PWSC(97-98)96
For discussion
on 7 January 1998

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS
SUBCOMMITTEE OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS

Social Welfare and Community Building - Community centres and halls

152SC - District community centre cum singleton hostel at Sai Ying Pun

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 152SC to Category A at an estimated cost of $386.6 million in money-of-the-day prices for the construction of a district community centre cum singleton hostel at Sai Ying Pun.

PROBLEM

There are insufficient community building facilities in the Central and Western District.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for Home Affairs, proposes to upgrade 152SC to Category A at an estimated cost of $386.6 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of a district community centre (DCC) cum singleton hostel at Sai Ying Pun.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The scope of the project comprises the construction of a DCC cum singleton hostel at the Old Mental Hospital (OMH) site in Sai Ying Pun together with the preservation of the existing OMH building facade and verandah. Details of the project are as follows -

1. demolition of the existing OMH building to provide space for new construction and to carry out structural stabilisation, refurbishment and architectural preservation to the remaining facade and verandah along High Street and Eastern Street which was listed by the Antiquities Advisory Board in 1992 as a Grade I historical item;

2. provision of facilities for Home Affairs Department which include a singleton hostel with 270 units, a multi-purpose hall with stage, a conference room, a store room, a lobby, and male and female dressing rooms;

3. provision of social welfare facilities which include service and office areas for a Group Work Unit, an Outreaching Social Work Team Unit, a day nursery with 100 places, a day activity centre with 60 places, a hostel for the severely mentally handicapped with 50 places, an early education training centre with 60 places, and a self-financing care and attention home with 150 places; and

4. construction of associated loading/unloading bays and 11 car parking spaces.

JUSTIFICATION

4. The purpose of constructing this new DCC is to provide a community building facility and adequate social welfare services for the Central and Western District. The district has a population of 260 000 and currently has only one community centre in the former Tsan Yuk Hospital building which was built in the 1910s. The existing centre, with a site area of 1 100 square metres, only has one hall with a seating capacity of 80. This is too small for the purpose of holding community building activities, given the population in the area. All the social welfare facilities to be accommodated in this project, including a Group Work Unit, a day activity centre, a day nursery and an Outreaching Social Work Team Unit, are presently accommodated in unsuitable premises ¹ The Group Work Unit and day activity centre are now accommodated at the Western District Community Centre (the former Tsan Yuk Hospital building) whereas the day nursery and Outreaching Social Work Team are located in leased premises at First Street and Sai Wan Chuen respectively.. In particular, the Outreaching Social Work Team Unit is now situated in a location which is inconvenient for service delivery. The premises at the DCC will provide a central location for outre`aching staff to reach the service recipients as well as enabling enhanced drop-in services for youths at risk in the district.

5. Furthermore, the Director of Social Welfare estimates that in 1997-98, there are shortfalls of 19 725, 657 and 861 places for care and attention home for the elderly, hostel for severely mentally handicapped and early education and training centre respectively. We need to expand the existing services to provide 150, 50 and 60 additional places for the three services respectively to reduce the shortfalls. We will continue to provide more places in other projects to meet the remaining shortfall.

6. Upon the full implementation of the Bedspace Apartments (BSA) Ordinance in July 1998, some of the existing bedspace apartments may opt not to continue operation. At present, about 500 singletons are accommodated in nine BSAs in the Central & Western District and ten BSAs in neighbouring areas . To ensure no BSA lodgers will be made homeless as a result of the implementation of the BSA Ordinance, it is the Government's target to accommodate eligible singletons in suitable accommodation in areas with which they are familiar. Therefore we propose to include a singleton hostel in this project.

7. As well as providing community building facilities in the district, we need to preserve the existing facade and verandah of the OMH as these have been declared a protected monument by the Antiquities Advisory Board. This L-shaped facade, which is a two-storey verandah in the Renaissance and Victorian architectural style, is the most outstanding feature of the OMH building. Preservation of the facade and verandah has been included as part of the Engineering Conditions requirements under the land allocation.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

8. We estimate the total capital cost of the project to be $386.6 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 10 below), made up as follows -

	$ million
(a) Site formation	3.8
(b) Geotechnical works including slope protection and surface water drainage improvement works, stabilisation of existing retaining walls and pipe pile wall installation	13.0
(c) Piling	40.0
(d) Building	114.0
(e) Building services	60.0
(f) Drainage and external works	25.8
(g) Furniture and equipment	2.5
(h) Consultants' fees	2.3
(i) Contingencies	23.0
	_____
Sub-total	284.4	(at December 1996 prices)
(j) Inflation allowance	102.2
	_____
Total	386.6	(in MOD prices)
	_____

A breakdown by man months of the cost estimate for consultants' fees and related services is at Enclosure.

