ENG-1956 — Page 198

HOUSING

B. Premises of various types, as on 31.12.56.

Domestic cottages & huts

Domestic rooms of 120 sq. ft.

Shops of various kinds

Restaurants and Cafes

Workshops

Factories

Schools & Welfare Centres

157

Cottage Multi-Storey

Areas

Estates

14,001

nil

nil

23,066

388

379

10

51

47

147

22

nil

29

21

URBAN BUILDINGS

On 1st June, 1956, the new Building Regulations, made under the Buildings Ordinance, 1955, came into effect, and private building works in Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Kowloon are now controlled by these Regulations, admin- istered by the Director of Public Works in his capacity as Building Authority.

These Regulations, which lay down minimum standards of design, construction, sanitation and materials, are now in line with modern Building legislation in other parts of the world, give greater freedom to Architects and Engineers in the lay- out, planning and height of buildings, and allow structures to be designed in accordance with modern engineering practice.

During the year private building work in the Colony con- tinued unabated, not only in the form of development and redevelopment of areas outside the City of Victoria and on the Mainland, but to an extent perhaps more marked than previously in the centre of the City of Victoria itself. It is apparent that building owners are anxious to make full economic use of the valuable sites in the city centre, as a result of which the older four-storey or five-storey buildings with their lofty ceilings are, as circumstances permit, being replaced by modern multi-storey structures utilizing to the full sites on which they stand.

Plans for 1,704 new buildings were submitted in 1956 to the Building Authority for approval, and of these 1,509 dealt