The present building plan provides for a 2M-storey tower on the Bund, Including a spacious basement for strong rooms and safety deposit voulis, and a 26-storey tower at the Yuen Ming Yuen Road comer, each tower being 94 feet square. The first two storeys running through the Bund tower and the rest of the building will be occupied as bank offices, but the rest of the space will be for, rent. Fast lifts will be installed to provide the most rapid of communica Mons in a building of such size, It was originally planned to devote several top floors of the Bund tower as a welfare centre for the staff, but with the addition of the central tower the Bank authorities have decided to locate the centre there, The centre will include a staff dining room, kitchen and service rooms, large lounge, cloak room and private dining rooms, a social and lecture hall, reading and writing room, gymnasium, showers, bedrooms, sitting rooms and baths for outport officers, There will also be space here for tanks, motors and the wireless room, Bank Equi In bank equipment the most_mo ern of equipment and accommoda tion will be provided. Direct access from the safety yard on the ground floor to all' strong rooms and safe @eposit vaults will be provided by a staircase, bullion lift and spiral chute for rapid handling of sllv boxes. The vaults will be arranged fon each side of a central corridor, every vault door being under observation from either end or any point the corridor.
To guard against possible flooding ay sing typhoons and storms planned to raise the level of entrance halls, safety yard, car parking space and all vulnerable points, three fect above the pave The main public entrance hall from the Bund will be two storeys height, the main banking hall being reached by a wide and easy-going Aight of steps and four lifts provided on the north side of the entrance hall and also communicating with the entrances to offices.
The safety yard is planned in the centre of the building and Is designed to accommodate three to six cars at one time, Trucks will enter the yard from Yuen Ming Yuen Road through the wide central fairway of the car Parking space, which will provide for 'A feature of the ground floor will be the provision of space for the parking of vehicles, Considerable saving is effected by placing this accommodation three feet above the pavement, thus eliminating the need for artificial lighting, ventilation and more expensive construction which would be necessitated if the basement wore used, The first floor of the Bund tower will be taken up entirely by the main banking hall housing the Foreign and Trust Department and the Shanghai branch. The trust department will be self-contained and has direct communication with the safe deposit in the basement by means of lift and staircase.
Mezzanines will be provided at each end of the lofty banking hall, the tone on the Yuen Ming Yuen Road end being mainly rentable office spare and resident engineer's offices,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.