No_10_October_1968 — Page 21

Hong Kong

Column-free building

gives flexibility

THE LUTHERAN WORLD FEDERATION

owners

111111

SPENCE ROBINSON

DAVID A. THORNBURROW

PETER Y.S. PUN & ASSOCIATES

architects

partner in charge

consulting engineers

P.C. RUSSELL, BAILEY, LEVETT & PARTNERS quantity surveyors

THOMAS ANDERSON & PARTNERS

JOHN LOK & PARTNERS

"THE welfare needs of Hong Kong change year by year, and the Lutheran World Federation (Hong Kong) modify their various departments accordingly; thus the new building designed to house the various departments must allow for the resultant accommodation fluctuations".

This was the brief given to the architect for the Federation's new multi-storey social service centre in Granville Road, Kowloon.

To design for changes was the architect's first problem. His second was to ensure that the restricted site included accommodation for the many welfare services which the Federation offers from clinics to rehabilitation centres and to include space for administration, library, conference room, chapel and car parking.

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From the very first a close co- operation was maintained between all the consultants in order to analyse the problems and to arrive at solutions jointly. The building is therefore "de signed" in all respects architecture, structure and mechanical services. Cost analysis was carried out for almost every preliminary design proposed.

The resultant building's distinction is its flexibility. Such immovable ob- jects as staircases, lifts, vertical air con- ditioning shafts and other services are arranged along one outer wall which abuts the adjoining building, leaving the remaining "office" space unob- structed so that partitions can be shift- ed at will.

The flexibility of the building also

Far East BUILDER, October 1968.

mechanical consultants

main contractor

finds expression in the fact that there are no columns whatsoever. Each floor is supported on cantilevered slabs pro- jecting out from two large centrally located trunks, which also contain toi- lets and other services at each floor level.

In order to achieve this flexibility the partitions themselves had to be designed to create the minimum of fuss should repositioning be necessary. In this case they are timber framed panels dimensioned to a module. No wet work or cutting of panels is necessary.

Modular furniture

Due to this modular system par- tition units were standardized. This enabled mass production and so lower- ed the overall cost. The off-site fabri- ed the overall cost. The off-site fabri- cation of these units also contributed towards a less cluttered site during the construction period.

The furniture too followed the same module, making standardization possi- ble. Apart from some special cases two basic types are adopted for the use of the whole building. Again they are flexible because they can be adopted to suit a wide range of uses with minimum modification and can be shifted at will to still relate to the partitions.

Other aspects of the building which also reflect flexibility are the air con- ditioning, telephone system and light- ing and electricity supply. These are so distributed throughout the building that any change of the room layout will be sure to find the presence of services.

Granville Road view

As stated the building is erected on a very limited site area. Even when the design deployed the maximum allow- able volume, the building was still not big enough to house all its occupants under normally accepted office stan- dards. By designing the furniture into the rooms and by manipulating it into the best position, the occupants are housed in very limited but acceptably comfortable areas. Colour and lighting were also utilized to their best advan- tage to create a spacious effect.

To give an idea of the range of the various functions which the building has to serve, the following facilities are housed within the ten storeys:

Medical and dental clinic with treat- ment rooms, dispensary and laboratory; sections for assistance for primary, secondary and university students; craft centre with workshop, display and storage facilities; sections for self-help and rehabilitation; rural rehousing; and material relief and child feeding and welfare sections.

In addition there are administrative offices, secretariat, conference room, library, central filing section, service to refugees and an all-purpose room which

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