Windows are a bigger concern, especially if they have been fitted too tightly and have no room to expand
One of the buildings worst hit by the typhoon – which caused the highest signal No 10 to be up for about 10 hours – was One Harbourfront, an office complex in Hung Hom that had dozens of windows smashed.
Vincent Ho Kui-yip, a former president of the Institute of Surveyors, said the design of high-rise buildings took strong winds into consideration.
“Swaying is normal, the problem is whether the degree is too large,” he said.
While acknowledging the safety could only be decided on a case-by-case basis, Ho said the overall structure for most buildings in Hong Kong should be able to cope with winds.
He said windows were a bigger concern.
“If [windows are] fitted too tightly and there is no space for them to expand and contract, they might crack.”
Veteran engineer Greg Wong Chak-yan said that, for the past 20 years, windows in Hong Kong had to meet a standard regulated by the Buildings Department and that even bigger ones had been sent to laboratories for testing.
