STRESS (Far East) Limited was recently announced overall winner of the Hong Kong Concrete Repair Association (HKCRA) Awards for Excellence in Concrete Repair 2007 during a presentation ceremony at the annual awards dinner held on 25th May 2007. This award was for concrete repair works as applied to the alterations and
additional works of the Kowloon City Plaza shopping centre.

“Stress is delighted to receive the HKCRA 2007 Award, which is a wonderful acknowledgement by our industry peers of the work carried out by all my colleagues involved in the technically challenging refurbishment works at Kowloon City Plaza” stated Stress (Far East) Limited Operation Manager, Felix Tsang.

STRESS (FAR EAST) LIMITED
STRESS (Far East) Limited – STructural Repairs, REfurbishment and Specialist Services – was established in 1993 to provide professional specialist works for both private and public sector clients concerned with the maintenance of buildings and structures. As well as projects within the Hong Kong market, Stress also has a wealth of experience in relation to projects located throughout the Asia Pacific region with significant in depth technical resources upon which to draw.

STRESS undertakes external and internal renovation, concrete repair and strengthening, waterproofing, T-Grip installation, chemical injection, industrial flooring and blast tracking, sprayed render and plaster, shotcrete, slope stabilization, external facade repairs and cleaning, anti-corrosion coating, stenciled and stamped colour concrete paving, securing of debonded render by pinning, cathodic protection systems, PVC linings for ponds and tunnels, swimming pool renovation, desalination and realkalisation systems.

As a registered general building contractor with the Hong Kong Building Department, a company member of the Hong Kong Concrete Repair Association (HKCRA), a company member of the International Concrete Repair Institute of America, an approved applicator of major material suppliers in the market and working closely with large testing laboratories, STRESS is able to offer comprehensive repair and refurbishment packages which include diagnosis of the problem, recommended remedial measures, an estimation of budget, as well as a quality assurance guarantee.

With stringent safety policies and quality control procedures combined with the high commitment of its supervisory staff, STRESS ensures that all works are undertaken and completed to the satisfaction of clients.

KOWLOON CITY PLAZA SHOPPING CENTRE
Built in the 1980s, Kowloon City Plaza shopping centre is a 5-storey high rendered concrete structure with a basement for loading and unloading goods and an open roof carpark. The building serves as a shopping centre with lower ground to fourth floor for retail shops and restaurants, with the fifth floor and roof for carparking.
Two bullet lifts, veral escalators and a spiral rendered concrete staircase provide access for the public to different floors of the building. An open floor, the Atrium, is located at the centre of the plaza.

MAJOR SCOPE OF WORKS
In order to reflect a new design concept, in 2005 the new owner decided to carry out a complete renovation of both the exterior and interior of the building and STRESS as the main contractor implemented the required renovation works between May 2005 and December 2006.

External aspects of the Kowloon City Plaza refurbishment project included existing facade demolition works, concrete repair, waterproofing, refurbishment and coating works, new glazing, shop fronts, curtain wall and a canopy.

Internal works included concrete demolition of obsolete structures, as well as preparation for new escalators and a new lift shaft, structural concrete and steel strengthening works, floor, wall and ceiling finishes, wall cladding and the upgrading of electrical lighting systems, air conditioning, plumbing and drainage.

Throughout the first year of the project, however, considerable emphasis was given to the external refurbishment works involving concrete repair and waterproofing, as well as the internal demolition and concrete strengthening works, all of which were critically important in order to keep the building, it’s tenants and customers protected during these extensive alteration works.

Thereafter, the interior fitting-out works included new shop fronts, floor tiling, painting, steel cladding, new false ceiling, E&M, plumbing and drainage works.Structural demolition included the removal of several cantilevered and elevated rendered concrete platforms along the perimeter corridors of each floor above the Atrium of the shopping centre, the five-storeys high spiral RC staircase, the two bullet lifts and lift shafts, the cutting of floor openings for two new passenger lifts, and the whole main entrance rendered concrete staircase to suit a new escalator and staircase. Steel strengthening works were also required around new floor openings and other associated structural members.

During the course of the A&A works, a considerable amount of spalled and cracked concrete areas were identified at various locations throughout the building, especially at the fifth floor and the roof slabs, which serve as carparks. These concrete defects caused serious leakage problems to the floors below. Also, a number of debonded and cracked render areas were identified on the external facades. Approved repair methods and materials were used for repairs of these concrete defects to reinstate the structural integrity of the relevant building members.

KOWLOON CITY PLAZA - CONSTRUCTION CONSIDERATIONS
A major consideration in relation to the Kowloon City Plaza project related to the works having to be undertaken while the shopping centre was still in operation. The construction methods and materials used also had to be properly selected to fulfil the required criteria of fast construction in order to achieve the programme; minimum disturbance and causing no hazard to the public, in compliance with government health and safety regulations.

Despite the above constraints, with the high commitment of site construction teams and the stringent quality monitoring of supervisory and management staff, STRESS successfully completed the works to the satisfaction of both architect and owner.

OTHER STRESS PROJECTS

Other STRESS projects have included technically-challenging and very precise applications in relation to repair works carried out to Hong Kong structures such as The Excelsior Hotel, Causeway Bay, The Li Fung Centre in Shatin, Chong Hing Square in Mong Kok, Sanctuary of Union Church in Mid-Levels, Regal Court, Headland Village in Discovery Bay and the Stanley Oriental Hotel.

Selected details of such projects include:
Headland Village: Renovation works including repairs, movement joints, steel and metalworks and external coating.

Regal Court: Refurbishment of the building facade including structural repairs, re-tiling works, pipework repairs and replacement, addition of drying racks, painting and re-roofing.

The Excelsior Hotel: External wall refurbishment of a total area of 30,000m2. This involved concrete repairs, mechanical pinning of debonded render and the application of a specialist water-proofing coating.

Li Fung Centre: External refurbishment of an area of 20,000m2 of tiling repairs, pinning of render, concrete crack repairs, surface coating and window cladding.