available on Hong Kong Island. Lay-out plans of these four estates and of a proposed fifth estate at Lo Fu Ngam, also in Kowloon, may be found at Appendix III.
71. It should at this point be emphasized that all multi-storey buildings are designed and constructed by the Architectural Office of the Public Works Department and then handed over to the Resettlement Department in a finished state. The design for the original six-storey experimental buildings at Shek Kip Mei was so successful that very few modifications have been found necessary. The most important has been the addition of a seventh storey, the flat roof of which has a large penthouse at either end and can be used as public recreation space or for boys' and girls' clubs run by voluntary agencies.
72. In general design these seven-storey buildings are in the shape of the letter 'H', the cross bar of which accommodates the latrines and washing spaces. The wings of the 'H' vary from 140' to 320′ in length, depending on the site, and the weight of the buildings is taken on transverse reinforced concrete load- bearing walls at 10' centres. Each wing is therefore divided structurally into a number of 10' bays, each with a depth of about 25'. These bays are then sub-divided by partitions on the centre line into rooms of about 120 square feet (9′ 6′′ X 12′ 6′′). Access to the rooms is provided by balconies on each floor which run completely round the four sides of each wing. Plans of typical multi-storey buildings will be found at Appendix II.
73. Because of the very large number of squatters to be resettled it was reluctantly decided in 1954 that each of these 120 square feet rooms would have to accommodate 5 adults (children under 10 counting as adults). Fortunately the Hong Kong climate allows people to be out of doors for most of the day so that it is only at night that each room is filled to capacity. Ventilation is provided by a door and a large window opening on to the access balcony and by openings in the partitions at the rear of each room.
74. It is perhaps not generally appreciated that these seven-storey resettlement buildings are a permanent asset to the Colony, the expenditure on which future generations of tax-
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