9. The construction floor area (CFA) of the project is 17 200 square metres. The construction unit cost, excluding furniture and equipment and consultants' fees, but including contingencies, is $16,260 [2) The relatively high construction unit cost is due to the need for site formation, geotechnical works for slope stabilisation and preservation of the OMH facade and verandah.² per square metre at December 1996 prices.

10. Subject to approval, we will phase the expenditure as follows -

Year	$ million (Dec 1996)	Price adjustment factor	$ million (MOD)
1998 - 99	25.0	1.16358	29.1
1999 - 2000	85.0	1.26830	107.8
2000 - 01	115.0	1.38244	159.0
2001 - 02	50.0	1.50686	75.3
2002 - 03	9.4	1.64248	15.4
	_____		_____
	284.4		386.6
	_____		_____

11. We have derived the MOD estimates on the basis of the Government's forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1998 to 2003. We will tender the works under a fixed-price lump-sum contract because we can clearly define the scope of works in advance, leaving little room for uncertainty.

12. We estimate the additional annually recurrent expenditure of the project to be $ 13.717 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

13. We consulted the Central and Western District Board and the Antiquities Advisory Board in July 1996 and December 1996 respectively. Members of both Boards endorsed the project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

14. Consultants engaged by D Arch S completed a Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) for the project in June 1996. The Director of Environmental Protection vetted the PER and concluded in July 1996 that no Environmental Impact Assessment was necessary. During construction, we will control noise, dust and site run-off nuisance to comply with the established criteria through the implementation of mitigation measures in the relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

15. The project does not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

16. We upgraded 152SC to Category B in September 1996. We engaged consultants in March 1997 to carry out asbestos removal, geotechnical and facade strengthening preparatory work at an estimated cost of $1.9 million. We charged this amount to block allocation Subhead 3100GX "Project feasibility studies, minor investigations and consultants' fees for items in Category D of the Public Works Programme". We plan to start construction work for the facility in July 1998 for completion in March 2001.

17. The site is about 3 300 square metres with over 310 square metres non-buildable area occupied by the OMH facade and verandah. The new building will be developed up to the permitted building height³with an attainable plot ratio of 3.32. We are satisfied that it has fully utilised the development potential of the site.

Home Affairs Bureau
December 1997

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Enclosure to PWSC(97-98)96

152SC - District community centre cum singleton hostel at Sai Ying Pun

DETAILS OF CONSULTANTS' FEES

Breakdown of estimates of consultants' fees

		Estimated man months	Average MPS* salary point	Multiplier factor	Estimated fee ($million)
(I) Structural engineering discipline
(a) Contract administration	Professional Technical	3.13 6.99	40 16	3.0 3.0	0.52 0.39
(b) Site supervision	Professional	10.14	40	2.1	1.18
					______
				Sub-total	2.09
					______
(II) Charges by the Offices of Telecommunication Authority Trading Fund (OFTATF) Fees for installation, testing and commissioning of telephone system					0.21
					______
				Total	2.3
					______

*MPS = Master Pay Scale

Notes

(1) A multiplier factor of 3 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including the consultant's overheads and profit, as the staff will be employed in the consultant's offices. (At 1.4.96, MPS pt. 40 = $55,390 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = $18,595 p.m.) A multiplier factor of 2.1 is applied in the case of site staff supplied by the consultant.

(2) The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Architectural Services. We will only know the actual man months and actual fees when we have selected the consultants through the usual competitive bidding system.

(3) Since the establishment of the OFTATF on 1 June 1995 under the Trading Funds Ordinance, government departments are charged for design and technical consultancy services for telecommunication installations provided by the Office of the Telecommunication Authority (OFTA). The services rendered for this project cover the monitoring of installation, testing and commissioning of telecommunication equipment, inclusive of the maintenance period. The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Architectural Services. The actual cost for the service charges is subject to further negotiation between the Government and the OFTA.

¹The Group Work Unit and day activity centre are now accommodated at the Western District Community Centre (the former Tsan Yuk Hospital building) whereas the day nursery and Outreaching Social Work Team are located in leased premises at First Street and Sai Wan Chuen respectively.

²The relatively high construction unit cost is due to the need for site formation, geotechnical works for slope stabilisation and preservation of the OMH facade and verandah.

³The building height is restricted to 22 metres above Bonham Road because of a Town Planning Board decision to preserve the 'view corridor' in the site area.