July_1967 — Page 7

world news

Fixed Fees System Defended

THE fixed percentage fee system as used by architects was strongly defended by Lord Esher, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, in a recent speech in Ire- land.

He claimed the system, despite its apparent weak- nesses, was in the interests of society and if it was aban- doned for fee-cutting it would be the environment that would suffer not architects.

In reply to those who believed the fixed fee scale was a self-protective device that needed a good draught of 19th century competition, Lord Esher declared: "Anyone who thinks we are not in competition with one another, both within the private sector and between the public and the private, ought to read some of the letters the RIBA has received during the present financial squeeze (in Britain).

"But the great advantage of a fixed percentage scale is that it forces us to compete not about money but about efficiency and quality of service. The under capitalised firm that has failed to read the writing on the wall goes to the wall."

Afghanistan Luxury Hotel Contract Awarded

A £2.4 million contract for the design and construction of a seven-storey luxury hotel at Kabul, Afghanistan, has been awarded to the UK firm, Taylor Woodrow Inter- national, Ltd., by the Mailmapal Hotel Company.

Artist's impression of the Kabul hotel

Designed to meet the needs of international tourists, the hotel will have 190 bedrooms, each with private bath- room and balcony, a 350-guest banqueting hall, a swim- ming pool and a Royal suite of several rooms.

The building, of reinforced concrete frame construc- tion with blockwork external walls, comprises two main sections: a seven-storey tower block, 336 ft. by 60 ft. and 110 ft. high, and a two-storey podium block. 150 ft. by 160 ft. The guest accommodation is situated in the tower block, which also contains reception hall and foyer, lounge and cocktail bar on the ground floor, and a supper club on the top floor.

Consulting architects for the project are Paton. Pitt and Associates; structural engineers, Phillips Consultants, Ltd.. and consulting engineers, John Harvey and Partners.

High Speed Elevator for Japan University

JAPAN'S fastest elevator with a speed of 240 metres per minute has recently been completed at the Mito Works of Hitachi. Ltd. for installation in a new building on the Waseda University campus in Tokyo. The elevator is being installed in the university's Science and Engineer- ing Faculty building now under construction.

The building will have 18 floors above and two

Two large models depicting in detail the huge £12 million sports cities now taking shape 600 miles apart in the Libyan desert for the 1969 Pan-Arab Games were handed over to the Libyan Government recently. The models, made by Thorp Modelmakers Ltd., London, to a scale of 1:500, each measure 9 ft. 2 in. by 5 ft. 7 in. London and Belfast architectural and engineering

Far East Architect & Builder July, 1967

consultants, Munce and Kennedy, were commissioned by the Libyan Government to begin detailed planning of the two sports cities, at Tripoli and Benghazi, over three years ago. They are giving the Government a completely integrated consultancy ser- vice on architectural design, structural, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, and quantity surveying.

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