August_1965 — Page 17

First floor arcade. Chandelier and glass etching by A. Casadei

Street. This type of underground obstruction, which originally provided the foundation for an old sea wall, is frequently met in the central district of Hong Kong, interfering with both perimeter sheet piling and foundation piling.

On this site it was partially remov- ed by excavating within a local steel sheet piled cofferdam down to a depth of 25 ft. below site formation level. As it was not possible to lower the ground water level at this stage, this operation was carried out using divers.

The material was removed from the excavation by grab and the ex- cavation was subsequently filled with soft material through which piles could be driven,

The basement raft forms a cap to the piles and varies in thickness from 5 ft. 8 in. to 9 ft. 6 in., and this, together with the basement walls, is in watertight concrete construction. The floor slab has a waterproof screed and the basement walls have a water- proof rendering internally.

of

Piling and substructure work was carried out during conditions drought, and in order to maintain continuity of work site storage tanks were installed to hold 20,000 gallons of water, some of which was brought from the mainland by water barges.

The only other problem of any magnitude which affected progress on the building arose at a much later stage and concerned the co-ordination of the tenants moving into the build- ing. Quite naturally the owners of about 500.000 sq. ft. of office space were reluctant to leave the building empty until absolute completion when a large proportion of the building is lying idle, ready for occupation.

Thus, a phased programme had to be devised whereby sections of the building were occupied some two months before other portions of the building were completed. This car- ried with it considerable problems of cross circulation and required great tact and patience on the part of both the owners and the tenants.

Finishes

Externally the building is clad in precast white granolithic slabs with sun breakers on all windows above fourth floor. The ground floor banks and shops are faced with marble as also is the fascia to the canopy which extends around the building.

The offices all have an acoutic block hung ceiling with a visible sus- pension, plaster walls, all-teak joinery and Jarrah wood floors.

The shop arcades, which are on the first three floors, are variously finished to very high standards. The ground floor arcade, which is entered from Ice House Street, Chater Road and Statue Square, has been designed as a spacious concourse with easy access to the upper ground floor via broad and attractive staircases.

+

Far East Architect & Builder August, 1965

BRIDGE TO

KALNAPUN, HOTD,

SHOPS

A

M

A

N K

LIFT AT

UFT MT

STONE RIL

LADES LAT

LIFT

PIT

LIFT

PIT

SHOPS

TEL

STE PAPER

SHOP 3

H

H

LADES

BANK

BANK

LOBBY

+

I

Ground floor

plan

First floor

plan