CONCRETE BLOCKS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4700, 19 May 1924, Page 2

CONCRETE BLOCKS.

FAVOURED FOR HOUSE BUILDING. BETTER THAN OTHER MATERIALS J.u Australian architect an.] engineer who returned lately from an extended tour abroad states that both in Great Britain and in America the use of pre-cast units, that is to say, of concrete blocks, predominates in iio'tsc construction. One fnm in Chicago, he added, was building 4600 houses of this type each year, and ' new suburb of Philadelphia was built entirely with pre-cast units. A similar state existed in England and Scotland. There unit construction was favoured. Many architects in America were specifying concrete units on a basis with stone, and leading men - in some instances preferred concrete in important building enterprises. Units manufactured for outside trim in first-class buildings ■ were treated to conform to architectural requirements, he said. Hollow walls were considered essential to satisfactory wall construction. They ensured insulation from extremes of heat and cold, and also prevented the passage of moisture. Units for houses were made hi an etxremcly dense, well-rammed, waterproof concrete, and cast with strengthcnlng ribs. Unskilled labour could bo used in the manufacture of pre-cast units, and it was claimed that erection was more rapid than with any , other material. Wide latitude of design, stability, and permanency were features which appealed to architect's/