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Shortlisted designs may be made public to allay concerns

The density of the Tamar development will be only  half that of sites surrounding it, officials revealed at a Legislative Council panel meeting yesterday.

In an attempt to allay  public concerns  that the new government headquarters would  create a wall-effect on the Admiralty waterfront, Director of Administration Chang King-yiu  said the plot ratio would be  about seven, while surrounding sites had  a plot ratio of between 13 and 15.

She said  the estimated $4.9 billion construction cost of the  new headquarters and Legco complex was  based on the latest information on building  top-grade offices in Central.

Speaking at the planning, lands and works panel, officials  softened  their previously firm stance that  shortlisted designs on  the new headquarters would not be made public.

The government had earlier cited  World Trade Organisation procurement rules that demand all commercial information in a tender be kept confidential.

Ms  Chang said: 'We will consult legal opinion and try to balance the interests of the bidders and those of the public to see if we can make public the shortlisted designs.'

The government's plans  for the Tamar site drew strong criticism from  legislators.

Daniel Lam Wai-keung,  of the Heung Yee Kuk, was the only  one  to voice support.

'The land has been left vacant for a decade. The government should start construction as soon as possible,' he said.

But most  legislators at  yesterday's panel meeting had strong reservations about  the project.

Alan Leong Kah-kit,  of the Article 45 Concern Group,  was sceptical of the government's design-and-build tender. 'You want to build a landmark. But on design-and-build, the emphasis is always on  cost savings. I doubt you can have a landmark structure through design-and-build,' he said.

Democratic Party chairman Lee Wing-tat questioned why the government wanted to rush  the project through.

Ms Chang  defended the design-and-build approach, saying: 'Design will carry as much weight as technology and  cost efficiencies. Construction will be smoother if the whole project is done by one company. It will avoid unnecessary conflict.'

She also revealed the government had plans  for 500 parking spaces, with more than 100 allocated to  Legco.

She stressed the headquarters would  generate only 4 per cent of the traffic in Central by 2016. 'The amount is very small  in the context of Central, so it will not worsen traffic,' she said.

Officials believed most  people working at Tamar would  use public transport, and there would  be two footbridges: one connecting with  the Admiralty MTR station and the other  linking Citic Tower.

The panel will organise a public hearing on the project next month.



Tamar HQ to be half the density of surrounding sites