caused by the inward and outward movement of the vast populations which, these buildings contain. The ban on the commercial skyscraper is also extended to the ‘ ‘ apartment houses, ’’ those vast congeries of flats, which have lately been rising higher and higher, and concurrently growing in cost, until on Park Avenue rentals of £10, 000 a year are being paid, and £1, 000 or £1, 500 is a comparatively modest annual rental for the use of this class of accommodation. The other great objection is the hazard of fire, as exemplified in the case of the new Sherry-Netherlands building, the tower of which caught fire as the building was being completed, and had to be left to burn itself out, as the firemen were quite helpless, the fire being at a height far beyond the reach of any pumping apparatus. While the zoning laws now in force, by enforcing design in recessed planes or setbacks, have secured a certain measure of light and area in the streets surrounding these immense buildings, they do not touch the evils arising from congestion or remove the element of fire risk. It is becoming more and more apparent, both in the United States and this country, that the height of buildings must be regulated by the width of the streets on which they abut, and that licence to build higher must be compensated for by the surrender to the public of a proportionate amount of the site for road widening. It is safe to say that this would very quickly settle the economic bearings of development. The ability to build to a great height benefits no one but the land speculator, and it results in great difficulties and losses to the community as a whole. As Mr. Howard Robertson has shown in a recent article in our pages, the skyscraper on a congested site is no longer an economic proposition. The space occupied by the supports, services, batteries of lifts, and other necessary equipment, takes up so much of the area of the valuable lower floors that there comes a point when the space left for letting can no longer bring in an economic return. The tendency, therefore, is to secure larger and larger sites, and the cost of acquiring these, of demolishing the existing buildings, many of them sound and serviceable, and erecting the new structure, now runs into such colossal figures that the financial aspect of skyscraper building is becoming increasingly shaky. Once there is any break in the present boom of prosperity, a point on which American economists appear to be apprehensive, these giant buildings would cease to bring in an economic return. Skyscraper building rather looks like a Frankenstein creation of the American building developer which will eventually devour him.
Archangel Timber
The arrival in this country of some cargoes of Archangel timber marked with red paint in place of the customary hammer mark has given rise to some suspicion among buyers that these shipments are not genuine Archangel goods, a suspicion possibly heightened by recent political events and changes in regard to Anglo-Russian trade. Timber from the White Sea for so long has enjoyed a high reputation that any reduction in quantity or quality would have a profound effect upon the market for wood of joinery grade, particularly in view of the great expansion, since the War, of the supplies of European timber often of inferior quality. The explanation of the change in marking the butts with red paint, instead of the usual hammer-stamp, appears to be that in recent years there had been instances of dissatisfaction on the part of importers owing to the hammermarks not being clear. Naturally, hammer-stamping does not stand out so clearly and legibly as marking with paint. As the reputation of White Sea timber is not founded upon any particular system of marking, but upon the quality of the wood itself, still maintained by uniformly strict bracking at the White Sea ports, it was not anticipated that this change in the marking would be considered by English importers as implying a drop in the pre-war standards of quality of the timber supplied. The vice-chairman of Exportles, Ltd., the organisation controlling the whole export of timber from the White Sea ports, states, however, that in deference to the wishes of British importers, instructions have been given to all Archangel mills to revert in future to the old method of marking by hammer-stamp alone. He has also given an authoritative assurance that all users of White Sea timber, who receive any part of the paint-marked timber from the cargoes in question, may rest assured that it is identical in quality with the timber they have been accustomed to receive in the past.
Piccadilly, London, is to be closed for repaving for four months from July 29, during which time traffic will, with the King’s consent, be diverted down the Mall and Constitution Hill. The three shops in the Strand, between Adam Street and the Hotel Cecil, are also to be removed shortly, and this will do away with a bottle-neck that has largely nullified the utility of the widening carried out on either side of them.
COMPETITION RESULTS
BOGNOR COUNCIL OFFICES
The assessor’s award in connection with the above competition is as follows:
First Premium — Design “I”: Mr. Charles Cowles-Voysey, 14, Gray’s Inn Square, W. C. l.
