No_7_July_1969 — Page 13

Bronze look distinguishes central tower block

St. George's Building seen from Star Ferry concourse

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VIEWED from afar or from street level, the latest prestige building to be erected in the Central District of Hong Kong is clearly discernable from its neighbours - a primary objective call- ed for in the client's brief.

Standing 275 ft. above ground level fractionally taller than the adjacent Mandarin Hotel and Union House the new St. George's Building is easily recognisable along the harbour front- age, by its metal and coloured glass cladding.

For this metal cladding an anodized aluminium curtain wall was selected; it offered durability, speed of erection and ease of cleaning and was relatively cheaper than other materials such as bronze or stainless steel. A medium bronze colour was chosen from the limited hard-anodised range of colours, this type of coloured anodising being the only one recommended by the aluminium industry for exterior work.

Heat insulating bronze-coloured glass minimizes the building's air con- ditioning costs. It is backed with aluminium-lined net curtains which reflect sunlight and are an additional aid in reducing the heat load.

Matching bronze-coloured toughen- ed glass spandrels are used and are kept in the same plane as the window glass, this being set between 6 in. x 4 in. extruded continuous mullions designed by the consultant architects to seal the ends of partitions which might occur at mid-span between columns, the mullions give verticality to the building.

The bronze aluminium column cov ers are fluted and one fluting on each column is modified to accommodate a recessed cleaning cradle guide. The building is served by two large power- operated cleaning cradles and by one small manual cradle on the rear lane.

Breaks at first, 12th and 24th floor levels bring a visual order to the har- bour facade by the introduction of large windows, which are set in bronze aluminium sheet spandrel panels. The first floor is a banking hall, the 12th a club and the floor on which the build- ing sets back with a terrace, and the

Far East BUILDER, July 1969

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