MANY UNIQUE FEATURES
(Continued from Page 1)
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crete slab in order to obtain some of the conditions of present verandahs-the absence of glare and direct sunlight, and no he as well as enabling the windows to be kept open during heavy rains.
An example of the ingenuity dyplayed in designing the build- arg is provided by the office win- dows, although to the layman they may, at first sight, appear to be just ordinary windows,
Each window, however, is net- ually divided into three sections. The upper section is hung and pushes out, enabling it to be left open during the frequent heavy
summer rains.
The middle, and largest see. tion, opens in the ordinary way. and provides general ventilation of the oflices during still days.
Window Features
But office-workers will particu- Jarly appreciate the bottom sec- tion of the windows, for this see tion eliminates almost perfectly one of the bug-bears of paper work during gusty weather, when one wants to keep as much of the 'window open as possible and at the same time maintain some semblance of order
ainong the papers on the desks.
it
This bottom section is hinged along its lower eden and falls inward. This effectively deflects the gusts of wind and shoots them up towards the ceiling, instead of blowing, directly onto the dest and scattering the papers on' to the four corners of the rooni.
Steel windows have been used throughout. and before leaving the workshops each window was treated with sand-blasting. fol- lowing which metallic zing was immediately sprayed on under
pressure.
The zinc is thus blown into the pores of the steel opened by the sand-blasting and helps keep away corrosion.
Four Lifts
ໂດ
There are four lifts in all three passenger lifts at the front,
THE CHINA MAIL'S WINDSOR HOUSE SUPPLEMENT, APRIL 21, 1941.
Although The Hong Kong Land Investment & Agency Co., Ltd., has not yet decided upon the inn ediate rebuilding of Nos. 11, 13 & 13A Queen's Road Central, drawings are being prepared to enable the work to be put in hand wi hout delay as soon as the scheme is considered advisable.
Messrs. Leigh & Orange have been entrusted with the work and the elevation reproduced shows the edifice tha', it is hoped, will replace ultimately St. Francis Hotel and up to the south-west corner of Ice House Street.
This building will be joined to the back of Windsor House form- ing one large "L" shaped block.
The present idea is .o lay-out the ground floor in either a series of three bank premises or one large bank at the corner with a smaller one to the west.
and a messenger-ahd-coolie
lift
at the back, with entrance to the latter froni the lane adjoining the Exchange Building.
The latter' suggests itself as the more attractive provided 'one of the local financial institutions can take up such an extensive area as would cover the corner site.
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Upwards from the first to the sixth floors, office accommodation will be provided and great planning care is being exercised in the direction of light, also ventilation,
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The general principles of Windsor House will be continued as regards method of construction..
Under existing conditions of high constructional costs which may be expected to obtain several years after the war is over, a large re- building scheme of this nature calls for much thought and no decision is likely to be reached until the cost of such has been carefully ins vestigated. This is being done.
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Height Of Floors
The messenger-and-coo le lift tally, and no other bullding in Des Voeux Road and Queen's is unique in the Colony in that Hong Kong is so equipped.
It Road, cach stop serves two floors, the' is intended to afford an economy lift arriving at a special lobby in stops and is also designed to half-way between the floors keep messengers and coolies off landings "First and Second," "Second and the main corridor and
while waiting for the lift. Third" and so on.
Time alone will show the value or otherwise of this idea, but, to date anyway, the scheme appears to be operating very satisfactorily. The main entrance hall is lined with marble, with bronze skirt- ings, cappings and linings - openings.
Brainchild
The passenger lifts operate at the rate of 350 feet a minute and serve all floors. Totally enclosed, they are equipped with up-to- da e selective control "gear to minimise delays in unnecessary This arrangement is the brain- stops.
child of the architects, inciden-
'COLORCRETE’
IN CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION
COLORCRETE FACING SLABS AS USED IN WINDSOR HOUSE SNOWCRETE, ColorCrete, stippleCRETE
"'IMPERMO“: CEMENT WATERPROOFING COMPOUND
PRODUCTS OF
THE ASSOCIATED PORTLAND CEMENT MANUFACTURES,
ENGLAND.
FOR PARTICULARS APPLY TO
✰✰✰ GREEN ISLAND CEMENT CO., LTD.
Exchange Bldg.
The height of the ground floor
the was ruled by the height of floors in the future continuation of the building in Queen's Road and Ice House Street. It was obviously necessary to keep the upper floors at the same level throughout the building, and wher allowance was made for the cor- rect-heights-in-Queen's-Road- to
was found that on extra sever feet was added to the height of The lift lobbles were to have the ground floor in Des Voeux been lined with travertino marble Road. with bronze trim, but owing to War Interference with supplies, pre-cast terrazzo slabs have been substituted for the travertino.
Teak parque, laid in bitumen, is used for a floor covering in all offices and corridors.
Lavatory
This enabled a mezzanine fool to be inserted in the present hali of the building, "giving adcoming;
'fountain-caf dation for a sora operated by the Dairy Farin.
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The ground Boor, mezzaning and sixth floors are air-condi ine.
accommodation is ed by the tenants, arrangements grouped together on the western for this having been ine rp en d side of the building, affording in the original plans for the build. economy in pipes and dea.ne. The ing. The machinery for the us lavatoryblocks have mosule tile conditioning of the, ground floors and wall linings.
mezzanine floors is situated in water-proof basement...
The flushing water suod' is ...accured fom (wo wella in all bo- low the basement foody, Another special feature here:--The, ve''s also serve to relieve the ground wa'er pre:sure-on · tha - water- proofing membrane of the buse- ment floor.
Facing Slabs
To return to the outside of
the building..
The structure is faced with
The Constructors
Contractors for Windsor House were:—
General Company.
Contract-Sung
Ke
Piling-Vibro Piling Company. Sanitary and Fire Installation -Dudwell & Company.
Electrical Installation-Win. C Jack & Company,
Plastering Simplex Gypsum
pre-cast reinforced s'abs two Products, Ltd. inches thick, the front face con-
sisting of half an inch-(in thick- Water-Proofing of Basement- ness) "Stipp ecrete" coloured ce- Reiss Bradley & Co.
ment and erubusu Jing
pings, on a backing :ů, útrie. cons.
crete reinforced with a mat of galvanised wire mesh,
Patent Roofing "Certainteed
Shewan Tomes & Co., Ltd,
Teak Flooring-Kwang Hsin?
Where the slabs are on con- Company.
crete columns. and beams encast Facing Slabs-Cath
7were used as 'shuttering":
pouring concrete, with the virea : Ceramics (H.K.), Ltd.
from theroinforcing maturost'
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¿drapped round the-sool 10- Marble and Bronze Work-
forcement of the building, On" Bigazzi..
the other hand, where the alabi
are on the brick backing they Steel Windows were bedded. In three-quarters et:, dire
an inch of water-proofed cement mortar.
"""""One="final" "unique" Zature,” (which, was brought about owing hejto the diferencs, in the levels; of
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