Second Premium — Design “Cˮ: Messrs. Clayton & Black, 10, Prince Albert Street, Brighton.
Third Premium — Design “J”: Messrs. Adshead & Ramsey, 46 Great Russell Street, London, W. C. l.
BRADFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The assessor’s award in connection with the above competition is as follows:
First Premium. — Design No. 15: Messrs. Petch & Fermaud, 12 Buckingham Palace Road, S. W. l.
Second Premium — Design No. 32: Messrs. Stratton Davis, Yates, Dolman & Rowland V. Taylor, 12 Queen Street, Gloucester.
Third Premium — Design No. 46: Messrs. Cecil A. L. Sutton & George A. Bryan, Albion Chambers, King Street, Nottingham.
The designs, of which 83 were submitted, will be on view in the Cartwright Memorial Hall, Lister Park,
Bradford, until Wednesday, July 27 (10 a. m. to 8 p. m. daily).
Archangel Timber
The arrival in this country of some cargoes of Archangel timber marked with red paint in place of the customary hammer mark has given rise to some suspicion among buyers that these shipments are not genuine Archangel goods, a suspicion possibly heightened by recent political events and changes in regard to Anglo-Russian trade. Timber from the White Sea for so long has enjoyed a high reputation that any reduction in quantity or quality would have a profound effect upon the market for wood of joinery grade, particularly in view of the great expansion, since the War, of the supplies of European timber often of inferior quality. The explanation of the change in marking the butts with red paint, instead of the usual hammer-stamp, appears to be that in recent years there had been instances of dissatisfaction on the part of importers owing to the hammermarks not being clear. Naturally, hammer-stamping does not stand out so clearly and legibly as marking with paint. As the reputation of White Sea timber is not founded upon any particular system of marking, but upon the quality of the wood itself, still maintained by uniformly strict bracking at the White Sea ports, it was not anticipated that this change in the marking would be considered by English importers as implying a drop in the pre-war standards of quality of the timber supplied. The vice-chairman of Exportles, Ltd., the organisation controlling the whole export of timber from the White Sea ports, states, however, that in deference to the wishes of British importers, instructions have been given to all Archangel mills to revert in future to the old method of marking by hammer-stamp alone. He has also given an authoritative assurance that all users of White Sea timber, who receive any part of the paint-marked timber from the cargoes in question, may rest assured that it is identical in quality with the timber they have been accustomed to receive in the past.
Piccadilly, London, is to be closed for repaving for four months from July 29, during which time traffic will, with the King’s consent, be diverted down the Mall and Constitution Hill. The three shops in the Strand, between Adam Street and the Hotel Cecil, are also to be removed shortly, and this will do away with a bottle-neck that has largely nullified the utility of the widening carried out on either side of them.
COMPETITION RESULTS
BOGNOR COUNCIL OFFICES
The assessor’s award in connection with the above competition is as follows:
First Premium — Design “I”: Mr. Charles Cowles-Voysey, 14, Gray’s Inn Square, W. C. l.
Second Premium — Design “Cˮ: Messrs. Clayton & Black, 10, Prince Albert Street, Brighton.
Third Premium — Design “J”: Messrs. Adshead & Ramsey, 46 Great Russell Street, London, W. C. l.
BRADFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The assessor’s award in connection with the above competition is as follows:
First Premium. — Design No. 15: Messrs. Petch & Fermaud, 12 Buckingham Palace Road, S. W. l.
Second Premium — Design No. 32: Messrs. Stratton Davis, Yates, Dolman & Rowland V. Taylor, 12 Queen Street, Gloucester.
Third Premium — Design No. 46: Messrs. Cecil A. L. Sutton & George A. Bryan, Albion Chambers, King Street, Nottingham.
The designs, of which 83 were submitted, will be on view in the Cartwright Memorial Hall, Lister Park,
Bradford, until Wednesday, July 27 (10 a. m. to 8 p. m. daily).