A HUGE UNDERTAKING

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 161, 28 September 1927, Page 7

A HUGE UNDERTAKING

FURNISHING CANBERRA THE MAN RESPONSIBLE To furnish the ordinary home seer*s %o many a difficult enough task, but to furnish, throughout, Canberra House of Parliament would strike most people as being a little outside their sphere. There' arrived in Auckland on Monday Mr. Leslie H. Taylor, a young Engli ihman, who had the task of furnishing the new Federal House of Parliament and other buildings, at a cost of £250,000, and who is now on a world tour for new ideas. Mr. Taylor is a furniture designer by profession, and was secured by the Federal Government from Sydney firms two years ago. His work at Canberra has proved that he has a distinctive style, which, though simple, is pleasing and effective. He personally designed all carpets, selected tones and tints, and decided whether bookcases were to be square, round or oblong. The floor coverings and upholstering of the House of Representatives is executed in green, and the Senate Chamber in red, these being the traditional colours of the respective chambers. The Speaker’s chair stands on a specially designed green carpet. Of considerable interest are the suites of rooms of the Prime Minister, Speaker of the House, President of the Senate and the Leader of the Senate. The suites occupy corner positions in the building, and each comprises an Office,

beautifully panelled, bed-sitting roon with folding wall bed, bathroom ant offices of the private secretary an< typist. The remainder of the huge buildinj is furnished with taste and simplicit:

and is the acme of comfort. Before commencing his duties, Mi Taylor prepared about 300 workinj drawings to scale, and each article ha< to be specially designed. His worl at Canberra included the furnishing o Parliament House, two Secretariats the hotels Kurrajong and Acton, foil: large boarding-houses, and othe smaller works entailing a vast amoun of work.