No_3_March_and_April__1950 — Page 61

(Above) Fiew of the front elevation of the building. (Right) The garages with chauffeurs' accommodation above. (Below) Typical floor plan, with a photograph of one of the

living room-dining room combinations.

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BALEBAY

That particular section of the Peak known as Jardine's Corner, the crossroads from which the highway branches off to Mt. Gough. Mt. Kellett and Victoria Peak, can be taken today as a typical example of the metamorphosis that Hong Kong has undergone in post- war years. Ten years ago it was but a rounded hill top about which the roadway circled. From the bridge which carries the eastward traffic to Mt. Kellett over the Magazine Gap Road could be seen, close at hand, the blocks of two-storeyed Government houses known as 406 & 407 The Peak, then the War Memorial Hospital in the middle distance, and along and down the slopes of Mt. Kellett a vista dotted with individual residences of all sizes and vintages extending to the distant shore line. Conspicuously situated on the opposite side could be seen Hillcrest which with the Peak Mansions were the only apartment buildings on the Peak up to that

time.

What a different aspect is presented today. Huge blocks of modern apartment houses crowd the landscape whichever way one turns.

Amongst the most conspicuously placed and attractively designed of these apartments to be seen from Jardine's Corner is the 6-storey structure designed by Messrs. R. Minutti & Partners and built for the Banque de l'Indo Chine.

Situated on an eminence practically on top of the Peak, from which may be obtained magnificent stretches of land- and sea-scape, it was a logical conclusion that the architects in designing the building would consider verandahs an im- portant adjunct to the amenities to be provided. Ample balcony space was therefore incorporated in the planning of the apartments and these balconies, excellently proportioned and strategically placed, inspire the motif around which the architectural character of the building is composed. The attractiveness of the external appearance of the building is further enhanced and its modernity emphasised by the use of ceramic tiling instead of the ordinary cement plastering that is usually employed in Hong Kong.

The architects have taken great pains to make the interior. as well as the external appearance, of the building attractive, and marble and glass brick was judiciously used to produce some very pleasant effects. The entrance hall particularly attracts the admiration of the visitor with its walls panelled in light and antique Travertino marble, and its floors paved