July_1965 — Page 18

PREFABRICATION

Its introduction to Singapore

HEN the Housing & Develop

WHEN

ment Board was formed in February, 1960, Singapore faced a very acute housing problem, built up during the post-war years.

During the period 1947 to 1959 a total of 20,907 units of public hous- ing was constructed by

the Singapore Improve- ment Trust at an average rate of 1.740 units per annum. Private enterprise built some 19,000 units of permanent housing over the same period.

However, the popula- tion increased from 938, 000 in 1947 to 1,579,000 in 1959. It was quite apparent that the 40,000 units of housing

con-

structed during the period was totally inadequate to house more than 600,000 people.

sibility of introducing the industrialis- ed method of construction so that part of the building programme could be completed by means of prefabrica- ted methods.

After several months of discussion and study three overseas firms sub-

B

The cumulative effect of this inabil- ity to meet the increase of the popula- tion has resulted in the formation of slums around the city from Telok Blangah in the west to Sims Avenue and Geylang Serai in the east. The chief tenants and racketeers have made full use of this opportunity to reap quick profits by constructing and partitioning shacks and cubicles in the rent controlled properties to squeeze in more people in the already overcrowded "China Town."

To solve this acute housing pro- blem, a five-year housing programme was formulated to construct 51,000 units of public housing at a cost of M$194,000,000. The programme was approved by the Singapore Govern- ment and construction commenced in the middle of 1960.

Periodic Review

Great doubts were expressed at that time on the capability of the Board and the building industry in Singa- pore to construct an average of 10,000 units of public housing a year as this was almost six times the achievement of the former S.I.T.

The capacity of the building indus- try in Singapore had been periodically reviewed by the former S.I.T. and the experts in the S.I.T. were of the opinion that the building industry in Singapore would reach its breaking point if the housing programme were to reach 6,000 units per annum. view of these doubts, the Board made contacts with overseas firms in early 1960 to inquire into the pos-

56

In

by

Teh Cheang Wan

of construction in the Soviet Union as well as to visit some European countries. From the information gathered during this tour, the follow- ing appear to be the main reasons for the introduction of the industrialised method of construction in the Euro- on both pean countries sides of the Iron Curtain:

the (i) During

Second World War, tremendous damage had been inflicted on buildings throughout Europe. After the war, the existing building in- dustry was unable to cope with the redevelopment and repair of the war- damaged properties. There- fore a new method of construction had to be found to supplement the building industry.

Author of this article, Mr. Teh Cheang Wan, has been Head of the Building Department, Singapore Housing and Development Board, since 1959. In 1963 he was awarded a gold medal for public administration by the Government of Singapore.

Mr. Teh received his Batchelor of Architecture degree at Sydney University. He is an Associate of the Royal Instiute of British Architects, and an Associate of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.

mitted offers or proposals to the Board for consideration at the end of 1960. The offers were based on the Board's standard ten-storey two-room flats.

The comparison of the costs of various systems was as follows:-

System of Building

Traditional

Cost of Bldg.

Contract per unit

Percentage

M$2,167 100% (Tender price)

English system M$3,772 174% Danish system M$4,626 French system M$4,096

213% 189%

From the study of the tender re- port and the offers by these overseas firms, the Board decided that the prefabrication system could not com- pete with the traditional method of construction and therefore none of the offers was accepted.

By the end of 1961, it was apparent that the building industry in Singa- pore was in a position to cope with 10,000 units of public housing per annum in addition to other development programmes by the Government and private enterprise. The search for improved methods of construction went on continuously. Further contacts with European firms were made and discussions were con- tinuously carried out by the Board with interested parties.

In 1963 the writer was sent by the Board under the auspices of the United Nations to make a one-month study tour of industrialised methods

(ii) After the war, the economy in Europe had achieved a spectacular recovery and the standard of living of the people reached an unpre- cedented height. Therefore, the demand for housing, fac- tories, schools and other types of buildings had far exceeded the capacity of the existing building industry. Therefore, an alternative method of cons- truction had to be found to supplement the building industry. (iii) All the European countries had

experienced a big shortage of skilled craftsmen in the building industry. The industrialised method of construction was in- troduced as as alternative to provide additional buildings for the people. During the early days, the industrialised method of construction did not achieve either lower cost in construction or a better finished product. It was accepted as the only pos- sible alternative method to pro- duce the additional buildings. The choice was not so much between the traditional and the industrialised methods of con- struction. In fact, in many countries, the choice was either have additional buildings constructed by the industrialised method of construction or no additional buildings at all, (iv) In most European coun- tries especially in central and northern Europe, the progress of construction at site slows down considerably during the severe winter months. The in-

to

Far East Architect & Builder July, 1965