January_1965 — Page 20

on a module of 8 in. to marry the 16 in. x 8 in. x 8 in. and 12 in. x 4 in. x 4 in. concrete block masonry and the requirements of human scale to the structure.

Masonry walls will be tied hori- zontally by capping slabs to toilets and the doctor's suits cantilevers, and by precast concrete fintol and sill beams to free-standing walls through- out. These walls will be additionally stiffened by vertical cavity reinforce-

ment.

All window and door frames will be steel framed, built into transome beams, sill beams and 3 in. x 3 in. precast concrete mullions. Precast concrete components are economical- ly preferable to heavy steel or timber sections as they are made at the centre by internees, as are all concrete blocks.

A new trade is currently being established here with tooling up for the fabrication of all-steel door and window frames.

Concrete block walls will be left fair face, with raked horizontal joints externally, and will be lined internally with ceramic tiles to sill and transome beam heights. The concrete frame where exposed, will be rendered and set with white gypsum plaster.

Wiring

In common building practice in this area there is little coordination between trades during the construc- tion period and it is usual to see all plumbing and electrical wiring ex- posed on the surfaces of a building. Ancillary trades are generally em- ployed under separate contracts and commence their work only after the main structure has been completed.

To revise this procedure on a building with such a strict budget would be an inhibiting complication, SO electrical wiring and general lighting can be installed at a late stage in ducts and in plywood coves below the secondary longitudinal roof beams and below transverse beams to the ground floor.

Flood lights will be installed un- derneath the roof canopies to illuminate the hospital surrounds and the corridors indirectly, Night lights to corridors and wards will be fixed below extended sill lining beams.

Plumbing

Rainwater is collected from roofs into an underground tank beneath the compound for water supply to the centre and this will be pumped via the plant room to storage tanks in the water tower.

All horizontal plumbing, sewerage, waste and rainwater lines will run under the cantilevered sections of the doctor's suite and the toilets block and will be enclosed with removeable ceiling panels to the ground floor. Vertical stacks and vent pipes will be enclosed in three ducts with inspection panels on each main floor.

The entrance lobby to the hospital opens off the compound and off an ambulance and car port beside the existing driveway entrance to the

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TYPICAL CROSS SECTION

Sea frontage showing arched beams supporting the first floor slab

centre. It encloses the stairs to the first floor and an admission desk. Adjacent to the entrance are four group clinics which open from the compound and out to a terrace be- hind the perimeter wall, affording cross ventilation and the possibility of extending classes outdoors.

Above the entrance area on the first floor are doctor's facilities com- prising a waiting room, consulting room, a room for minor surgery and examination, а small pathological laboratory and toilets.

The first floor wards contain 18 beds for men and six for women in the approximate ratio of sexes of the internees and are surrounded by a 6 ft, wide partially enclosed space for additional insulation from heat and the noise of the compound. This space serves for circulation corridors and a covered verandah on the north- east side for patients.

From the verandah a stair leads to a solarium which is recessed into the roof and covered by a concrete per- gola extension of the building frame. Canvas screens may be attached to the pergola in hot weather and glass screens in cold.

The diagrammatic cross-section shows the way that the interior spaces will be naturally ventilated by pre- vailing winds. This under roof ven- tilation space can be closed by horizontal shutters above the column tie beams during bad weather.

Gently arched beams between columns supporting the first floor slab are

a model reflection of the arched openings SO common to the arcaded Portuguese buildings of Macau, To the roof, supported on a low framed structure, I have tried to give the same significance of weight as is inherent in the roofs of traditional architecture of this region.

Far East Architect & Builder January, 1965

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