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Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 February 1939, Page 10 (Supplement)

The high opinion that was held of New Zealand architects practising in England was the subject of comment by Mr C. R. McLean, a former Aucklander who returned to the Dominion by the Oronsay after an absence of nine years. Mr McLean said there was a considerable number of New Zealand architects in London, several of whom had their own practices. There was a tendency in England at present to depart from the severely utilitarian type of architecture which had been so popular in recent years, Mr McLean said. Architects were now seeking to achieve more sober designs in which the utilitarian aspect was relieved by beautiful lines. Building was still extensive in England, particularly in London, where the London County Council had undertaken huge slum-clearing schemes. Many blocks of fiats had been constructed by speculative builders, but in this respect saturation point had been nearly reached.