A NEW LANDMARK

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 2, 24 March 1927, Page 1 (Supplement)

A NEW LANDMARK

Hi® Sun Adds Distinction to Auckland’s Sky-Line

B 5 LOSE on three hundred tons of ( British steel forms the core of 1 THE SUN building in its elevated site on the western corner of Albert and Wyndham )i Streets. With a double frontage of 80ft. to the east and 140 ft. to the north, and a height of 80ft., the whole of the spacious •tiucture is lit from end to end on every floor with genial daylight. Each one of its two hundred windows has a bright outlook. The traditional gloom of printing houses is unknown. The foundations of shingle concrete go deep Into stiff clay—a clean close clay most suitable for the manufacture of bricks and firstclass earthenware. The danger and evils of dampness have been eliminated by a thick layer of Neuchatel asphalt under the whole of the ground floor area and over the flat roof, where, in open sunshine and Auckland's beneHcial rains, roses in time will bloom in the janitor's roof garden and peep over the parapet. From ground floor to turreted top the building is virtually fireproof. Most of the dressed timber in it is kauri and rimu, figured so beautifully as to make one wonder why native woods do not grace the homes and business houses of good New Zealanders. The design of the structure is a fine adaptation of the perpendicular style of Gothic architecture, as being peculiarly suited to concrete buildings, since it gives predominance to vertical lines and provides the maximum of window space without too great a sacrifice of architectural beauty. "Industrial Gothic” best describes the style as designed by the architects. Messrs. Chilwell and Trevithick, A-A.R.1.8.A. After the draft plans had been approved the old premises on the site were sold on January 10 last year for removal; less than two months later—on March 2, to be precise—the Fletcher Construction Company signed the contract for the new building. Next day the work of construction was started. Efficient speed characterised the whole process of construction throughout the year, and for several months portions of the building have been occupied by THE SUN’S staff engineers and machinists.

Indeed, in order to facilitate the work of our engineering experts, the usual precedent In building construction was reversed. Following on the erection of the steel framework in the remarkably short period of six weeks.

the top floor was started and completed first. This expedient gave early cover to the fine new printing plant which includes many intricate and latest model machines so essential to the quick production of an up-to-date attractive newspaper.

Although the building is not the largest publishing house in the Southern Hemisphere, it indubitably is one of the finest, and, in many features, is indeed without a rival. As a result of careful study by the architects, in close co-operation with THE SUN’S departmental heads, the plan of the building was developed so as to form a direct sequence of processes through the different departments with a minimum loss of time and an absolute absence of double handling. That, from the point of view of efficiency and economy, is in itself admirable, but from the viewpoint of all newspaper workers who, too frequently in long-established journalistic printing houses, are given meagre consideration, the real beauty of THE SUN building and its equipment is the attractive comfort of hygienic working conditions. Good light, plenty of fresh air, and no deleterious fumes and odours from burners, stoves and lead-smelting crucibles: these are infinitely better for the worker and more serviceable to the business of employers than an ornate external display and a parade of impressive idealism —in words. A visitor’s first impression will almost certainly find spontaneous expression in the comment that THE SUN office must be a pleasant place in which to work for andi produce a newspaper. It is by far the best office for newspaper workers throughout the Dominion. As a rule a newspaper office is an untidy, dusty, haphazard aggregation of dens and dingy makeshift cubicles. All that has been avoided in THE SUN and will never be permitted to develop. It is no part of its policy and purpose. A slovenly office makes a slack and stodgy paper. From the main public entrance in Wyndham Street leading through a handsome panelled vestibule and right up to the caretaker’s eyrie overlooking the finest prospect in New Zealand the whole building represents wholesome comfort and the latest and best equipment and facilities for public service. The bright commodious house for THE SUN is a credit, not only to the founder and promoters of Auckland’s liveliest newspaper, but also to the city of enterprise, the resourceful province and - ~'ve Dominion.