GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 699, 27 November 1933, Page 3

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN

IN KEEPING WITH CAPITAL CITY IMPRESSIVE AND DIGNIFIED SETTING The wide building jirogramme which has been carried out during the last ten years or so has transformed the mid-city area of Wellington by the replacement of buildings of a past commercial and architectural period with big buildings of striking appearance and modern utility. No city building will more fully fulfil this double requirement than the new Wellington railway station. The new station will occupy the area bounded on the west by Featherston Street, on the south by Bunny Street, and on the east by Waterloo Quay. The frontages to the three streets will be 258ft, 346ft, and 211ft respectively. The building will be set well back from the street frontage, and a plaza will be formed in front of the station equal to the width of the space in front of the Parliament Buildings out to and including Molesworth Street. The trams will circulate round this plaza, and it will also be used as the arrival and departure space for buses. The centre portion will probably be paved and finished with grass plots at the sides. This open space will give a dignified setting to the station, and so impress visitors on arrival to the city by train.

The site of the building is of filling formation, making necessary the use of pre-cast concrete piles,' and continuous tie foundations, • which will be desig.ied .to resist earthquake shocks. The superstructure will be of steel frame construction, and approximately 2000 tons of steel girders and stanchions will be required. A feature of the design, which embodies the latest principles of construction to resist earthquiake, is the special connections or jointings ibetween the beams and standchions. Difficult engineering problems were here encountered, but eacb connection has been scientifically designed to meet the functions of it. The ticket lobby roof, with a height equivalent to four floors, again presented difficult enigineering problems, and this was well braced in every direetion to resist earthquake stresses, as also were the high ticket lobby walls. The main passenger entrance is in the centre of the Bunny Street front, and on this front also are two subsidiary entrances giving acccss to the upper floors, which will house the whole of the departmental offices. In the centre of the Featherston Street frontage is the suburban passenger exit, whilst vehicles are provided with' an access' from the end of the Waterloo Quay block on to a roadwia.y which runs alongsid'3 tjie main arrival and departure platforms. The building of the whole of its length facing Waterloo Quay and Bunny Street north to the suburban passenger exit will rise to a height of 72 feet from the pavement level and will be five floors in height. The back of the building is six storeys in height. To the north of the suburban exit

the building will be erected for the present only one storey in height, but provision has been made for this portion to be extended to the full height of the main portion when occasion demands. Exterior Design. The design of the street frontage is based upon classic traditions, and vertical emphasis has been obtained by a bold pilaster treatment with continuous vertical window mulllons. The facing material will be brick relieved with a granite base, tinted plastered cornice pilaster caps and mullions and window spandrils in glazed terra cotta in colour harmonis•ing with the brickwork. The decision to use brick construction on the facades necessitated. a close examination of the latest me'thods and data obtained from other countries liahle to earthquake shocks regtarding the methods of construction, and the system adopted is based on the best scientific principles of re•inforcinjg with steel rods placed vertically in the walls and locked to the steel work ahove and below, forming what could be termed a grillage of steel embedded in the brickwork. The roof s visible from the . streets will be covered with tiles of Spanish pattern, half round in shape. Mionum.en.tal and Impressive. The main Bunny Street entrance is emphasised by a portico of huge' dorie colums nearly five feet in diameter and extending to slightly above j the Leight of the third floor, a hught of 42 feet. This feature in itself will give a very monumental and impressive effect to the building. The columns are eleven feet higher than ' the columns of the Wellington Town Hall. From the portico one will enter by doors under a window 41fet high and ' 26ft wide, the ticket lobby, a lofty hall measuring 114 feet long by 40 : fe:-t wide, with a.coffered barrel crossvaulted ceiling rising to * a height of 48 feet. Large windows at each end give additional light to this lobby. The walls of the ticket lobby are to be lined to a height of 9 feet with' New Zealand marble, and ahove that to the cornice height, will be finished with imitation stone. The ceiling is to be heavily coffered and enriched, and will be carried out in fibrous plaster. This will be painted and picked out in colour. ■On the east side of the ticket lobby will be the hooking office with, on the opposite side, the checked luggage counter, and at the extreme east end a recess containinig the counters for reservations. On entering the station the passenger will turn to the right, x|buy his ticket, reserve his seat, check his luggage, and come back into the line of traffic again. To do this h'e will move round three sides of a square. At .the opposite end double doors will give access to the dining-room, measuring 39 by 61 feet and finished with a rubber floor, marble dado, walls palstered and panelled, and ceiling and cornice in fibrous plaster. The centre portion of the room will be xaised and provided with a glass ceiling over which will be skylights. Access to the dining-room is

