Untitled

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18892, 6 January 1927, Page 12

NOTES.

(By Builder.) '•Builder" invites contributions from readers on any matters of interest which they might like to propose. Correspondence on various subjects pertaining to building will also l)e accepted.

Mr J. S. Guthrie, 178 .Manchester street, will receive tenders for a residence at Mason Hills. Waiau, until noon on January 15th.

The manager of the Harbour Light Theatre, Lyttelton, invites tenders for decorating the building.

Messrs \V. Sey and Sons, Ltd., had the contract for repainting the exterior of Messrs Ballantyne's premises, Gashel and Colombo streets.

About £7OO will be expended on the addition* to Deaconess lloujo, afc the corner of »t. Asaph and Barbadoes streets. .Mr G. Frost is the contractor.

On Tuesday evening local delegates for the annual conference of the New Zealand Federation of Master Painters' will be appointed at the monthly meeting of the Christchurch Association. The conference will bo held at Inercargill, commencing on February Ist. Three delegates will be appointed by the Christchurch Association, and three by the Now Zealand Executive, which lias its headquarters in tin's City.

Before the laying of the foundations of the now "Evening Star" offic-3 at Iho corner of Cumberland and Stuart streets, Dunedin, it was feared that it might be necessary to do a good deal of extra, excavation work, as the spot where the building operations arc being carried on was once the edge of the harbour foreshore; but this was not the case. It will be well remembered in building circles, however, that when Messrs Herbert, Haynes and Co. (now the D.1.C.) started operations in Princes street, workmen had to go down. 50ft in one place.

Unemployment among painters is likely to he worse in the coming winter than it was last year, said a deputation that waited on the Aberdeen Parish Council to urge that as much as possible of the Council'* painting work should be done during tho winter months. Tho deputation, representative of the local branch of tho Operative Painters' Union, said that the union was already paying out' nationally—and this also applied locally—twenty times as much as at the corresponding date last year. The Council agreed to the Union's request.

Neither by colour nor by texture has concrete yet lent itself to good architectural effect (says "The Decorators' and Painters' Magazine")- Much is being done in painting flat concrete surfaces, and while pleasing effects have been obtained in this way, there is always.the danger that'the process will degenerate into mero imitation/ Tho results hitherto obtained from mixing pigments with the surfacing coat can scarcely bo said to have come up to expectations, and there yet remains to be seen what influence our peculiar climatic- conditions will have upon tho surfaces so treated. It is the very essential of a good building material that it should improve with age as regards at least appearance, and it will, we fear, bo many a long day before concrete can be compared in this respect with stone or brick. Still, many of the best technical brains in .Britain and in America are engaged upon the problem, and with the swift advances made by modern science there is no telling what tho \ immediate future may have in store. The following, which we extract from a Canadian paper, is, well worth quoting:—"AVhile our friends of the 6H pencil have made possible, through the use of Uiis delightfully flexible material, concrete, the support and construction of any building s'hapes that can be devised," it is now up to the addicts of the charcoal and IB to realise tliat this is a material of the greatest architectural possibilities, and one in the use of which, as they study its intelligent application, they can again build structures that will, stand on their own feet architecturally, devoid of the sham and inconsistencies of much of our recently past work." A revoluntionary change is occurring in connexion with the methods used in the manufacture ■ of steel constructional work. Hitherto large works have been necessary for tho purpose of setting out the different members, marking them from templates, drilling, fitting, and rivetting different parts together, delivering the complete, or tho semi-complete structures to the site, and erecting them with other additional rivetting or bolting. Much of this is rendered unnecessary by modern welding methods. As early as 1920 a large factory building was erected in Brixton, London, England, without the uso of either a single rivet or bolt. The steel sections were delivered direct to the site—they were then cut to length, and, in the case of the trusses, were dropped into a jig, and electrically arc-welded at the joints. The stanchions were delivered from the rolling mills to a dead length, and foot and cap pieces were welded on angle supports welded in. They were then erected. The main girders were hoisted, welded together and welded to the cap plates. The trusses were hoisted into position and welded. The guttering was put into place, I welded together at the ends, and welded to the supports. Tho rain pipes were welded to the guttering, and in short the whole of the work was completed without a single hole having to be drilled. _ This building has proved entirely satisfactory. Since that date i several other buildings have been constructed, but there is, of course, a very considerable amount of prejudice to be overcome before the method is in general use, but when it is considered that, due to the absence of holes and to better methods of jointing, 25 per cent in weight of all sections can be saved, it will be appreciated that the economy in material, apart entirely from the saving of labour, represents a vers' considerable amount of the total cost of the structural work. •

A new industrial area is to be opened at Thomastown, about 15 miles from Melbourne, where Messrs Nicholson and Morrow. Ltd., have bought 21 acres for the purpose of erecting extensive works for the manufacture of farming implements and machinery. Thomastowu has been selected for this enterprise because it is close to the rising industrial and residential suburbs of Preston and Reservoir, where employees at the works can rind comfortable housing. Plans have been prepared for the erection of a thoroughly modern factory, which in its various departments will cover practically the whole of the 21-acres.