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Two hospitals to be built in UK for the price of one
Two identical hospitals to be built 100 miles apart in different areas of south east England will test ideas in design and operation that may set new standards for the future development of hospital services. They are sited in Surrey and Suffolk and will cost £3 million each, roughly half the price of present hospitals of similar capacity.
The two-storey hospitals are square in shape with the wards and outpatient department wrapped around a central core containing the specialist ser- vices, which keeps the movement of patients to a minimum.
The hospitals, each containing 540 beds, are de signed to ensure that every space is usefully em- ployed for as long as possible. In order to reduce to
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Model of £ 3 million experimental hospital
a minimum the cost of building, equipping and running the hospitals, they will be built in one continuous operation, and detailed architectural and engineering features are being evaluated to en- sure that capital-cost economies are not outweighed by excessive maintenance expenditure.
US$75m business complex for Los Angeles
A four-acre site on Wilshire Boulevard mid- way between central Los Angeles and Beverly Hills is now being cleared in preparation for the con- struction of the Ahmanson Centre, a US$75 million business and financial complex.
The centre, designed by Edward Durell Stone, will comprise two ten-storey buildings with curved
Ahmanson Centre, Los Angeles
facades following the line of an elliptical plaza court and a 40-storey tower standing on a raised podium. Fronting on four streets, as well as the plaza, will be arcades of Pentelic marble. Italian Carrara and Travertine marble will be used for paving, fountains, reflecting pool and for facing the buildings.
The tower will contain more than 1 million sq. ft. of floor space. Four underground levels will pro- vide parking for 2,000 cars.
Consultants for the centre include: John A. Martin and Associates, structural; William H. Stock- ly and Associates, mechanical; Chauncey E. Mauk, electrical; and Edward Durell Stone Jr., landscaping.
London factory makes precast dwelling components
One of the largest and most technically ad- vanced factories of its kind in Europe is now pro- ducing precast concrete structural units for dwell- ings to be erected on the new Thamesmead residen- tial district in Outer London.
The factory covers 86,000 sq. ft. and is owned by the British contractors, Holland & Hannen & Cubitts, Ltd. Situated on the south bank of the Thames at Woolwich, it will eventually produce enough units to build 850 dwellings in a year, con- sisting initially of 13-storey blocks of flats and 3- storey houses.
The units are manufactured on the French Balency system, for which Cubitts are the licencees in UK. It differs from all other heavy concrete systems in that it normally employs insitu con- crete floor slab construction.
The first production hall at the factory contains 15 moulds that produce 99 different castings for the tower blocks. In the second hall, 27 moulds will produce about 300 different castings for the 3- storey houses.
Far East BUILDER, October 1968.
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