No_4_November_and_December__1952 — Page 22

LIVING

الا - دلائل

VIMANDAN

Isometric drawing of the 6-person section.

ROOM

Plan of the

the land is half the upset price, roughly $250,000, payable at 31 per cent for 40 years. The loan of $2,000,000 is similarly repayable to Government at 3 per cent simple interest for 40 years.

From the time that the Society was formed, Mr. S. C. Feltham, who was then chief of the Architec- tural office in the Public Works Department, assisted the Society in an honorary capacity and drew up several plans for cheap housing. When he returned in 1951 to take up private practice, his services were

BALCONY.

person section.

MITCHEN

KITCHEN

FROWER

retained as architect to the Society retained as architect to the Society and he prepared the plans which were finally adopted for the pilot scheme. Site

The land purchased by the Society comprises two triangular sites of approximately equal areas, and is located near the junction of Castle Peak and Taipo Roads in Sham- shuipo. The two sites were ori ginally separated by Camp Street, the boundary of one being Po On Road and that of the other Shun Ning Road. The sites sloped up

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steeply to the back and a consider- able amount of excavation was required in both of them. During the site formation, it was found that originally the seashore came to the back edge of the site, and the sand. that was encountered made it a little more difficult to deal with excava tions. In planning the layout of the accommodation on these sites, it was considered of paramount importance that the buildings should be orientat- ed on an east-west axis; this has been obtained to within a few points of the compass. The different blocks were built at various levels to economise in site formation; this has resulted in a more interesting layout as can be seen from the accompanying isometric drawing.

Accommodation

The object was to provide suffi- cient and adequate accommodation for families of various sizes at the least possible cost, and the problem therefore resolved itself into that of achieving enough living space for the family unit. It was necessary that the minimum living space and amenities should be provided in order that rentals would be kept within the means of the persons concerned. It was agreed at a com- mittee meeting of the Hong Kong Housing Society, that the average family consisted of a man and wife with three children and an aged parent, making a total of six per- sons. It was also considered that accommodation should be provided for smaller families.

some

The Hong Kong Building Ordin- ance lays down that each person shall have a minimum floor space of 35 sq. ft. Working on this figure, the minimum living space required for a family of six is 210 sq. ft., and the living space for a family of four is 140 sq. ft. Following out this plan, four five-storey blocks have been erected on the two sites, to- gether containing 270 flats; each of the blocks has stairs at both ends, while on each floor an open central corridor gives access to flats on both sides 170 of these flats are intended for families of for families of six persons, the remaining 100 are intended for four

persons.

The flats are self-contained and consist of a living room, kitchen, W.C, and shower, together with a small balcony for drying, washing and other domestic purposes. The depth of each unit has been kept to a minimum, as far as possible, so