living, and accepted as commonplace services of the twentieth century.
The essence of our present civilization comprises the adaptation of the complex and miraculous application of electricity to everyday existence, and the marvel of the age lies in the fact that the common working man enjoys today the benefit of, and assistance from, appliances and services which, a few years ago, were but theoretical phenomena in the scientific world. It enables him to encircle the earth with sound and sight so that the rapid march of events is trans- mitted to him through the various forms of radio communica- tion almost as they occur. And the means by which this is done are contained in Electra House which is but one unit of a vast system.
Electra House is a nine-storeyed reinforced concrete building. 120 ft. high, and occupies a prominent position on the Connaught Road waterfront, on a relatively small site, 93'4" wide and 76'6" deep. Owing to its limited dimensions, very precise planning indeed was required to ensure that maximum use was made of the site. Careful consideration of the problem overcame all the difficulties that were encoun- tered, and this was accomplished only by the allocation of a definite purpose for every square foot of the area.
The building is of reinforced concrete of simple dignified external appearance which reflects the ideals designers are striving for in modern architecture. The main architectural feature is the proportioning of a series of continuous canopies extending over the windows in the centre portion of the building, repeated for practically the full height of the front elevation, and by the external Anish of the walls which is of granite slabs at the base and of artificial stone plaster in panels above.
The design of the framing of the structure followed a conventional pattern but, as can be imagined, the construc-
KLECTER HOUST
tion of a nine-storey building on reclaimed ground demanded the utmost vigilance on the part of the architects. As a matter of fact, the original piling design based upon actual borings had to be amended by a considerable lengthening of the piles, as during the actual operation it was found that the ground was less consistent than was originally indicated and the length of the piles had to be increased to almost 100 feet before solid strata was encountered.
One other problem that had to be dealt with was the disposition of the innumerable cables which had to be carried throughout the entire height of the building. This was taken care of by special ducts by means of which the cables were kept out of sight and yet were made readily accessible for maintenance and servicing.
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(Top) Air-conditioning equipment in centre background, on the left is the standby power plant, and on the right the 100-volt D.C. plant. / Below) The main switchboard.
(Lejt) Main distri- bution frame on the ground floor for all cables other than sub- marine cables; nearly 300 lines will even- tually
terminated here.
be
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Two Views of the Engine Room.