January_1965 — Page 28

AIRWAYS

HEADQUARTERS

basement and a lower storage base- ment. The basement will have park- ing space for 160 cars and will also have a cargo store served by automa- tic cargo elevators from the cargo office above.

The air-conditioning plant for the building will be flexible so as to cater

Chilled water compressor plants will be housed in the basement.

Work to Start on Tower Block for after normal office hour use.

SINGAPORE's largest urban develop- ment project in the past four years, the new SM11 million headquarters building for Malaysian Airways, is scheduled for completion early in 1967.

Work has just started on the building which is sited at Robinson Road, Singapore. With 15 storeys, it will tower 200 ft. above street level. It will comprise a podium with a tower mounted on one side.

The three-storey podium will have a facade on Robinson Road measur- ing 300 ft. long and will be 100 ft. deep. The tower will rise another 12 storeys and will measure 90 ft. by 60 ft. wide.

At road level the ground floor of the podium will contain Malaysian Airways' main booking office with its supporting functions as well as the airline's cargo and publicity offices. Part of the ground floor will be let out and will include a restaurant and banking facilities.

The initial floor of the tower block will contain the management and boardroom suites of the airways. It will overlook a roof garden and re-

flection pool on the roof of the podium. At the other end of the podium will be a training theatre seating 200.

Below road level there will be a

Architects for the building are Malayan Architects Co-Partnership.

Tenders for the piling work are now being considered, and bids for the main construction will be called shortly.

PEZET

Drawing of the Malaysian Airways building, Robinson Road. Singapore

Getting Work Restarted in Hong Kong

MEASURES to enable a resumption of work on the many sites in Hong Kong affected by the amendment to the Building Ordinance, introduced in September, were taken during December by Government staff.

Mr. Michael Wright, director of public works, called a conference to comment on the large number of sites on which piling or other found- ation work had been stopped because it might have endangered nearby property.

He said that a working party on slum clearance, which had recently been set up under his chairmanship, had been given as an additional term of reference the

urgent task of examining the recent effects on the redevelopment of building sites in urban areas of the amended Building Ordinance and making recommenda- tions on the problems which had arisen.

The composition of the working party had also been altered to include three unofficial members

A circular letter was issued by the Government Building Surveyor, Mr. P. V. Shawe, in an attempt to clarify the Government's attitude to cases

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where delays are being caused to building schemes being carried out in accordance with the terms of an Exclusion Order.

The letter, sent to all authorised architects, stated: "When a landlord is prevented by circumstances beyond his control from complying with the time limit set out in an Exclusion Order for completion of building work, it is Government practice to grant a penalty free extension of time for an equivalent period.

"Delays can occur either in com- mencement of work or after work has commenced, and with the passing of the Building (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance, 1964, such cases are be- coming more frequent."

commence-

Mr. Shawe gave a number of examples of delays in ment of work which were accepted by the Building Authority as being beyond the control of the landlord, and in respect of which the Building Authority would grant an extension

of the commencement date.

These were:

(a) Refusal to give consent to commence demolition under the Building (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance, 1964.

(b) Inability on the part of the

building owner to obtain entry to adjacent property to con- struct adequate shoring as re- quired by the Authority. (c) Inability to obtain vacant pos- session, subject to the applicant satisfying the Building Autho- rity that he has commenced legal proceedings and that he is pursuing such proceedings with due diligence.

Mr. Shawe also gave three causes which would normally be accepted by Government as being beyond the control of the landlord and so were given sympathetic consideration for a penalty free extension of completion time.

These were:

(a) Refusal by the Building Au- thority to give consent for piling or excavation works under the Buildings (Amend- ment) (No. 2) Ordinance, 1964. (b) Delays by the Building Autho-

rity in the approval of plans, submitted after the Exclusion Order has been granted, be- yond the statutory period of 28 days. (c) Delays resulting from the issue of a Cease Works Order by the Building Authority be- cause of dangers to adjacent or neighbouring buildings, pro- vided that the necessity for issuing the cease works order is not due to the negligence of the owner or his servants.

Far East Architect & Builder January, 1965