IN Lahore, West Pakistan, where shade temperatures reach 120 degrees F. from April through September each year, orientation became a major fac- tor in the planning of the new Red Cross Headquarters Building.
In order to seek maximum exposure to the north, the architect produced the L-shaped high block rising verti- cally on the southeast and southwest sides, which step down in terraces on the northeast and northwest sides. Such a layout creats a large open shaded third floor roof area acting as a cool-sink.
The new building will be located on a site of 35,000 sq. ft. on Queen's Road, near the road junction with Mall, which is the main East-West thoroughfare of the city, the junction being known as Charing Cross.
At present, the site is occupied by the old offices of the Red Cross, in a two-storey colonial style brick struc- ture with verandahs, which is quite inadequate for their needs. Into this area the architect was required to fit a multi-storey commercial building, a portion of which the Red Cross itself will occupy while the remainder, in- cluding offices, three floors of shops. and basement car park, will be leased
out.
The design of the building was tackled in a step by step analytical manner rather than in an intuitive way. Before the planning, several main fac-
RED CROSS ORGANISATION, owners
WEST PAKISTAN
JOHN BURFIELD
Location plan
architect in charge
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Far East BUILDER, September 1969