SHEK KIP MEI PROVISIONAL HOUSING
PROVISIONAL HOUSING
The Christmas holiday in Hong Kong was marred by the most disas trous fire in the history of the Colony. The fire started in a squatter area at the junction of Taipo Road and Castle Peak Road in Kowloon shortly after nine o'clock on Christmas night. It burned for several hours and razed large parts of Pak Tin, Shek Kip Mei. Wor Tsai and Talpo Road villages. Two chinese women lost their lives, about four thousand huts were de- stroyed and between fifty and sixty thousand people were rendered home- less; altogether about 45 acres were devastated by the fire.
Very quickly all the fire-fighting,
Architect's perspective of the finished houses.
the fire area to make way for the project.
The Port Works Office assisted by the Military Authorities proceeded as soon as possible with the clearing and Office will be laying drains for water- levelling of the site. borne sewage through the area.
The Drainage
the
The Architectural Office of Public Works Department was en- trusted with the designing of the buildings and within а few days drawings were completed for a two- storeyed structure to be built of precast concrete blocks with precast reinforced concrete ceiling slabs over the ground floor and pitched roofs of rescue and succour resources of the
cement asbestos sheets on wood Colony were marshalled to cope with
purlins for the roof of the upper floor. the grave emergency. Relief work was readily offered by local organisa- As far as the site permits, buildings tions and the public responded approximately 175'0' long will be con- magnificently with gifts of money, structed; each building will contain food, clothing and other articles 68 units. 34 units on the ground floor which were so badly needed by the each 13' 0" long by 10' 0" and 34 units victims. Gratifying also were the large and welcome donations from abroad to alleviate the distress caus- ed by this misfortune.
Government's immediate efforts were directed towards providing food, clothing and medical assistance for the homeless, but on the 29th Decem- ber announced the plans made for rehousing for some 35 to 40 thousand persons in temporary fire-resisting houses. By Emergency Regulations, Government ordered immediate re-
ASBESTOS CEMENT
ROOF
LEDGED | BRACED HARDWOOD DODA
5** 2* HW. PURLING
PRECAST CONCRETE FLOOR
LEDGED
LOL HALLING WITH CHAIN LINK MESH
H.W. SHUTTERS
2" CONCRETE
on the first floor each 10'5" by 10' 0". Access to the upper floor will be by each end of the building leading to means of concrete stairways placed at
an open verandah-cum-passage run- ning the full length of the building.
In order to save time, the construc- tion work will be carried out under their maintenance contract by Messrs. Fook Lee & Co., who are also manu- facturing the concrete floor beams. The Hong Kong Building Service Limited will be supplying the VI-CON Blocks for the project.
Construction work will start before the end of January and, according to present plans, 6000 units will be com- plated within three to four months. Additional units will probably be pro- vided for as soon as the site has been properly surveyed.
The homeless will be allocated the huts at a monthly nominal rental as they become ready for occupation. Those who cannot be accommodated in the new Shek Kip Mei village will be provided with facilities to an equivalent value on substantially similar terms elsewhere in resettle- ment areas. It is the intention that the fire victims who are temporarily rehoused at the new village should ultimately be resettled in approved resettlement areas, and the land vacated made available for normal low-cost housing. The levelling work now being done will contribute to the site formation work necessary before permanent development can
sumption of about 8 acres of land in Cross-section through one of the new buildings, place.
take
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