level in the first half of 1965 as indicated by the increases in production and consumption of building materials such as cement, timber, bricks, paving slabs, floor tiles, spun concrete pipes, and so on. Estimated consumption of cement and sawn timber in the first half of 1965 is 17 per cent and. and 20 per cent. higher respectively than com- parable figures for last year.
"Production of bricks, and cement rose by 6.3 per cent. from 66.7 million pieces in the first seven months of 1964, to 70.9 million pieces in the corresponding period of this year."
Speaking on the employment situation in Borneo territories Mr. Tan said: "Sarawak, and Sabah, face an acute shortage of skilled and semi-skilled labour for development and building construction projects, and for rubber and timber plantations, but the States of Malaya have not been able to meet this demand”.
TERMINAL RESTAURANTS
THREE new restaurants for the Ocean Terminal, due to opened in Hong Kong next March are being designed by Eric Cumine, FRIBA.
Two of these will be operated by Maxim's. One, the Mermaid Tavern, will have olde English decor and a large circular bar, while the other, The Boulevard, will be an "indoor-outdoor cafe." The outdoor part will be on the public waving gallery which rings the three seaward sides of the terminal. The main terraced area and "sidewalk" section will partially surround the double height concourse feature overlooking the lower level of the passenger concourse.
The third restaurant will be operated by a Hawaiian corporation and will be named the Oceania. Covering 30.000 sq. ft. it will include private dining rooms and three large public dining rooms. It will be the largest one level restaurant in the Colony, seating 2,000. The site is at the seaward end of the upper shopping level, 48 ft. above the sea.
STRUCTURAL STEELWORK ORDER
REDPATH, Brown and Co., Ltd., Glasgow, have secured an order for the design and supply of 2.800 tons of structural steelwork for the new 25-storey St. George's Building in Hong Kong.
First shipment will be made in April, 1966, and completion will be five months later. The contract was placed by Hong Kong Engineering and Construction Co. Architects for the building are F. Wong and W. Chiu and Associates.
INTERIOR DESIGN SHOW
THE second annual Interior Design and Decoration exhibition starts on December 18 at the Northern Motors Inc. display building in Makati, Rizal, Philippines. It is promoted by the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers,
Artist's impres- sion of the Central Bank branch office now being built at Legaspi City, Bicol, south east of Luzon Island, Philippines.
Costing P800,000 the six-storey struc- ture will be of re- inforced concrete construction.
The design is by Central Bank As- sociated Architects, who comprise Cesar H. Concio, Luis Araneta, Francisco Fajardo, Angel Nak- pil, Juan F. Nakpil, Gabriel Formoso and Mel V. Calderon.
Theme of the exhibition is "Contemporary Uses of Historical Motifs". Eighteen of the country's foremost designers have been assigned a room each to be designed and furnished “in a manner that will dramatise the design values of a historical period."
Also to be included is the winning design in the Institute's recent student competition for planning a career girl's apartment. The competition was won by Jose Ma. Hubilla, a student of the University of Santo Tomas.
VISIT TO RUBBER LABORATORIES
FOUR Malaysian Public Works Department officials re- cently visited the laboratories of the Natural Rubber Pro- ducers' Research Association at Welwyn Garden City, UK. to discuss the development of rubberised road ma- terials and the use of rubber in civil engineering generally.
The party, in England at the invitation of the Com- monwealth Relations Office comprised Mr. Chai Boon Poh, senior executive engineer and chief road engineer, Kuching, Sarawak: Mr. Mahfoz bin Khalid, state engineer, Public Works Department for the States of Kedah and Perlis; Mr. Jugender Singh Sodhy, assistant director, Public Works (Roads and Airfields), Kuala Lumpur: and Mr. Fung Khyam Chen, senior executive engineer, Public Works Department. Sabah.
SWEDES BUILD POWER PLANT
THE Philippine power administration, National Power Corporation, has awarded a contract to Widmark & Platzer, of Stockholm, and a Philippine consortium_to build the large Angat power station near Manila. The plant is for 218 MW and will be operative in 1967.
Construction costs, mechanical and electrical instal- lations not included, are estimated at about US$35,000,- 000. Widmark & Platzer have previously participated in the construction of the Ambuklao and Binga power stations in the Philippines.
The topographical conditions on the construction site call for very advanced technical solutions, the Stock- holm contractors report. The stipulated building time was also very short for a project of this magnitude.
OIL REFINERY APPROVED
APPROVAL has been given by Hong Kong Government to the grant of an area of land, including foreshore and seabed, extending to about 1,000,000 sq. ft. on the west coast of Tsing Yi Island, to the Peninsula Petroleum Co.. Ltd. for the construction an an oil refinery and oil storage facilities.
This grant arises out of a gazette notification issued in May, 1964, which called for the submission of indus- trial development schemes for the area.
Peninsula Petroleum were the only company to present a scheme. They plan to start reclamation work
soon.
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Far East Architect & Builder December, 1965
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