24 walled village, surrounded by a moat, which has survived in a scruffy, semiindustrial district, the modern industrial use of which appears to be car breaking. Within its walled enclave, Kam Tin retains its tight grid plan, separated by alleyways barely a metre wide, although the buildings have been renewed over the years. The central street, entirely pedestrian - cars are parked outside the village - leads to a shrine. The village is at present inhabited by the retired, many of whom pose in Chinese costumes for a fee, or sell traditional artefacts, which appear to be manufactured locally, rather than brought in. A few miles away, Ping Shan boasts the first heritage trail in Hong Kong. This was set up late in 1993, with financial support from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club among others. The trail, inaugurated by Chris Patten, Governor of Hong Kong, is about 1 km long, linking up a number of traditional Chinese structures within easy walking distance, providing the opportunity to recaprure aspects of life in the New Territories in the 19th century. Among the monuments, the trail includes Tsui Shing Lau, Hong Kong's only historic pagoda, and several ancestral halls, many of which have been well restored with their multi-colour decoration and abundant gold leaf work. It will be interesting to see whether concern for conservation of historic buildings and areas develops after the change in sovereignty. I visited both schools of architecture briefly and had the impression that the Hong Kong University School was more outward looking, producing students who were capable of brilliant individual designs with a commercial emphasis. By contrast, the Chinese University on Kowloon has made a more determined effort to understand traditional Chinese architecture, including measured drawings of buildings in Mainland China itself, and it appears well placed to introduce education for conservation of traditional buildings and areas. Finally, a visit to Hong Kong would not be complete without a trip to Macau, the Portuguese enclave, a mere 50 Tony Poole and Ian Hume delve in to the niceties of floor construction nomenclature minutes away by hydrofoil. Macau seems to have retained more of its traditional colonial character, with important buildings, such as the City Hall and facade of the old cathedral, giving a distinctly European atmosphere. Among the more unusual sources of conservation has been a tax on gambling, the Colony's most lucrative activity, carried on in the casinos at the ghastly wedding cake style Hotel Lisboa which dominates the new waterfront. Among the buildings so far restored is a 19th century theatre and work is at present in hand to refurbish, and partly rebuild, the colonial town houses forming a grand square in front of the facade of the old St Paul's Cathedral. However, work is not likely to extend to rebuilding the cathedral itself, most of which was destroyed by a typhoon in 1836. Debate about the sources of conservation funding, including the use of the Millennium Fund, gives a relevance to the unusual financing of present day conservation initiatives both in Hong Kong and Macao. WHEN IS A BINDER NOT A BINDER? In Context 43 (September 1994, p25) we published the article 'Floors in historic buildings' on which Anthony Poole of the Surveyor's Co-Partnership has made the following comment. "Although not a Conservation Officer but a practising Building Surveyor, I have just read Ian Hume's article about a topic which so often presents a problem, particularly where there are double or triple framed floors in buildings which are, following major repairs, to be used for office purposes. It would only query one comment made on page 26. Mr Hume refers to the definitions used by James Newland and says 'In a double floor, the span of the "bridging joists" is broken by "binding joists" which span from wall to wall and which today would no doubt merely be called "beams". A "framed floor" has "bridging" joists, again supported by "binding joists" (nowadays called secondary beams) which in turn are carried by "girders" which we may well now term main or principal beams'. "With respect, I do not accept what Mr Hume refers to a modern terminology. Most building surveyors I know refer to the joists as stated, which of course are the timbers which carry the floorboards. These joists are sometimes referred to as bridging or common joists. In a double framed floor, the common joists are supported at one or both ends on binders, which at one time were referred to as binding joists, although all the textbooks merely call them binders. In a triple framed floor, the binders themselves give intermediate support to girders. I confess that I have never heard of binders being referred to as beams, or girders as main or principal beams; indeed current text books and lecture notes still use the term binders and girders. "Whatever happened to the simple formula for softwood joists in residential property. The span divided by 2, plus 2, by 2, all in inches. It is remarkably accurate; for example on a 12 ft span: 12 divided by 2 = 6 + 2 = 8 by 2 = 8 x 2 joists. Perhaps it is too simple to be quoted." Ian Hume responds: "Mr Poole has some disagreement with me as to the names given to the principal and secondary members of a framed floor. Perhaps the difference in terminology is due to the fact that Mr Poole is a building surveyor, whilst I am a structural engineer. In an effort to clarify the point, I conducted an enormous amount of research among three of my colleagues - two engineers, one architect. All three agreed with my modern terminology, although one admitted that on reflection he might call secondary beams binders, as Mr Poole does. Out of interest I also looked at my copy of Mitchell's Advanced building construction and this suggests that where the spans of joists exceed 15 or 16 ft, 'large cross beams are introduced to carry the ends of the joists'. "Regarding Mr Poole's very valid second point concerning this simple formula for softwood joists in residential property, I did indeed quote this as the simple calculation put forward in 1925 by Rivington." The Editor would like to thank both Mr Pooleand Mr Hume for their comments on the original article. CONTEXT 44
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