No_2_1960 — Page 40

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PROPOSED M. L. 382,

T.C.YVEN

mpressions of the main facade (above) and of the counter area of the first-floor banking hall.

Hang Seng Ba Office To Ha Business Hall.

Architect:- T. C. Yuen,

WHAT would appear to be a distinct departure from the "old order" in bank architecture in Hong Kong, is in the making. The departure is in keeping with the trend in banking circles, occasioned no doubt by increasingly keener competition, to discard conservatism and actively seek out business.

In the new headquarters of the Hang Seng Bank Ltd. the public banking hall will be not on the ground but on the first floor. The ground floor space will be made available for shops, to which wide arcades will give ready access.

In providing for a first-floor banking hall the Bank is following a practice not uncommon overseas but rare. if not unique. in Hong Kong. The departure in design may thus be expected to stimulate the interest of bankers, especially.

In other respects, too, the new Hang Seng Bank will be radically different. It will have 22 storeys more than any other building in Hong Kong and will stand 241 ft. above street level, a height which will put it among the city's tallest

structures.

The Bank will have escalators and eight of the latest-type lifts, capable of automatic adjustment to varying traffic conditions. They will provide a fully adequate service both for patrons of the Bank and users of the rest of the premises.

All external walls, which will have an area of some 50,000 square feet, will be curtain-walled with alum- inium extrusions for mullions. Heat- toughened glass will be used for the spandrels and the whole effect will be to reduce weight and give more light to the interior of the premises as a whole.

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