Newsletter No. 196

2 No. 196 19th January 2002 CUHK Newsletter Plans for More I n f r a s t r u c t u r a l Development at the University The Chinese University has an extensive campus where, in recent years, construction works are as ubiquitous and constant as birds and trees. While such undertakings may cause temporary inconvenience to people, they are efforts at improving the overall well- being of the University. Knowing more about plans for campus development may help to increase understanding about the general direction of the University's growth. Among the many new structures to be erected at the University, the Engineering Building Complex (Phase II) and the extension facilities for the clinical departments of the Faculty of Medicine at the Prince of Wales Hospital have taken a rather long time to implement. The original proposals were submitted to the University Grants Committee (UGC) back in 1995 and 1996 respectively, but were shelved during the space survey of tertiary institutions conducted by the UGC. Approval in principle for the projects to go ahead was given in 1998, but there have been other delays due to unforeseeable circumstances. Construction of the new engineering building has eventually commenced at site and new facilities for the Faculty of Medicine should be able to proceed once the current kinks are ironed out. Worthy of mention are also a Purpose-Designed Building for Centralized Science Laboratories near the Science Centre, an extension to the University Administration Building, extension facilities for the Faculty of Education, and a teaching hotel Mr. Vincent Chen Engineering Building Complex (Phase II) The design o f this b u i l d i ng has t aken i n to consideration an existing sister building, the Ho Sin- Hang Engineering building. The new extension not only has to be compatible with the old in terms of appearance and elevation, but provisions also have to be made for the flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic between the two, wh i ch are to stand side by side. 'We have been struggling wi th the building plans because the funding agency does not think these considerations important,' said Mr . V i ncent Chen, d i r ec t or o f the Campus Development Office (CDO). 'Another problem we've had is the height o f the building. The new building is located at a prime site. We'd like to make the best use of it by incorporating a few more floors, but the approved scope and funding for the project are fixed and restrictive. This means the University w i l l have to f i nd private resources to finance any extended construction.' The ultimate size of the building may be up in the air for a while yet, but provisions have been made in the foundations for the extra floors. Allowance has also been made for the core services to be extended in the first instance to cover the additional floors. Fortunately the government is agreeable to such arrangements. A special feature in the new building w i ll be a Clean Room for research and teaching in the areas of micro- electronic and optoelectronic device fabrication. It is basically a specially constructed, enclosed area with strict control over airborne particles, temperature, humidity, air motion, vibration, noise, and lighting. Associated with it w i l l be defined areas o f clean space where the concentration of air-borne particles is controlled within specific l imi t s. Sophisticated plants and facilities i nc l ud i ng dangerous goods stores are necessary in providing an effective functional system that complies with prevalent fire and safety regulations. The building project is expected to be completed for use by the Faculty of Engineering some time in 2004. Extension Facilities for the Clinical Departments of the Medical Faculty 'The Prince of Wales Hospital didn't have much extra space, so we were g i ven a carpark site not immediately connected to the original clinical sciences building for this building,' said Mr. Chen. Given such a space to work with, the CDO needed a design that would be bo th creative and f u n c t i o n a l, and c omp a t i b le w i t h the existing building. The re we re other obstacles. The hospital was about to undergo redevelopment on a large scale and was unsure whether the new project would clash with it. That delayed confirmation of the site by the Secretary for Health and Welfare. Approval finally came, yet actual construction could not begin. 'It's comparatively difficult to carry out construction work at hospitals because their ongoing operations must not be interrupted or impaired and a lot of these go on underground. Hence very strict safety precautions and elaborate contingency plans are needed. We spent a r ound HK $ 1 0 0 , 0 00 on site investigation, but two to three times that amount on safety precautions and contingency plans,' said Mr. Chen. The design that won the b id in the end was by WMK Y . The feature wh i ch made it stand out was a cantilevered bridge structure permitting direct connection to the original clinical sciences building. The new building w i ll have in-built bio-safety level 3 facilities that are not only expensive (costing around HK$20 million), but also the first of their kind at the University. Micro-organisms are graded f r om Risk Levels 1 to 4. Risk Level 3 pertains to a pathogen that usually causes serious human or animal disease and that may present a serious health hazard to laboratory workers, and a risk of spread to the community. Research on such organisms, therefore, must be conducted within appropriately established physical containment Level 3 laboratories. As the University has never constructed such facilities before, overseas consultants were invited over to give talks to the CDO staff and potential users, and advise on the design. I f all goes we ll according to schedule, construction work w i l l begin this autumn and be completed by early 2005. A Purpose-Designed Building for Centralized Science (High Risk) Laboratories The e x i s t i ng Sc i en ce Centre is a composite building w i t h c l ass r ooms, c ommon rooms, offices, and laboratories. Not only is it bursting at the seams, but, being quite an old building, it is having a hard time keeping up w i th current safety standards. The new building, which w i ll be constructed on the slope south o f the ex i s t i ng Science Centre, w i ll house only high risk science laboratories, meaning laboratories that deal w i t h research functions and ope r a t i ons t hat may pose p o t e n t i al r i s k s, l i ke those associated with biosafety Levels 2 and 3 manipulations, volatile chemicals that may explode or evaporate under certain circumstances, laser hazard, toxic substances, infecting agents, radiation, etc. Computer simulation of Engineering Building Phase II (see arrow) Building for Centralized Science (High Risk) Laboratories viewed from the southeast, with the south wing of the Science Centre in the background