Vol. CXVIII―3054
The ARCHITECT & BUILDING NEWS
July 1, 1927
Proprietors: Gilbert Wood & Co., Ltd.
Managing Director: William L. Wood
Editorial, Publishing and Advertisement Offices:
Rolls House, 2 Breams Buildings, London, E. C. 4. Tel.: Holborn 5708 Registered Office: Imperial Buildings, Ludgate Circus, London, E. C. 4
Principal Contents Pecoration........ Page 1
Canberra.................................................................................1, 2 The Royal Gold Medallist........................................................ 2
The Foord Almshouses (Illustrations)..................................... 3-9, 11
Memoranda — II., White Portland Cement............................. 10 Repair of Rural Cottages — I. (Illustrations)................................ 12
Dispassionate View of Regent Street................................ .......... 13, 14
Competition Notes......................................................................... 14 Toming Events............................................................................... 14
The Brenforce Competition (Illustrations) 15-17
New Ways and Means (Illustrations)........................................18 A Hospital in the Making (Illustrations)................................. 19-24 Architects’ Registration Bill.................................... 26-27-28 London Building Notes ..........................................................30 The Week’s Building News.................................................32 Building Contracts Open............................................................. 34 Tenders Accepted..................................................................36 Current Market Prices.............................................................. 38-40 Current Measured Rates....................................................42-44 Building Wage Grades.........................................................40
Decoration
There is, probably, no subject over which there are more decided opinions and less, agreement than that of decoration. For a couple of decades at least the historic styles have had their sway, and the possibilities of the Jacobean, Georgian and Adam motifs have been exploited by architects, builders and decorative contractors to the point of boredom. And with this satiation in decoration by ornament has come, in the last few years, an increasing desire to experiment in decoration by colour. Our daily press teems with articles, mostly by feminine writers, advocating this or that colour scheme for this or that particular apartment, and we wonder sometimes whether readers ever attempt to carry these notions into effect, and what results they have achieved by so doing. It is almost equally instructive to read the description of some colour scheme carried out in a public hall or hotel and then to go and see the actual thing. For peoples’ ideas of colour are just as varied as their opinions on politics, religion or any other controversial subject. One has only to compare the colour cards of half a dozen different paint firms to realise how rash and hazardous it is to rely on a mere descriptive title. But this leaning towards colour as a means of decoration, sufficient and complete in itself, has had an immediate result in a general distaste for pattern— which is, of course, one form of ornament. We are gradually beginning to realise the force of the argument that all ornament must have sufficient plain background to give proper effect to it. That was a canon which the Victorians, with a riot of pattern on walls, floors, curtains and chair covers, not to mention serried rows of pictures, habitually transgressed. Ornament being to them a good thing, one could not have too much of it. Perhaps to-day the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction, and though even so plain surfaces in contrasting and harmonising colours seem to us preferable to the decorative beau ideal of the last century. One main difficulty is that decoration has been much neglected from the educational standpoint. There are few people who really know anything about colour, and still fewer who understand how it should be applied. We speak of a good decorator as having a “gift” for colour, implying
that he is more successful than most people in visualising the effect which certain colours will present if employed in certain situations. That colour, as a tangible entity, does not exist is a statement that would hardly be credited by the majority of people; yet in modern works of physics they would quickly find an explanation of how colour, as it appears to
them, is due to the rays off light reaching the retina of the eye from objects seen. And it follows from this that the interior and exterior conditions of natural light must have a profound influence on the question of colour in a particular room, and that artificial light also brings in a host of additional problems.
The educational question is, however, to be taken in hand by the Incorporated Institute of British Decorators, which proposes to endow a Lectureship in Decoration at one or more of the principal universities. This scheme is designed to provide a field of study at present almost outside the scope of university teaching, and one which will furnish an opportunity for decorators who desire to combine a good general education for their sons with special study in the subject in which ultimately they are to earn their living. It is probable that decoration will be made an additional optional subject in the course for the Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture, and it may also be made the subject of a special diploma award. It is understood further that holders of such a degree or diploma will be wholly or partially exempt from the entrance examination of the Institute. Negotiations are in progress with the universities concerned, and details will be available later in the year. The Institute is to be congratulated on its enterprise, and it is to be hoped that its example will lead to further facilities for thorough training in an important and extensive branch of art that has received but prefunctory attention hitherto.
Canberra
The opening of the new Parliament Buildings at Canberra has naturally given an impetus to proposals for other public buildings, the erection of which are rightly considered necessary as part of the equipment of the new Australian capital. A scheme, under the ægis of the Bishop of Goulburn, is being actively worked for the erection of a cathedral. Steps are being taken to secure expert advice on the choice of an architect, and also to appoint a special Commis sioner to organise an appeal for a building fund. As to the site, the summit of the Knoll appears to find most favour. This would give from the east end a magnificent view of the hills above Duntroon and the more distant panorama of mountains and valley beyond. Some modification of the present street plan would, however, be necessary to lead up properly to the west front of the cathedral.
