No_6_April_1964 — Page 95

ARCHITECTS: Harriman Realty Co., Ltd.

SENIOR ARCHITECT: Christo- pher Haffner, B. Arch. (Hons.) (Liverpool), A.R.I.B.A.

ASSISTANT ARCHITECTS: Tsang Chun Ki, B. Arch. and Wong Cheong Yow, B. Arch.

ROSE Gardens, a 12-storey, luxury

apartment block containing 22 dwellings. is situated at 9 Magazine Gap Road. Hong Kong island

a

site with one of the best views of the Kowloon hills and the harbour. The building also contains a spacious penthouse for the owner. Mr. T. T. Hsu.

Each flat has an area of more than 2.300 square feet and contains a spacious 1. shaped living-dining room. a master bedroom with self- contained dressing and bathroom. two secondary bedrooms, a study. spacious kitchen and servants' quar

ters.

Special attention has been paid to the planning a hall has been pro- vided accessible from the kitchen so that servants need not pass through the living room. The hall also gives privacy to the living room as callers arrive. Flexibility in use of the living area has been made possible by pro. viding a flat ceiling with no beams. yet which bears the loading of the study walls. This has made it possible to increase the living room area at the expense of the study) without having the usual ugly beams visible. The study is also planned near to the second bathdroom, thus enabling it to be used as a smal! fourth bedroom if required. The architects considered this flexibility an important planning requirement. as they realised it was not possible to design one living unit to suit all

tastes.

The owner's keen interest in Chinese tradition is reflected in some of the details of the building. The balconies have been specifically de- signed on the basis of traditional screen motifs. As many as possible of the existing trees at the sides of

Detail of the marble entrance hall. All three pictures were taken by Mr. Haffner.

the approach road have been retained. The owner is using these to recreate small areas in traditional Chinese garden style with small statuettes.

Every endeavour has been made to maintain a high standard of finish throughout. The main facades are finished in contrasting shades of a natural crushed marble material which will maintain an attractive colour throughout its life. The main lift lobby at ground floor level is finished in different coloured marbles. with anodised aluminium doors and satin bronze fittings. The lift is panel- led in stainless steel and satin bronze. All the upper lift lobbies are finished in marble. The windows of each flat are of rustproof. imported manufac- ture, with friction hinges to eliminate slamming. The upper panels are in

THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 18. NUMBER 6

blue glass to reduce the glare from the large area of sky seen from each window. Aluminium sliding balcony doors with typhoon shutters have been provided. Sanitary fittings are of de luxe quality American manu- facture, and the bathroom colour schemes have been personally chosen by the owner,

The steepness of the site neces- sitated considerable site formation work, to enable more than one park- ing place for each flat. Extensive cutting of the rock behind the build- ing was required. and in addition, several parking spaces were provided by a large cantilevered slab at the front of the site. This was designed with a substructure on a bracket principle. to maintain lightness of the general appearance.

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