By 1878, the Hong Kong branch was settled in new premises at what is now 4 Queen's Road, where a build- ing had been specially erected on what was then considered a con- venient and healthy site.
large covered yard at this level near the Bank's staff and services. the rear of the building with access to the private lane east of the site.
To the right of the main Bank en- trance will be an entrance to the offices on the upper floors through a In 1905 the Bank moved to its pre- vestibule and lobby containing three sent premises at 3 Queen's Road passenger lifts. Behind the lift lob- Central; this building was erect- ed in about 1894. The building north of this, at 4 Des Voeux Road Central, was purchased from the Hongkong Bank in 1933, at which time there was a bridge between it and the Hongkong Bank's old pre-
mises across the lane.
by, and connected with it, will be the service lobby with a service staircase and lift and its own entrance from the right of way west of the building.
Over sixty per cent of the upper ground floor will be occupied by the banking hall: the remainder of this floor will contain offices for the The redevelopment of the Chartered manager, the sub-manager, the secre- Bank has been under contemplation taries and the Chinese manager. apart for a number of years, because of from that space. taken up by stair- the age of the building, its inadequa- cases, lobbies, lifts, landings, waiting cy and the poor usage made of the spaces, stores, closets, lavatories and valuable land it occupies. During a conference room. this period several schemes have There will be a secondary entrance been considered and now the Board to the Bank from Queen's Road Cen- of Directors have approved of the trai at the upper or main ground project described in this article.
floor level, from where there will also be another entrance to the offices by means of two passenger lifts travell- ing to the fourth floor.
The proposed building for The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China will occupy the same site as the existing Bank premises, toge- ther with that of the Bank's proper- ty at 4 and 4A Des Voeux Road Cen- tral. The site is rectangular in shape, 225'-3" by 94'-5", and extends from Des Voeux Road Central on the north to Queen's Road Central on the south: to the east is The Hong- kong and Shanghai Bank and to the west, The Bank of Canton and the Banque de I'Indochine. The new building will occupy almost this en- tire area. There is a difference in levels between the north and south boundaries of the site of 7'-6", that at Queen's Road to the south being the higher.
The new building will contain 18 floors, including the upper and lower ground floors and the mezzanine floor, and will be 244'-0" high from the level of Des Voeux Road Central to the top of the parapet wall sur- rounding the roof.
The Bank will occupy the upper and lower ground floors and the mez- zanine floor. The main entrance to the Bank will be in the centre of the Des Voeux Road frontage at the
lower ground floor level, through a large vestibule to the main lobby from which a short but broad flight of stairs ascends to the main bank- ing facilities on the upper ground floor.
Accommodation that will be pro- vided on the lower ground floor in- cludes the Safe Deposit, cash vaults, securities vaults, staff tiffin rooms and other service and storage rooms for the Bank. There will also be a
The first to the eleventh floors in- clusive will contain office accom- modation for rent to outside tenants. The twelfth floor will contain some office space and the manager's suite; the thirteenth floor will be occupied by the Bank's officers mess; the four- teenth floor will consist of quarters for the resident engineer and fitters: the fiftenth floor will house the pumps, tanks and lift motors.
second) has lift lobbles near both A typical lower office floor (the
ends of the building connected by a central corridor. Lavatory facilities are conveniently provided in the centre of the western half of the floor. Altogether, there will be about 12.300 square feet of rentable office space on this floor, which can be partitioned off according to the in- dividual tenants' requirements.
in the "tower", will
Floors above the fifth floor, being extend only over the north end of the building. Offices will be located around three sides of the west central service sec- tion containing the lavatories, lifts and staircases. A typical upper or "tower" floor will contain approxi- mately 5,750 square feet of rentable
A mezzanine runs around three sides of the banking hall and this will accommodate the remainder of office space.
50
SCALE
QUEEN'S
I.L. 6301 BANK OF
CHINA
DES
HONGKONG & SHANGHAI BANK BUILDING
VOEUX
ROAD
M.L.102R.P
|ML. 102 SECA|
BANK OF CANTON
ROAD
CENTRAL
CENTRAL
M.L IOI
SEC.A.BLC
I.L. 5/4
FU HOUSE
ICE
HOUSE
STREET
ML.ZA RP.
(Top) Architects' sketch of the completed building superimposed on a photograph from the waterfront and (Bottom) Lot plan of the new building. (Photograph by South China Morning Post Ltd.)
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