provided by means of a short corridor from -the concourse in addition to the main entrance from the ticket lobby. From the latter one enters the concourse, which in turn communicates directly with the platforms. The concourse covers the large area of 200 feet by 50 feet and runs east and west, parallel to Bunny Street. It has a continuous glazed roof supported by means of heavy reinforced concrete arches, paraholie in shape, and tkd together with large beams. The surfaces are to be painted in 'three colours to give a bright effect. The east end of the concourse is to be devoted to luggage and parcels ,and the checked luggage counter. Wating Roomis and Offices. x At approximately the centre of the concourse will be located the igeneral and the ladies' waiting rooms, the former finished with' a rubber floor, terra cotta dado, and panelled plaster walls with fibrous plaster cornice and ceiling. The ladies' waiting room is to be finished with rubber floor, marble skirting, and the walls panelled with Southland beech to a height of 8ft 6in and finished with a fibrous plaster cornice and ceiling. Both of these rooms will have mantelpieces of New Zealand marble. The entrance to the ladies' waiting room will contain a staircase which will lead to a large rest room, hospital, dressing rooms, and lavatories for .the use of women travellers. The dressing rooms will be provided with baths. The remaining portion of the ground floor is to be occupied by the kitchen and kitchen staff rooms, and by accommodation for porters, guards, and other memibers of the railway staff. The kitchen will be fitted up with the latest devices for the cooking and preparation of food, and special attention has been given to the hygienic aspect, all surfaces being finished in tile or cnamel, and precautions taken to ensure adequate ventilation. A stair leading from the kitchen will communicate with a has,ement occuppying the south-western corner of the building and containing various kitchen and general stores, workshop and boiler room. To the north of the suburban exit from the concourse, the one-storey Featherston Street block will contain the barber's shop and dressing rooms, men's lavatories, and various 'storerooms devoted to different branches of the service. The upper floors of the main block, as before mentioned, will be reaehed ■by the publie from two suibsidiary entrances from the Bunny Street front, leading to elevator halls and staircases well finished and excellently lighted. Four passenger elevators are to be provided. Departmental Offices. Briefly outlined, the departments on the various floors will be as follows: — .First Floor: Controller of ■Stores, locomotive department, district office. second floor, Land Officer, signal and electrica! department, iChief Enjgineer's Department; third .floor, General Manager's Department, records, and transport; fourth floor, accountant's br,anch, refreshment services, publie staff; fifth floor, women staffs' tearoom, plan printing. This floor, which extends only over that portion of the main block lying • between the concourse and the ticket lobby, will contain in addition a large staff social room. The walls of the General M'anager's Department are to be panelled, while the offices of the heads of the depart- ' ments will have panelled dadoes. Thewalls .of the corridor s and staircases have tile dadoes. The offices generally are to have hard plaster dadoes finished with paint with the walls above tinted in distemper. The vari- ■ ous floors are to be provided with a flies lift from the record room. The building will be heated by a system of h'ot water radiators. The whole of the drainage pipes, 'the main supply pipes for the hot arid cold water installation, and the mains to the hot water heating system are provided for in a tunnel under the htiilding, thus making them easy of access in case of iblockage. The lightinig and ventilation of all upper floors will be almost ideal, as, in addition to having windows on the north, south, east and west sides, additional light and air is obtia.ined from two large internal light wells commencing at the first floor level. Over one thousand sheets of drawings were prepared for tendering purposes, and each sheet was ten square feet in area. Even then the sheets were not big enough to. take one complete floor plan, which had to be divided up and put on two sheets. The building has been designed by Messrs. Gray, Young, Morton and Younig, registered arehitects, of Wellington. Mr. Peter Holgate is the /consulting engineer.