No_5_May_1968 — Page 21

BEACON HILL PRIMARY SCHOOL

BIBERALD

11111

ECONOMIC Construction is inevita-

bly a first consideration in the design of primary schools for both public and private bodies. The architect is thus faced with the paradoxical aim of matching a high standard of design with a low level of costs.

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On the Beacon Hill Primary School, built for the English Schools Foundation at Ede Road, Kowloon, the site itself intensified the problem. It is a steeply sloping, restricted area of triangular shape, which necessitated separate staircase towers

an im- mediate cost extra.

However, collaboration at an early stage of sketch plans between archi- tect, engineer and quantity surveyor enabled all the design/costs considera- tions to be resolved and the school to be erected within the Foundation's budget of HK$1,688,000.

For example studies were made of comparative structural costs for typical bays of the assembly hall and main classroom block, based on three different design codes 1938 and

Far East BUILDER, May 1968.

ENGLISH SCHOOLS FOUNDATION

SPENCE ROBINSON

CHRISTOPHER HAFFNER, B.Arch, ARIBA

PETER Y. S. PUN & ASSOCIATES

P. C. RUSSELL, BAILEY, LEVETT & PARTNERS

HSIN HENG CONSTRUCTION CO.

(1965 Revision) and mild and high tensile steel, requiring a total of 12 different designs and calculations. These showed that a substantial sav- ing would result from the use of BSCP 114, with a slight advantage in favour of high tensile steel.

Experience gained by the architect on earlier projects such as the John F. Kennedy Centre (Far East Architect and Builder, April 1967) in the use of

marine batten patterned,

ply formwork for fair face concrete, re- sulted in a decision to use large ex-

Owners

architects

partner in charge

consulting engineers

quantity surveyors

main contractor

ternal areas of this material to reduce both capital and maintenance costs.

The design of the main block keeps rooms of the same size, i.e. standard classrooms, at the lower floor levels. while the larger rooms such as dining hall and special rooms are at a higher freer level. Staff flats requiring a

to planning arrangement modate various sizes of rooms are at the top.

accom-

This arrangement made it possible for the lower structure of the main block to be of cross wall design to

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