Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1957-1958 — Page 26

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The most important have been the addition of a seventh storey and the strengthening of the flat roof so that it may be used either as public recreation space or for boys' and girls' clubs run by voluntary agencies. Enclosed penthouses have also been added at either end and these are used as primary school classrooms, also run by voluntary agencies.

64. The wings of each building vary from 140 feet to 320 feet in length, depending on the site, and the weight is taken on transverse reinforced concrete walls at ten feet intervals. Each wing is thus divided structurally into a number of bays each measuring about twenty five feet (the full width of each wing) by nine feet six inches, and access is provided by balconies on each floor which run completely round the four sides of each wing.

65. These 240 sq. ft. bays were, until recently, always divided by centre line partitions into rooms of 120 sq. ft. for which the rent is $14 a month. In September, 1956, the experiment was tried in one of the new blocks at Li Cheng Uk of varying the position of this partition wall or of omitting it altogether, in order to produce rooms of four different sizes as follows:

(a) $10 rooms of about 86 sq. ft. for families of three to four

'adults';

(b) $14 rooms of about 120 sq. ft. (the previous standard size) for

families of 4 to 5 'adults';

(c) $18 rooms of about 152 sq. ft. for families of six to seven ‘adults'; (d) $28 rooms of about 240 sq. ft. for families of ten 'adults' (or

two smaller families wishing to share).

A child under ten years of age is counted as half an adult. This experiment has been a success, the $10 rooms being particularly useful for small families who would otherwise have to share accommodation with another small family in a $14 room. It is therefore now normal practice to have rooms of these different sizes in all new blocks.

66. On sites where space is limited or where difficulties in site formation preclude the use of the standard 'H' block, a modified single- wing block, known as an 'I' block, is used. The design and the dimensions are the same as each wing of the 'H' blocks, the only difference being that the latrines and bathrooms are incorporated in the block. The estate at Lo Fu Ngam is composed entirely of 'I' blocks.

67. Each of the upper floors of both the 'H' blocks and the single- wing 'I' blocks can easily be converted at little cost into self-contained

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