Auckland’s New Station

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 391, 27 June 1928, Page 1

Auckland’s New Station

INNOVATIONS OF ALL KINDS N.Z. Woods and Stones to be Used IP the 1,200 piles on which the new railway station is to be built were placed end to end in the air they would reach five times higher than Mt. Cook, which is approximately 13,000 feet high.

This Is not the only interesting feature of the splendid new building. New Zealand stone and woods will play a large part in the decorative scheme, which will be most impressive. Warm red bricks, made in Auckland, will be used for the outside of the building. The interior of the main hall will be an artistic scheme of buff and gold. Granite quarried from Coromandel will be used for the base of the building, Whangarei marble will be used for pillars and panelling in parts of the building and New Zealand mahogany, brought from D’Urville Island, Cook Strait, will eventually decorate the walls of the ladies’ waiting room. DEEP PILING Some of the piles for the building will be sunk 75ft, and a special doubleacting five-ton hammer is being imported by the contractors for the purpose. It is a combination of steam and hammer, both of which are used to force the piles into the earth. The building of the Auckland Station will entail one of the deepest piling jobs in the world. In all probability the floor of the main ticket-lobby will be covered with rubber, which is considered to be the best material for the purpose. Several qualities are required of this floor covering and rubber has been considered because it is durable, hygenic, silent, non-slippery and economical. Rubber has a more lasting quality than either marble or concrete. In London at present streets carrying the heaviest traffic are being paved with rubber blocks because of their silence, and lasting qualities. When the architects designed the new railway station they had many things to consider. Some people have said that the building will be too lavish, but this is not so. Materials, which to the layman may seem too expensive, will prove their cheapness in the years to come. Marble will be used in all the lavatories and on the walls of the dining rooms. It has been chosen because t is the only stone which is hygienic, durable and which cannot be disfigured by being used as a giant matchbox by smokers. MARBLE IS CHEAPEST A well-known American architect said recently of marble: “If there is any other material which is cheaper, then ws will use it. We have tried everything, but we have found that marble is the only stone which stands the test of time and which cannot be disfigured.” In most railway stations in New Zealand the telegraph office is not near the trains, but in Auckland it will be visible and close t.o all incoming and outgoing trains, so that passengers desiring to send a message quickly may do so quite conveniently. Six telephones and a taxi office will also be in the main building near the platforms. PROVIDING WORK Coromandel granite is being used for the base of the building because it is the only material which will last for all time without being chipped or disfigured. Moreover it will provide work for men in the Auckland Province. Large quantities of it will be needed. The magnificent front of the building will be of red brick, relieved with plaster. The bricks will be manufactured in Auckland, thus providing more work for men • n the city. There will be hundreds of clocks in the new station, the largest appearing high on the top of the front of the building. There will be a clock in every ofiice and numerous others over the platforms and in public rooms. These instruments, however, are clocks only in name. They will be worked electrically and controlled from a small master-clock in the stationmaster’s office. The clock-face on the direction board, which will be opposite the main entrance, and which will give all information regarding incoming and outgoing trains, will measure 3ft 6in in diameter. That on the top of the building, facing the city, will be 6ft ®in, in diameter. something quite new in interior deco-

ration will be seen in the main lobby, which will one of the most beautiful parts of the new station. Some of the members of the enormous steel trusses which support the floors above will be exposed to view and will become part of the general decorative scheme. The ceiling itself will be of coffered concrete, richly decorated in the prevailing tones of buff and gold. Pillars along the walls of the main lobby will be of Whangarei marble, a most attractive New Zealand product. These pillars will have capitals of bronze. A large public dining room will also be pillared with Whangarei marble. Artistic tiles will be used on the walls of the general waiting room, the object being to prevent smokers from striking their matches on the walls, a habit which destroys and dirties most waiting rooms. New Zealand mahogany, a very fine wood, will be brought* from D’Urville Island, off the Queen Charlotte Sounds, for the panels of the ladies’ waiting-room, a small but very comfortable room. These wait-ing-rooms will no longer be the draughty passages of to-day. That kind of thing rightly belongs to the horrid and chilly past. TECHNICAL LIBRARY Another innovation in the building will be a library of technical books for the members of the railway staff. This will be on the top floor and will contain only volumes dealing with the railways. Flood lights, reflecting the light from the ceiling, will be used throughout the station, with special lights on the platforms. At the ticket offices there will be small brass racks on which passengers carrying small bags and parcels may rest them while they purchase their tickets. Special pile caps join the whole of the 1,200 piles so that, in the event of an earthquake, the whole of the foundations will move together and thus prevent any damage to the building. In designing the building the architects, Messrs. Gummer and Ford, have used an enormous amount of information gathered from all parts of the world. Every facility available through modern research and invention has been used and the mistakes of others will not be repeated. Among the many remarkable features of the new station are the plans of the architects. “They are a monumental set of plans /%, 1 some of the finest I have seen,” said a prominent American architect who saw them recently. There are 80 large sheets of the contract drawings and hundreds more of the detailed drawings, with many more still to come. It has meant months of work. Even in themselves the drawings are works of art.