T
TALLEST BUILDING
IN HONG KONG
PLANNED
Offices on 32 Floors
HE signal to proceed with the final details for Fu Centre, the tallest building in Hong Kong, has been given by Kwong Hing Invest- ment Co., Ltd., the owners of the site next to Mercury House and on the corner of Connaught Road and Mur- ray Road.
Drawings prepared by the archi- tectural firm of Eric Cumine, with Mr. William Ling as architect in charge, have been approved by the Building Authority and are now in the hands of W. V. Zinn and As- sociates, the London consultants who have been appointed to carry out the engineering design.
While the engineering solution is still being studied, it is believed that the usual in situ piling will not be used. Diamond drills will be em- ployed, for the first time on a Hong Kong building site, to penetrate large boulders without removing them as with conventional piling.
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Soil Mechanics, Ltd., the English and French firm engaged on part of the Shek Pik dan project, have pro- duced a complete site investigation. Their probe, which lasted six months and cost about HK$220,000 showed a table of bedrock 140 ft. down. Penetrations made in eight different locations established that the table varied in level only about 4 ft.
It will probably be necessary to sit the piles on this bedrock which is at least 60 ft. think.
Light Lines
The development of the 24,000 sq. ft. site will be as intense as present regulations allow. The building is to be 335 ft. high. It will have 32 storeys above ground, plus a basement and sub-basement level.
The 34 floors will provide about 500,000 sq. ft. of office space and a large department store may occupy part of the building.
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CENTRAL
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F1
12 FT
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PUBLIC
CASEF
Artist's drawing of Fu Centre
In Hong Kong, as in many other cities in the world, the street width or the proximity of other buildings governs the elevational areas per- mitted on a new building. With the Fu Centre the architects have been able to arrange their design in such a way that, despite its height, the block is clear of the "light lines". It consists of a nine-storey podium surmounted by a tower which is cross-shaped on plan.
Backbone
The Fu Centre is expected to take about three years to complete and will cost some HK$35 million. It will be
a reinforced concrete framed structure with colums spac- ed at 22ft. centres in both direc- tions. Plate floor construction will be used to give more headroom and to allow space for air-conditioning ducts.
Wind bracing for the building will be provided by a heavy-con- crete wind tower rising through its centre. Containing the lifts and staircases it will act as a rigid back- bone to the building.
There will be 12 passenger and three service lifts. The lift motor room is located on the roof and the air-conditioning plant is in the sub- basement.
The front of the building is a simple repetitive design, incorporat- ing aluminium finishings and tiles. Hong Kong Aluminium Co. are now studying the cladding requirements.
Far East Architect & Builder February, 1965
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