It's Moving Day Up Auckland Way

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 23, 14 December 1934, Page 14

It's Moving

Day Up Auckland Way

Already the old 1YA studio near Karangahape Road, Auckland, is wearing the air of a building whose days are numbered. This time next week the old premises will be deserted and the staff and performers will be settled in. the new studios and offices in Shortland Street, just a fers minutes’ walk from the busiest part of Queen Street. Below is a discription of the new building.

HEN the British Broadcasting Corporation moved from its original premises at Savoy Hill, London, to the up-to-date Broadcasting House in Portland Place, a writer in a London paper made passing comment on the changes in broadcasting since the first days at Savoy Hill. He wrote of the time when there was but one studio, and a lecturer would have to force his way through the chairs and paraphernalia left behind by an orchestra which had been the previous number on the air, All was. changed when the Corporation moved to the white and "coldly classical" Broadcasting House. There there were studios for talks, studios for children’s broadcasts, roomy concert chambers for bands and orchestras . . . in fact a studio. for every branch of the wireless art. , And so will memory be cast back when 1YA takes its bags and baggage next week from the old. studio building in France Street to the new building at the top of Shortland Street. The little building near Karangahape Road was built by the New Zealand Broadcasting Company (in fact its name-is still graven in concrete across the entire front) and it was, of course, maintained when the Broadcasting Board took over the reins. It could never have been called convenient or artistic-even. in its palmiest days-and now, with the immense growth of the service, the lack of accommodation is tragic. But all that is over. Down will come the tall masts from the top of George Court’s building nearby, and the little studio will soon be be-labelled with. a forlorn notice, "Moved to new premises." The staff will probably look back on the old days--when singers and orchestras crowded into the one studio and a speaker was often forced to sit in the announcer’s room to give his talk. . The Shortland Street building is ready and waiiing with its bright walls and floors and its air of spacousness and modernity. One thing particularly struck the "Radio Record" representative who looked over the new place the other day-the width and grace of the staircases which serve the various floors. The general manager of the New Zealand Broadcasting Board (Mr. E. C. Hands) was insistent that the architects should pay attention to the stairs. There were to be no poky, precipitous staircases tucked away in dark corners, but well-lit, wide-tread stairs that simply invited one to

move from one floor to the other. The stairs are important too from the fact that that there is no lift in th building-a lift means vertical steel-work, and cal steel-work means the conveying of extraneous sound to the studios. The building is of brick and is pointed.in creani. Viewed from Shortland Street, it does not look impressively large, for only one story protrudes above the level of the street. But on the other side its true dimensions can be more accurately judged, for the section slopes sharply away and the building towers four stories on the "downhill side." An outside stairway gives access to the administrative offices, to the resident officer’s floor and to the basement and storerooms. The studio floor is served by the the main entrance which opens directly into a finely-proportioned hall, square in.shape and lighted by a large lead-light dome, in which have been set numerous lights. The walls are finished in shades of buff and cream and the ceiling in delicate tones of green. The light which comes through the dome in the hall is the only natural lighting which reaches this floor, for here are most of the studios and the first consideration had necessarily to be the exclusion of noise, It was strange to come out of the brilliant sunshine of a sweltering Auckland day into the cool dimness of the studios (for only a few of the lights were turned on). In No. 3 studio-the children’s studio, as it is calledthe ceiling is decorated with "blobs" which are not only © decorative but of acoustical value. In this room the lighting is of the trough variety, set between the ceiling and the walls and reflected back by the chromiumplated trough. . The walls in all the studios are covered with a sound-resisting material of an attractive biscuit colour. The ceilings are acoustically treated, too, but the artistic side has not been lost sight of and even the breaking of such unpleasant news as increased taxation could not be otherwise than a joy in these delightful surroundings. The control room has a view of all the studios on this floor and of the concert chamber. Of this rater room, or hall it should be called, the writer could grow most unprofessionally enthusiastic. It is a room the size.of a small theatre and is finished in: cream and brown. It has an air of architectural solidity, while everything about it is suggestive of modern simplicty and grace. ‘At one end is the tiered dais from which orchestras will perform while at the other end is.a min* strel’s gallery and the long window where the man at the controls will look down on the performers, The lighting is interesting-chromium-plated rectangular fixtures fitting flush against the ceiling. Focusing lights ‘have also been installed so that the performers will be able to capture all the glamour of the real theatre. | On this floor (the concert hall is two floors in height) are the staff offices-bright, cheerful room finished in the same material as the interior walls of Auck:land’s Civic Theatre. The station director’s office is panelled in kauri, and the upper walls have been treated

IYA Leaves Karangahape Road Neighbourhood for the New Studios In Shortland Street

With acoustical well-board. On the floor below is 2 big room which will be used for studio space as @ccasion demands. On this floor, too, are the living quarters of the resident

officer-as nice a flat as one would find anywhere in Auckland. On the lowest floor of all are the "entrails of the rs inal (or the "guts of the whole show" as one of tht workmen unpoetically remarked). Here is the ‘equipment for driving fresh air through the building and extracting the foul air, for the lack of windows on the studio floor has compelled the installation of a complete ventilating and heating outfit. Air from outside is drawn into a white-tiled chamber, from which place it passes into the washing chamber where is is freed from all impurities. From the washing chamber it passes on to the heating room where it is brought to a comfortable temperature before it is sent on its long j journey through the building. There are very few of these heating apparatuses in the Southern Hemisphere, the reporter was told. There is also equipment for withdrawing the stale air, the atmosphere in the studios being completely. changed every 10 minutes. The floors of the building are covered with a noise: less rubber material which is both bright and easy to keep clean. There is scarcely a stick of foreign material in the whole place. Wherever possible New Zealand materials have been used and practically the whole of the timber used is Dominion-grown. In cases where the material has not been available the Empire has been given first consideration and England, Canada and Australia have all benefited from this new studio. The completion of this building marks the end of a long and exacting job, and Auckland should be proud in the possession of one of the most up-to-date broadcasting studios in the world. But there have been many difficulties to overcome, the numerous wires that had to be laid adding to the contractors’ worries. Before the roof was put on, and during the winter rains, the water ran from the

top floor to the bottom through the ventilation ducts that had necessarily to be left in-the floors and ceilings for the ventilation and heating systems. And then, when the rgof was finally put over the building, the men working on the studio floor found themselves in Stygian darkness owing to the absence of windows. For the past two months théy have been working by artificial light... Here are some interesting facts and figures about the new building :~ Work on the new building was started on February 1-of this year. ° Lifts are taboo. -They cause vibration and interior noises. The highest point of the building above | -. Shortland Street is, 334ft. The total height of the building on the.- ° north side is 73ft. The total area occupied by the-new building is 9628 sq. ft. | There has been an average of 48 men ployed since the work started. ‘The architects were Messrs. Norman Wade, F.N.Z1.A., and A. M. Bartley, A.RI.B.A. ' The builders were Messrs. C. W. Ravenhall and Company, of Auckland. The clerk of works was Mr. P. R. Dunkley. The building is within four minutes’ walk of the busiest part of Queen Street. One of the masts now on top of George Court's building in Karangahape Road will be erected above the new building.