No_11_November_1969 — Page 19

Boldly emphasised suspended ceiling above the cinema lobby

the returned warm water is used again for flushing toilets.

A centralised heating system is also provided, with thermostatic control.

Hot water is supplied through in- dividual electric water heaters installed in every hotel room, while a gas boiler supplies hot water to the kitchen.

Soil and waste water from the hotel rooms is collected on the sixth floor by three main vertical ducts which run directly to manholes on the ground floor. The ground floor service yard being 5ft. below the public road level, a special pumping system was devised with non-return valves and sump pumps located at strategic points for keeping the water out of the building during typhoons and high tides.

All floors are served by 12 Mit- subishi passenger lifts, each with a capacity of 20 persons and with a travel speed of 300ft. per min. In addition there are two service lifts and the lower floors are linked by seven escalators.

Facilities

The hotel's accommodation com- prises:

Ground floor

—

reception lobby,

coffee shop, bar and service area.

1st, 2nd and 3rd cinema and shopping arcades with connection to the Ocean Terminal.

4th

www

keeping area

offices and hotel house-

5th offices and kitchen

―

6th

restaurant, grill, cocktail lounge, beauty parlour, sauna baths, clinic, managerial offices and roof gar- den with a swimming pool.

—

7th to 17th hotel rooms and suites.

The hotel lobby is low-ceilinged by comparison with most first class hotels but is extremely spacious and luxu- riously finished with a padded circular seating arrangement and marbled floors and columns.

Guest rooms are designed with a basic simplicity and functionalism, though colours and lighting are bright

Double suite includes bedroom and lounge area

and cheerful. The rooms vary from small overnight single rooms to de-luxe suites with their own kitchens.

The decor of the restaurants, bars and grill carries the themes suggested by their names. For example, the Bauhinia Room - named after Hong Kong's delicate pink orchid — is a colourful but tranquil restaurant with views of the harbour on one side and the roof garden on the other.

On the sixth floor the Taipan Grill depicts Hong Kong in the 1860's, with unusual murals around its walls having a Chinese theme executed through the

Far East BUILDER, November 1969

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