No_5_February_1964 — Page 89

CHARGE

OHN SIMPSON HIRST was born in 1918 in China. He received his early education in both Hankow and England.

After finishing secondary school be attended the Architectural As- sociation School of Architecture in London, graduated with hon-

ours.

From 1940 to 1946 he served with the Royal Engineers. After the war he worked with several architectural firms in London.

He joined the Architectural Office of the Hong Kong Public Works Department in 1955.

Mr. Hirst is married with three children.

level and from there be directed to the various parts of the building by way of the two vertical circulations. in the West or East lobby lift towers.

Staff will normally circulate at the first floor level where most of the ad- ministration offices are placed,

Stores and deceased patients will be transported through the lower ground floor corridors which also connect at the same level with the North service yard lorry loading bays.

The basement gives access to all the main service runs and any spare

THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER

space there will be used for bulk storage.

The basement to first floors have all been arranged to give double corridors between the two main vertical circulations. External covered balconies at

the lower ground, ground and first floor levels on the North of the main spine give a further cross circulation for staff. These can also be used for moving distressed patients out of public view between the two lobbies.

Similarly lift arrangements in the two main towers are designed to further encourage staff-visitor separa- tion.

Fenestration

wear and he capable of easy clean- ing and maintenance. For instance the anti-bacteria paints for all in- ternal surfaces and furniture were developed specially for this project and were subjected to exhaustive tests both by the Duro Laboratories well as the H.K. Government Pathological Department before being approved.

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Colours

Generally, colours have been limit- ed to a simple combination to pro. vide a neutral background to the many different activities within the hospital.

The predominant colours used are olive green from the p.v.c. flooring, black from skirting, off white paint- ed walls, pewter grey distemper ceil- ings. white painted woodwork and natural teak fitments.

Inside the wards. patients coloured clothing. flowers etc. have been al lowed to provide moving colour punctuations to the neutral colour scheme. ac-

The semi-tropical climate of Hong Kong demands maximum natural ventilation for the greater part of the year. Window openings were therefore designed to achieve maxi- mum ventilation wherever possible. Particular attention was given to the design of the general wards where cross ventilation is hieved by large composite win- dows each occupying practically the whole area

contained within the structural bays. Generally these large composite windows are made up of several projected hung units capable of being left open for ven- tilation under normal wet weather conditions.

Although large window openings are desirable for ventilation the pro- blems of sunlight and glare also require positive control. A system of fixed concrete sloping hoods were used to include excessive direct sun- light and to reduce glare. As these hoods are repeatedly used windows on all elevations they form- ed the principal fenestration feature of the building.

Materials

Over

Building materials from all over the world have been used. For example: Chinese bricks, Japanese cement and tiles, Burmese wood products, English and American specialist equipment, Swedish laun- dry machines, West Germany glass. Italian marble. Australian insulating materials and Portuguese cork.

Generally materials were selected. to withstand constant use and heavy

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 5

The exterior finish of the building is almost entirely in white Shanghai It is considered that the plaster. simple outline and the massive form of the building together with the varied surface articulation of the facades create sufficient interest and unity of design without the addition. al use of colours.

STRUCTURE

Foundations

Preliminary investigations by bore holes revealed that the subsoil was clayey in nature, mixed with a fair amount of sandy materials and scattered boulders. Very compact decomposed granite could only be found at a depth varying from 30 to 50 ft. below ground level.

It was decided that the high rise portion of the structure should be supported by pile foundations and the low blocks would sit with thin spread footings directly on soil. A total of about 1.500 Gammon Colerete piles and 65 pressure piles were driven to a maximum depth of 50 ft. They were all cast in situ concrete piles with bearing capacities of be- tween 65 to 95 tons each. Some of the column pile cap bases carry loads of up to 850 tons.

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