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 to be necessary. The most important have been the addition of a seventh storey and the strengthening of the flat roof so that it may be used either as public recreation space or for boys' and girls' clubs run by voluntary agencies. Penthouses have also been added at either end, such as those seen in the photograph opposite this page. During the year under review it was found feasible to enclose these penthouses for use as primary school class rooms, and in the latest blocks their size has been increased, while still leaving a good size open play- ground in the middle.
57. The wings of each building vary from 140 feet to 320 feet in length, depending on the site, and the weight is taken on transverse reinforced concrete walls at 10 foot intervals. Each wing is thus divided structurally into a number of bays each measuring about 25 feet (the full width of each wing) by 9 feet 6 inches, and access is provided by balconies on each floor which run completely round the four sides of each wing.
58. These 240 sq. ft. bays were, until recently, always divided by centre line partitions into rooms of 120 sq. ft. for which the rent is $14 a month. In September, 1956, the experiment was tried in one of the new blocks at Li Cheng Uk of varying the position of this partition wall or of omitting it altogether, in order to produce rooms of four different sizes as follows:
(a) $10 rooms of about 86 sq. ft. for families of 3 to 4 'adults'. (b) $14 rooms of about 120 sq. ft. (the previous standard size)
for families of 4 to 51 'adults'.
(c) $18 rooms of about 152 sq. ft. for families of 6 to 7 'adults'. (d) $28 rooms of about 240 sq. ft. for families of 10 'adults'
(or two smaller families wishing to share).
A child under 10 years of age is counted as half an adult. This experiment has been a success, the $10 rooms being particularly useful for small families who would otherwise have to share accommodation with another small family in a $14
25