On the subject of the Canberra War Memorial, Major H. C. Corlette, F. R. I. B. A., as London representative of the Australian Institutes of Architects,
The ARCHITECT & BUILDING NEWS
July 1, 1927
Proprietors: Gilbert Wood & Co., Ltd.
Managing Director: William L. Wood
Editorial, Publishing and Advertisement Offices:
Rolls House, 2 Breams Buildings, London, E. C. 4. Tel.: Holborn 5708 Registered Office: Imperial Buildings, Ludgate Circus, London, E. C. 4
Principal Contents Pecoration........ Page 1
Canberra.................................................................................1, 2 The Royal Gold Medallist........................................................ 2
The Foord Almshouses (Illustrations)..................................... 3-9, 11
Memoranda — II., White Portland Cement............................. 10 Repair of Rural Cottages — I. (Illustrations)................................ 12
Dispassionate View of Regent Street................................ .......... 13, 14
Competition Notes......................................................................... 14 Toming Events............................................................................... 14
The Brenforce Competition (Illustrations) 15-17
New Ways and Means (Illustrations)........................................18 A Hospital in the Making (Illustrations)................................. 19-24 Architects’ Registration Bill.................................... 26-27-28 London Building Notes ..........................................................30 The Week’s Building News.................................................32 Building Contracts Open............................................................. 34 Tenders Accepted..................................................................36 Current Market Prices.............................................................. 38-40 Current Measured Rates....................................................42-44 Building Wage Grades.........................................................40
Decoration
There is, probably, no subject over which there are more decided opinions and less, agreement than that of decoration. For a couple of decades at least the historic styles have had their sway, and the possibilities of the Jacobean, Georgian and Adam motifs have been exploited by architects, builders and decorative contractors to the point of boredom. And with this satiation in decoration by ornament has come, in the last few years, an increasing desire to experiment in decoration by colour. Our daily press teems with articles, mostly by feminine writers, advocating this or that colour scheme for this or that particular apartment, and we wonder sometimes whether readers ever attempt to carry these notions into effect, and what results they have achieved by so doing. It is almost equally instructive to read the description of some colour scheme carried out in a public hall or hotel and then to go and see the actual thing. For peoples’ ideas of colour are just as varied as their opinions on politics, religion or any other controversial subject. One has only to compare the colour cards of half a dozen different paint firms to realise how rash and hazardous it is to rely on a mere descriptive title. But this leaning towards colour as a means of decoration, sufficient and complete in itself, has had an immediate result in a general distaste for pattern— which is, of course, one form of ornament. We are gradually beginning to realise the force of the argument that all ornament must have sufficient plain background to give proper effect to it. That was a canon which the Victorians, with a riot of pattern on walls, floors, curtains and chair covers, not to mention serried rows of pictures, habitually transgressed. Ornament being to them a good thing, one could not have too much of it. Perhaps to-day the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction, and though even so plain surfaces in contrasting and harmonising colours seem to us preferable to the decorative beau ideal of the last century. One main difficulty is that decoration has been much neglected from the educational standpoint. There are few people who really know anything about colour, and still fewer who understand how it should be applied. We speak of a good decorator as having a “gift” for colour, implying
that he is more successful than most people in visualising the effect which certain colours will present if employed in certain situations. That colour, as a tangible entity, does not exist is a statement that would hardly be credited by the majority of people; yet in modern works of physics they would quickly find an explanation of how colour, as it appears to
them, is due to the rays off light reaching the retina of the eye from objects seen. And it follows from this that the interior and exterior conditions of natural light must have a profound influence on the question of colour in a particular room, and that artificial light also brings in a host of additional problems.
The educational question is, however, to be taken in hand by the Incorporated Institute of British Decorators, which proposes to endow a Lectureship in Decoration at one or more of the principal universities. This scheme is designed to provide a field of study at present almost outside the scope of university teaching, and one which will furnish an opportunity for decorators who desire to combine a good general education for their sons with special study in the subject in which ultimately they are to earn their living. It is probable that decoration will be made an additional optional subject in the course for the Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture, and it may also be made the subject of a special diploma award. It is understood further that holders of such a degree or diploma will be wholly or partially exempt from the entrance examination of the Institute. Negotiations are in progress with the universities concerned, and details will be available later in the year. The Institute is to be congratulated on its enterprise, and it is to be hoped that its example will lead to further facilities for thorough training in an important and extensive branch of art that has received but prefunctory attention hitherto.
Canberra
The opening of the new Parliament Buildings at Canberra has naturally given an impetus to proposals for other public buildings, the erection of which are rightly considered necessary as part of the equipment of the new Australian capital. A scheme, under the ægis of the Bishop of Goulburn, is being actively worked for the erection of a cathedral. Steps are being taken to secure expert advice on the choice of an architect, and also to appoint a special Commis sioner to organise an appeal for a building fund. As to the site, the summit of the Knoll appears to find most favour. This would give from the east end a magnificent view of the hills above Duntroon and the more distant panorama of mountains and valley beyond. Some modification of the present street plan would, however, be necessary to lead up properly to the west front of the cathedral.
On the subject of the Canberra War Memorial, Major H. C. Corlette, F. R. I. B. A., as London representative of the Australian Institutes of Architects,