waterfront "dive" and is equipped with special lightning and sound ef- fects to produce its own seafront
Harana
storms. In contrast the lounge and terrace is a sophisticated setting for dining and dancing, with a rich gold decor.
The third floor is the mechanical floor and contains the air-conditioning distribution equipment, service areas, lockers and storage.
The fourth floor is the deck of the podium structure. Cabana rooms open on to the poolside area which includes tropical gardens, and a snack bar and lounge under native nipa roofs. The turquoise tiled main pool measures 45 ft. 7 in. long and 29 ft. 11 in. wide.
Floors from 5th to 21st. contain
the hotel guest rooms. The presiden- tial suite is at the 21st. floor and above this is the 'Top of the Hilton' restaurant which has its own kitchen facilities.
The typical standard guest room has a floor area of 338 sq. ft. (13 ft. x 26 ft.) and a bathroom attached. There is a small immitation balcony, 3 ft. wide, with timber ballustrades outside the room a pleasant external architectural feature but not acces- sible as the aluminium framed win- dow does not open, the whole build- ing being sealed and air conditioned with individual thermostat control in each room.
The room is fully carpeted and gaily furnished. Lepanto woven fabric in a traditional Bagio weave is used as the wall covering. Light fixtures are of capiz shell, easy chairs of rat- tan, coffee table of kamagong, a native hard wood, the wall mirror is embellished with sea shells and the dressing table, bedside cabinets and drawers are painted a deep aqua blue
Cross section
to match the lighter blue of the wall covering and are inlaid with mother of
pearl. Executive suites have kitchenettes and built-in bars. Throughout the hotel only five colours are used, the predominant ones being blue and green.
The washbasin of the bathroom is built into a shelf of brown marble the same material that is used in the foyers. Walls are tiled and a combination tub and shower is fitted.
All the bedroom floors are served by a bank of six high- speed lifts and three service lifts. A freight lift serves the podium floors.
Structure
Site
preparation was the most dif- cult
part of the construction
pro- gramme, Being re- claimed ground the water table is very close to the surface and for the excava-
Port Orient restaurant
PRE LO ;£ €
tion of the deep basement sheet piling was sunk around the site perimeter and a dewatering system installed.
Prestressed piles were sunk to support the building some to a depth of 150 ft. Site preparation and piling took one year to complete, structural work took one year and finishing a further year.
Except for the ballroom area, the whole structure is of reinforced con- crete framework. Originally it was intended to use a cast-in-place rein- forced concrete frame with precast, prestressed concrete floor slabs. Pre- cast slabs 4 ft. x 20 ft. transported by lorry from the contractor's nearby casting yard and positioned on site by jib crane, were used up to podium level, but the method was found to be no faster and no more economical than cast-in-place floors, so the latter were adopted for the whole of the tower block.
Premixed concrete, generally of 3,000 p.s.i. strength, was used for the structure and an average building construction rate of one floor per week was achieved.
The podium frame is built to a 26 ft. module on one axis and 12 ft. to 25 ft. on the other axis to suit the architectural requirements. The tower columns are at 26 ft. centres on the United Nations Avenue axis and at 17 ft. 9 in., 21 ft., 17 ft. 9 in. on the Florida Street axis. Column dimensions remain constant through- out the structure, with a graded re- duction of reinforcement.
Far East BUILDER, September 1968.
43
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