What is a Pencil Tower?
"Pencil Tower" is a term that is used to describe the very
slender tower-like apartment buildings that are found only in Hong Kong.
The smallest consist of only one apartment with a usable floor area as
little as 16 square meters. This is then extruded up into the air some
thirty stories. The load-bearing structure is reinforced concrete. They
are found all over the city, but seem to be concentrated in the older parts
of the city. In almost every case the floor plan takes up the maximum amllowed
by the building codes for the specific plot. This site will contain information
on the research being conducted by Prof. Dr. Chris H. Luebkeman with studetns
from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Definition
There is not yet a set definition for a Pencil Tower. This will be
determined. A few are being discussed at the present time. One definition
could be the relationship of the useable floor area of one floor to the
height of the building. This would be an ASPECT RATIO. Utilizing this to
define the pencil tower yields a border value of about 1.00. That means
that any tower that has a ratio of height (in meters) divided by usable
floor area (in square meters) that is equal or greater than one, is a pencil
tower.
We are currently investigating this building type.
© 1996 Chris H. Luebkeman.