Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1962-1963 — Page 19

were two- and three- storey buildings known as Bowring Bungalows which were constructed on the fire site to provide temporary homes for the fire victims while taller buildings were being planned and built. Most of these were demolished within the next two or three years, and all Resettlement Estates now consist of either double-wing 'H' blocks or similar single-wing blocks known as 'I' blocks. At the end of March, 1963, there were in all 213 such blocks.

50. Plans of a typical seven-storey resettlement block, known as the Mark I Block, will be found at Appendix III Drawing No. 1. It will be noted that these blocks are in the shape of a letter 'H', the crossbar of which accommodates the latrines. The design and construction of these buildings is undertaken by the Public Works Department and the design of the original six-storey experimental buildings at Shek Kip Mei was so successful that few modifications have been found to be necessary. The blocks are now of seven-storeys and their flat roofs have been strengthened and have enclosed penthouses for use as schools or boys' and girls' clubs. During 1960-61 a new type of block, known as the Mark II Block, (some of the latest have 8-storeys) was introduced in which the courtyards are enclosed by hollow-block screens within which are placed the end staircases. This has brought about a striking change in appearance; but the basic design remains the same, as can be seen from Drawing No. 2 at Appendix III. The chief advantage of this new type of block lies in its having an additional twenty-four rooms, each with a private balcony, and four large ground floor shops of 310 square feet each.

51. A newly-designed type of block, known as Mark III when it has eight storeys, and as Mark IV when it has sixteen storeys, will replace the present Mark I and II types in the course of 1963-64. The new blocks differ fundamentally from the previous Mark I and Mark II design in that access to the rooms is given from a central corridor, and not by external balconies on each side of the building, as hitherto. In this respect they approximate to the basic design used for the low-cost flats being built by the Public Works Department for management by the Hong Kong Housing Authority. The new design will, for the first time, provide each room in a block with a private balcony. Other advances in living standards being planned for incorporation in these blocks include the installation of power and light points in domestic rooms and ground-floor shops, hitherto a matter for each tenant to settle individually with a contractor, and the allocation of private lava-

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