November_1965 — Page 19

Part of Choi Hung Estate which accommodates 43,000

Building and Managing Low Rental

Housing Estates

NOV 1905

T'

HE principal agency undertaking the provision of the more con- ventional housing needs of Hong Kong is the Housing Authority, set up by ordinance in 1954.

Building and managing low rental flats for the section of the population with family incomes between HK- $400 and HK$900 a month, the au- thority functions as a commercial enterprise. Rents are kept as low as possible, but must be sufficient to cover all expenditure capital and operational.

The Authority's building work is the responsibility of its Architectural Section which, in addition to the de- sign and supervision of the construc- tion of estates, undertakes the general co-ordination of all planning and building work, maintains liaison with private architects and consultants em- ployed by the Authority, keeps close contact with the public utility organi- zations, planning offices and service sub-departments of the Public Works Department, and engages in research and experiments in the technical as- pects of housing.

a

In accord with present policy, the dwelling units are built for families of varying sizes on an occupancy ratio of 35 sq. ft. per person for the living/sleeping accommodation single room which can be sub-divided by the tenant, under supervision, to suit the needs of his family plus a small kitchen and a toilet with W.C. and shower.

by

J. R. Firth

Commissioner

for

Housing

All flats have a private verandah as utility space, and from which laundry is hung to dry. And here. incidentally, we have accepted the traditional Chinese way of drying clothes

by the use of bamboo poles threaded through the garment. and then thrust outwards from and at right-angles to the face of the building. There appears to be no better method, although several have been tried. So we provide pipe soc- kets in the balcony fronts rather like machine gun nests when not in use but which provide a means of adding life and vitality to the build- ings, with colour and gaiety, when in

Far East Architect & Builder November, 1965

use.

Shopping Centres

Estates are planned as far as pos- sible as neighbourhood units, with their own shopping centres. In ad- dition, consideration is given to the planning and location and, in some cases. the design and building of

schools, clinics, kindergarten, party- rooms, kerosene stores, estate gar- ages, car parks, and other accommo- dation ancillary to the estate.

Building work is put out by tender to private contractors оп bills of quantities prepared by the Authority's appointed quantity surveyors, who work in close co-operation with the Architectural Section on costs and economics.

For the multi-storey flats which the Housing Authority is building, the system of construction is usually by reinforced concrete cross walls and floor slabs, to distribute the wind stresses and the live and dead loads of the building. Piling is usually re- quired for foundations. whilst in some cases it has been necessary to carry out soil stabilization.

Finishings are kept extremely sim- ple, consistent with reasonable main- tenance expenditure, and site plan- ning and consideration of overall pro- portion therefore become of tremen- dous importance. For one estate an alternative scheme in prestressed and precast units was explored, but the traditional scheme produced the lowest tender. Now, a pilot project, using an industrialized building sys- tem, is in hand.

The Authority has, to date, com- pleted seven estates, and two others are under construction. When com- pleted, these nine projects will house almost 200,000 people in 34,500 flats, at a cost of HK$312 m.

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