LAND AND HOUSING
165
is on a steep hillside, which entailed fairly extensive cutting. The cost of site formation was almost entirely met by a grant from Colonial Development and Welfare funds. The estate, planned on cross-contour development, consists of 636 flats, in five blocks, averaging ten storeys in height, and designed to accommodate nearly 4,200 people. Three of the blocks were finished in October and are already occupied, the remaining two are due for comple- tion in February 1959. There is also a three-storey community centre, and a number of warehouses; provision has been made for playgrounds and open spaces within the development. The flats, which are of different sizes to accommodate from five to ten persons, are generally of a simpler type than at North Point but are likewise self-contained and provided with balcony, kitchen, lavatory, and ablution facilities. The type of plan adopted is the gallery approach system, with blocks only one flat deep; this ensures that all the flats are airy and well-ventilated. An interesting feature of the arrangement is that with very little structural alteration two adjoining single-room flats can be con- verted into a larger flat with a living-room and two bedrooms, should this prove practicable at some future date. Lifts and refuse chutes are installed. Rents vary from $82 to $127 a month, exclusive of rates and water charges. The total cost of this scheme, which is designed by Mr. T. S. C. Feltham, A.R.I.B.A., will be about $7,800,000.
A
The Authority's third project, its most ambitious so far, is at So Uk, Kowloon. This is probably the largest domestic housing development ever carried out in the Far East as an integrated scheme. Site formation, which commenced in February 1957, was seriously hampered by rainy weather during 1958, and is unlikely to be finished before January 1959. The major part of the cost will be met from Colonial Development and Welfare funds. Four private architects, working as a consortium under the chairman- ship of Mr. Eric Cumine, F.R.I.B.A., were appointed to design the buildings on the estate, working to a master plan designed by Mr. Cumine. Piling of certain sections is expected to start in February 1959, followed shortly after by the commencement of building work. The first section of the estate is likely to be completed by March 1960. The estate will eventually house about 30,000 people, in about 4,600 flats (the rents of which will be