are used in entrance ways. On the third the information available before Phase I оп its journey the next car, which is floor a wider range of fittings is used and was built, it was considered that four 15- waiting on the ground floor with its door of particular note is the board-room of passenger lifts with a speed of 500 f.p.m. closed, receives a signal from the super- the China Engineers, Ltd., which has controlled by the "Express" traffic con- visory system, opening the door and al- high intensity, non-glare, lighting to give trol, would suffice with a separate pas- lowing passengers to enter. a very high degree of legibility on the senger/service
lift with signal collector board-room table.
THE STEEL WINDOWS
The Crittall windows in Alexandra House are Hot Dip Galvanized Medium Universal Section, which is the finest
quality section and finish normally sup- plied for traditional windows by the Crit tall Mfg. Co., Ltd. The architect has designed these windows so that an
air- conditioner can be fitted to the lower pane if required by the tenant; all windows are fitted with two-throw handles to side- hung portions, and typhoon bolts to top- and-bottom-hung windows as a precau- tion against Hong Kong weather cordi- tions. Open-out doors of the same Uni- versal Section have been supplied to cer- tain floors and these are fitted with Yale cylinder locks. All windows and doors are glazed on the inside with Ezeglaze metal beads. This is a "snap-on" type bead which provides for easy replacement of glazing in the event of breakage and at the same time provides a clean appear-
ance.
control.
This system thus ensures a minimum waiting period on the ground floor.
With "Express" traffic control, all lifts
A recent survey indicates that the sys- automatically answer all registered calls from car and landings, with a supervisory 28,000 to 30,000 people per day.
tem is working very efficiently moving
system automatically despatching these ed intervals. lifts at pre-determined, but variable, tim- The door hardware consists of Josiah The variation is simply Parkes & Sons Ltd. locksets, Wm. New- & Sons Ltd. architectural fittings, carried out by the operation of a rotary man switch which selects the most suitable Worcester Brass Co., Ltd. hinges and Thos. time interval according to the traffic flow, Crompton & Sons Ltd. steel hinges, all during up peak, down peak and off peak supplied by William Jacks & Co., Ltd. who also supplied and laid the dampcours- periods.
ing to the basement with Rock Asphalt manufactured by Limmer & Trinidad Lake Asphalt Co., Ltd.
This has re-
This system as planned for Phase I of Alexandra House, worked very efficient- ly and economically, but it soon became apparent that there were two objections.
The marble facing to the Arcade walls Firstly the lift cars were always packed to is in Filetto Rosso, the slabs of which have capacity, and secondly the tenants of the been so cut that all the pattern of the upper floors objected to the many stops veining matches uniformly. en route.
Accordingly a zoning scheme quired particularly patient work as all the was introduced in which one lift served ground to the 4th, one served 5th to 7th, a third 8th to the 11th and the fourth serving all floors. This satisfied the ob- jections raised but created delays and congestion on the ground floor, and slow- ed up the overall movement of passengers.
In addition to the normal windows and doors, the Crittall Mfg. Co., Ltd. have also supplied Sky-lights to give addition- al daylight to the arcades, and also shop- fronts and swing-doors to the second por- tion of the building. These are made of Universal Section with Gibbon's floor lifts. springs fitted to the swing doors.
THE LIFTS
Of all the services which contribute to the efficient working of any building, the one of primary importance is an adequate lift service, which during peak periods in the morning, at midday and in the evenings, will move a high percentage of the building population in a very short time, thus avoiding unnecessary conges- tion and delay.
This problem is a particularly dif- ficult one in Hong Kong with its very centralized business community, which encourages personal calls, visits from busi- ness colleagues and the ever-present em- ployment of messenger boys. A further factor which must be taken into account is the very high prices per square foot of land in the business centre of Hong Kong, which forces the building owner to com- promise on the size of his lift lobby on the ground floor.
A good lift service must not only pro vide a means of transporting persons be tween floors but also ensure that this is done in the shortest possible time. To increase the speed of the lifts is not the answer as, although a high rate of speed shortens the journey time for a long run, in floor to floor service the distance is too short to allow the lift to gain its full speed.
The lift installation in Aicxandra House was planned in two sections as the build- ing was constructed in this fashion. With
Although there are only about 1,300 persons in this section of the building, a survey showed that over 14,000 passen- gers a day were being moved by these
Accordingly when the second stage of Alexandra House was being planned, it was agreed that the number of passenger lifts be increased from 4 to 5, and the
building be divided into two zones HIGH & LOW. The line of demarcation was Ground to 5th floor for the Low Zone, and ground, 6th to 11th for the High Zone. In previous installations "zoned service" relied completely on operators obeying verbal instructions. With "Ex- press Traffic Control", however, such is not the case. The lifts are fully automatic and are pre-set to zonal or floor to floor operation as required, and cannot be inter- fered with by the attendants. This is the first installation of this type in Hong Kong.
A further development, however, was introduced in Phase II. Zone cars are exceptionally busy, a Low When the High
Zone car can be transferred to operate in the High Zone, and thus help clear the passengers and vice versa. It is further arranged that any Up calls whether it be in the High Zone or Low Zone will be answered automatically by a High Zone car as the ultimate destination may be in the High Zone and any other system would not meet this.
In instances where two or more lifts might be standing empty on the ground floor, a close door button can be operated in each car so as to prevent passengers entering more than one car per zone when such cars are not fully loaded. Accord- ingly as soon as one car is full and starts
11
slabs which did not match had to be dis- carded. Considering that the work was done in two stages, with an interval of nearly three years between, the present uniformity and regularity of the Arcade marblework is a tribute to the skill and craftsmanship of Artistic Arteliers Raoul Bigazzi. The skirtings are in Portoro marble (Black & Gold).
designs of Messrs.
The whole building was executed to the
Partners, F.F. & A.R.L.B.A.,
Spence, Robinson & who were assisted in the second portion by Mr. R. The Minutti as Engineering Consultant. quantity surveyors were Messrs. Langdon & Every.
CONTRACTORS
PHASE II General Contractors: Lun Sang & Co.,
Ltd.
Piling Contractors: Vibro Piling Co.,
Ltd.
Structural Steelwork (Dorman Long & Jardine Engineering
Co.. Ltd.): Corp., Ltd.
Basement Asphalt Waterproofing: Wil
liam Jacks & Co., Ltd.
Sanitary Installation: Dodwell & Co.,
Ltd.
Crittall Metal Windows: Dodwell &
Co., Ltd.
Lifts:
The Express Lift Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of The General Electric Co. of England.
"Atlas" Lighting Fittings to Arcade, Corridors & Public Areas: Jardine Engineering Corp., Ltd. "Troughton & Young" Lighting Fit- tings to 3rd, 4th and 5th Floors: The China Engineers, Ltd. Electrical Installation: Jardine Engine-
ering Corp., Ltd.
Electrical Installation (3rd Floor): The
China Engineers, Ltd. Marble Works: Raoul Bigazzi Architectural Fittings, Locksets &
Hinges: William Jacks & Co., Ltd. Felt Membrane Roofing: Dreyer & Co.,
Ltd.
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