44
UILT at a total cost of more than B
HK$27 million, the new British Military Hospital complex, Hong Kong, stands on an island site in the southern part of the Kowloon Penin- sular.
The site, bounded by two main roads, Wylie Road on the east and Princess Margaret Road (previously Nairn Road) on the west, was origin- ally a rugged, sausage-shaped hill over 200 ft. high. The hill rose sharply on all sides from the surrounding roads and railway line, except on the inner curve of the sausage where the ground rose less steeply and where, because of comparative ease of access and the need for large level areas for vehicles, etc., it was decided to site the main hospital building.
The contract for formation of the 28.1 acre hill was let in 1959 to Tak Hing Co. for HK$8.205 million. It included the extension of Princess Margaret Road to Gascoigne Road. and its bridging over the Kowloon- Canton Railway along a length of 960 ft. with reinforced concrete por- tals.
The site formation contract was let by the Public Works Department of Hong Kong Government and the work was carried out to War Office Work Organisation designs.
An area of 9.1 acres was formed for the hospital and quarters site and 9.2 acres for playing fields. The bal- ance of 9.8 acres was utilised for Government building sites, playing fields and road extensions.
The main levelled plateau is about
80 ft. above the level of the contain-
ary roads. About 1,000,000 cu. yd.
of material was excavated. Some of this material was used in the forma- tion of the level areas but the greater part of it was used for reclamation works in the harbour.
The services provided by the PWD included fresh water drainage, salt water for cooling use in the air con- ditioning plant and for flushing sani- tary appliances, oil for the boilers and gas. The salt water, fresh water and oil supplies are shared with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital nearby and the oil and salt water is pumped direct from the harbour about 1.000 yd. away.
Building work began in February 1962, but was held up in late 1962 and 1963 when for economic reasons the hospital block was reduced from 17 to 16 storeys and the number of beds from 270 to 235. Building re- commenced in December 1964 and was completed in June 1967.
Main Hospital Block
The hospital block is a 16-storey reinforced concrete framed structure with provision for 235 beds for ser- vice personnel and families. It is tee- shaped on plan, the arms of the tee having an east-west orientation and dimensions of 282 ft. long by 35 ft. wide.
Column spacing is generally on a grid of 12ft. 4in. x 22ft., with column sizes 40in. x 12in. and floor slabs 9in. thick. Cross walls are 12in. thick. Generally wind stiffening is taken on
the cross walls, column strips and lift shaft and staircase enclosures. Horizontal wind forces at ground fall level are transmitted into the sur- rounding ground by downstand wall beams and, in some cases, duct walls by back filling the working space with weak mix mass concrete.
The short tail of the building con- tains the main rising services and ver- tical circulation and the working areas on each floor. Grouped around the tail on the ward floors are the single bed wards. These, together with cer- tain special wards, sisters and nurses room, preparation and recovery rooms and theatres and, of course, the main operating theatres, are air conditioned.
Multi-bed wards, which are in the arms of the tee flanking the central core, are not air-conditioned but are designed to make full use of cross ventilation: hence the building's east- west orientation and its narrow width in relation to its length. The orienta- tion is not precisely east-west but is such as to take advantage of the pre- vailing breezes and of the views to the north and south.
Specially designed sun-breakers fix- ed to the building keep the overall temperature of the structure down to a minimum by shading the whole of the north and south faces of the arms of the tee and east and west faces of the tail of the tee as far as possible from the direct rays of the sun.
The narrow ends of the building where no sun-breakers are fitted con- tain little used emergency staircases and stores.
General site layout
JUNIORS RANKS CLUB I
NAIR N
ROAD
EXTENSION
OFFICERS VANG
VISITORS CAR PARK
MARRIED OFFICERS QUARTERS
WYLIE
ROAD
STAFF CAR PARK
Far East Architect & Builder September, 1967
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