Building Notes.

Progress, Volume XII, Issue 9, 1 May 1917, Page 966

Building Notes.

AUCKLAND, Last month the foundation stone of the new Y.W.G.A. was laid by Her Excellency the Countess of Liverpool. This building, which is to the designs of Messrs Hoggard and Prouse and W. H. Glimmer, A.R.1.8.A., of Wellington and Auckland, is to cost complete with land, furnishings, etc., £22,000. It will have a three-storey frontage and live storeys in the rear. The difficulty of procuring steel has caused a great deal of delay, but that is now overcome. The building itself will be of steel and ferro-concrete, and will contain, among other important features, a lecture hall, with seating capacity for 250. There will also be a cafeteria, where the girls will be able to obtain meals, while on the flat roof there will be a full-size tennis court. The building will contain only the administrative offices, social and club rooms. The question of hostel accommodation was carefully considered by the board of directors, but it was decided that the better plan was to keep the two departments separate, so that the hostel in Park Avenue will still be maintained. The lease of the vacant section of land in Quay Street, lying immediately to the rear of Endean’s Buildings,, has been purchased from the Dcvonport Steam Ferry Company by the Huddart-Parker and Company Proprietary, Ltd. The area in question is one of the Harbour Board leaseholds, and the late holders acquired the lease of it from the board when it was first offered. Huddart-Parker and Co. intend to erect on the section a four or five storeyed building, the plans for which will shortly be put in hand. A portion of the new building will be utilised by the company as offices, and the remainder will be let to tenants. It is understood that the lease has about forty years to run. The new Children’s Hospital which is progressing well, will, when completed be a two-storeyed building of brick. The brickwork itself is now practically completed, also ail the reinforced concrete flooring and balconies, and the roof timbers are now being prepared for their slate covering. The external plastering has been finished, the colour of the Avails being grey at the base and dark red in the upper portion. A considerable amount of carpentry work has also been done, and the hot-water radiators and other apparatus, as well as bathroom and lavatory fittings, have arrived from England. As has been the case with many other buildings now in course of erection, the work of erection has been delayed on account of the difficulty of obtaining the steel for structural work, also the pressed facing bricks, but practically all the material has now come to hand, and further difficulty is not anticipated. Though building operations in the city of Auckland are somewhat restricted at present, they are still extensive During the past two years 3,023 permits have been issued the declared value of the buildings being £503,009. CHRISTCHURCH. The mayor, Mr. H. Holland at his installation address made reference to the condition of the building trade during the past year. He said that the Avar had not made a great difference to building operations in Christchurch, and that 285 building permits had been issued, representing buildings valued at £162,09(5, as compared with 307 permits for buildings. valued at £160,619, the previous year. The question of more accommodation for the City Coon oil’s officials came up for discussion again last month when the extension of the present building was proposed. It appears that the question of whether the building should extend towards the river or sideways depends upon obtain!rg permission from the Government to build on its ground, which permission was refused last time it was applied for. Borne time ago this paper illustrated the winning designs in a competition inaugurated by the Christchurch Beautifying Association, and won by Messrs Hart and Reese of that city for on Improvement Scheme for the Cathedral Square. At a recent meeting of the above society the matter was drawn attention to. and the fact that nothing further had been done by the Tramways Board or the City Council who hold the winning designs for consideration. The Christchurch Technical College is suffering from the same complaint as the Wellington i.e., lack of proper accommodation. The special committee appointed to consider the

question of building extensions reported that it had carefully considered the matter in conjunction with a memorandum from the Director, and outlined plans from Mr. Bowring, and it recommended: —(1) That the present stairwell be thrown into the cloak-rooms and the staff commonrooms, and that a new double stairway be constructed to come out of the hall. (2) That the hall be increased in length to 100 feet. (3) That four additional rooms be added to the south wing, approximately 25 x 27 feet. (4) That the ground floor of these be approached by a corridor through the present drawing office, and the upstair rooms by an outside covered balcony. (5) That increased sanitary accommodation be provided, that the girls' cloak room be transferred to the north end of the building, and the boys’ to the south. The committee also considered the question of the establishment of a hostel for boys, but in view of the urgent need for the provision of the above accommodation it recommended that the matter be postponed for the present. The estimated cost of the total work was just over £O,OOO. The report was adopted, the estimate of the cost to be forwarded to the Government. The architect of the Education Board has been instructed to prepare a sketch plan of the proposed new school at West Christchurch, and Dr. Chilton has been asked to confer with the Buildings Committee at its next meeting. PALMERSTON NORTH. It is not generaly known that the Nestle and AngloSwiss Condensed Milk Company has purchased a property of over thirty acres in the vicinity of Palmerston North, and that thereon is to be erected an extensive factory for the production of the well known Nestle’s Condensed Milk. But for the war the buildings would already have been up, and the industry in active operation. Still, even at this critical time, the initial step in construction has been taken. A cable received from London early this month directed that two artesian wells, capable of supplying at least 500,000 gallons of water daily, straightway should be sunk. This work, therefore, is not only already in hand but it can be expected that immediately the war is over further and rapid progress will at once be made.

NELSON, The trustees in the Cawthron Estate have purchased a site for the Institute at Annesbrook. An area of 20 acres has been acquired, including the old Annesbrook homestead, erected by the late Mr. Hugh Stafford. A considerable por-t-on of the land is of first-class quality, some part being in good orchard, and the site available for the Institute building is unsurpassed, being rising ground, easy of approach, and overlooking the lower portion of the bay and the Waimcas. The trustees of the Fund are investing a further £5,000 in war bonds, making £IO,OOO so invested. WANGANUI. During the month it was announced that the Wanganui. Education Board had accepted the tender of Messrs Graham and Son, Christchurch, of £13,000 for the erection of the Sargeant Art Gallery. It will be remembered that the winning design originated in the office of Mr. Edmund Anscombc of Dunedin. The total cost of the building is said to be in the vicinity of £IO,OOO. Full particulars of the competition were published a few months back in “Progress,” the conditions of which called for a design to cost not more than £O,OOO. The system of lighting adopted for the building is new for this part of the world. The galleries will be arranged face to face, with a corridor having a solid ceiling between, the light being admitted in the side of the ceiling vault above, and directed upon the picture wall, while the spectator remains in comparative darkness.

WELLINGTON. There has been considerable talk in Wellington over the scarcity of houses, and there is an undoubted demand for them at present, but some are inclined to think that the demand will cease when the camps break up. In the meantime there is opportunity for house builders, and we understand several schemes arc afoot to relieve the congestion, notably one to erect a building of considerable size to be let as 'fiats.’ Several local architects have been asked to compete and if anything comes of the project there should be no lack of tenants. The new ward for Trentham Camp Hospital, for which the sum of £I,OOO was given by the Wellington Racing Club, is rapidly nearing completion. It will have accommodation for about 24 patients. The camp hospital system is now in good working order, the two new fever wards being fully equipped, but still without any inmates, the sick rate of the whole camp being exceedingly low. The same applies to Featherston, where the number of patients is small. A start is being made there with the erection of the fever hospital, and also the accommodation house for patients’ relatives. In view of the threatened shortage of white pine timber in the future, the Government is being urged by the Farmers’ Union to consider the advisability of purchasing suitable areas of privately-owned white pine forests not at present being worked, which, together with similar areas of such forests owned by the Government, would form a reserve of white pine timber for the future needs of the Dominion. High prices are interfering with the erection of workers’ dwellings in various centres. Tenders called for at Hastings and Wellington have been too high to admit of the work being carried out. It is proposed to call for fresh tenders in Wellington.