Vol. CXVIII — 3061
The ARCHITECT
& BUILDING NEWS
August 19, 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
Notes and Comments................................................. page 295, 296 Birmingham Civic Centre Competition (Illustra
tions) .................................................................... 297-307, 309 Book Review... ...................................................... 301 Notes in Brief................................................................................ 306 Maladies and Remedies — II: ‘‘Dusting’’ in Cement
Floors............................................................................ 308
House at Henfield, Sussex (Illustrations)................................ 310, 311 Correspondence.............................................................................. 312
Competition Notes................................................................. 296, 312
New Ways and Means (Illustrations).......................................... 313 The Significance of Structure (Illustrations)....... 314, 315, 316, 318 London Building Notes.............................................................. 320 The Week’s Building News....................................................... 322 Building Contracts Open........................................................ 324
Building Tenders......................................................................................................................... 324, 328 Current Market Prices........................................................................................................ 326, 328 Current Measured Rates..................................................................................................... 330, 332 Building Wage Grades................................................................. 334
NOTES AND COMMENTS
The personnel of the Royal Commission to enquire into the question of the London squares has been announced and will command confidence, even though the list contains few names that are well-known to the public. The omission of an architect or townplanner is a mistake, however, that ought to be speedily remedied. The demand, frequently made of late, that the square gardens should be thrown open, either to the public or at least to school children, is dealt with at some length by Mr. Basil Holmes in a letter to The Times. He points out, as we have noted in these columns, that most of these gardens are kept up at the expense of the tenants of the surrounding houses, who also pay pretty heavily in piece of garden ground, and he does not regard sole bit of garden ground, and he does not regard the demand for general or partial opening to other members of the community as a practicable proposition in these circumstances. One can appreciate the sentimental desire to admit children to any plot of grass than can be found in cities, without concurring in the view that this desire must be satisfied at the expense and comfort of other people. Moreover, the idea does not work out in practice. If the sentimentalist took the trouble to visit square gardens which have been taken over as open spaces by local authorities, he would find that grass and shrubs are carefully railed off as a necessary measure of preservation. Though some children are destructive, it is not mischievousness alone but number that has to be guarded against. The simple fact is that grass in a town square is a delicate growth that can only withstand the traffic of a very limited number of people. Mr. Holmes and his society, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, are content at present to save the garden squares from building, and preserve them not only as a delight to the eye, but as valuable lungs to the districts in which they are situated. The question of a more extended use of the gardens can be considered later on, when the conditions of the surrounding tenancies may have altered the situation.
A scheme for establishing Dorchester House, Park Lane, as an Imperial Art Centre in London is being organised by Lady Beecham, and promises of substantial financial support are already forthcoming. In its main idea of forming a centre and meetingplace for those concerned in the art and literary life of the nation, it seems to follow the scheme which the late Lord Leverhulme intended to carry out at Grosvenor House. The main reception rooms would be used as art galleries, but the magnificent hall and marble staircase are intended to form an approach to a theatre, holding 2, 000 people, to be erected on the
garden ground facing Deanery Street, the banqueting chamber of the house becoming the foyer. As there are ample rooms in the house to form dressing-rooms, offices, etc., it is contemplated that only the auditorium and stage need to be added. A permanent income for the theatre will be provided by the annual subscriptions of members, which will entitle them to seats at the dramatic performances. Promises or guarantees covering a sum of over £200, 000 have been received, and it is stated that the Shakespeare Memorial Committee have provisionally agreed to allocate their fund of £80, 000 contingent on the theatre being added.
The discovery that a considerable stretch of Cornhill alongside the recent building collapse had no visible means of support led to a newspaper scare which has only been allayed by the reassurance of expert technical opinion. The cavity existing under the concrete road bed is said to extend under the foundation of part of the damaged building still standing, and this fact has made the work of shoring and securing the structure more protracted and more difficult. So far no official pronouncement as to the precise cause of the collapse has been made public, and possibly none is possible until all the debris has been cleared away. In the public mind, the cavity naturally suggests itself as a factor in the collapse, and there has been a good deal of speculation about the disappearance of the solid earth upon which the concrete road bed was originally laid. The action of some subsoil water current seems to furnish the most likely explanation; and the building collapse, distressing by reason of the loss and inconvenience occasioned, may have its beneficent aspect if it leads to a closer investigation of London’s hidden streams and to proper provision being made for their flow to a known outfall. In the piecemeal rebuilding of the City, where high buildings with deep foundations are replacing comparatively low structures, interference with water flowing through the subsoil under the former shallow basements may easily occur. Contractors working on comparatively small sites cannot be expected to solve such problems on their own account. Paced with an infiltration of water into an excavation, their chief concern will be to hold it back or pump it away until their solid, waterproofed concrete box foundation is completed. But the flow thus diverted or impeded will almost certainly find another course, with results possibly as alarming and as dangerous as that disclosed under the roadway of Cornhill. Considering that the City is practically all built or paved over, and that the rainfall runs away into the sewers, the existence of so much subsoil water will be a mystery to many people. It is possible that
The ARCHITECT
& BUILDING NEWS
August 19, 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
Notes and Comments................................................. page 295, 296 Birmingham Civic Centre Competition (Illustra
tions) .................................................................... 297-307, 309 Book Review... ...................................................... 301 Notes in Brief................................................................................ 306 Maladies and Remedies — II: ‘‘Dusting’’ in Cement
Floors............................................................................ 308
House at Henfield, Sussex (Illustrations)................................ 310, 311 Correspondence.............................................................................. 312
Competition Notes................................................................. 296, 312
New Ways and Means (Illustrations).......................................... 313 The Significance of Structure (Illustrations)....... 314, 315, 316, 318 London Building Notes.............................................................. 320 The Week’s Building News....................................................... 322 Building Contracts Open........................................................ 324
Building Tenders......................................................................................................................... 324, 328 Current Market Prices........................................................................................................ 326, 328 Current Measured Rates..................................................................................................... 330, 332 Building Wage Grades................................................................. 334
NOTES AND COMMENTS
The personnel of the Royal Commission to enquire into the question of the London squares has been announced and will command confidence, even though the list contains few names that are well-known to the public. The omission of an architect or townplanner is a mistake, however, that ought to be speedily remedied. The demand, frequently made of late, that the square gardens should be thrown open, either to the public or at least to school children, is dealt with at some length by Mr. Basil Holmes in a letter to The Times. He points out, as we have noted in these columns, that most of these gardens are kept up at the expense of the tenants of the surrounding houses, who also pay pretty heavily in piece of garden ground, and he does not regard sole bit of garden ground, and he does not regard the demand for general or partial opening to other members of the community as a practicable proposition in these circumstances. One can appreciate the sentimental desire to admit children to any plot of grass than can be found in cities, without concurring in the view that this desire must be satisfied at the expense and comfort of other people. Moreover, the idea does not work out in practice. If the sentimentalist took the trouble to visit square gardens which have been taken over as open spaces by local authorities, he would find that grass and shrubs are carefully railed off as a necessary measure of preservation. Though some children are destructive, it is not mischievousness alone but number that has to be guarded against. The simple fact is that grass in a town square is a delicate growth that can only withstand the traffic of a very limited number of people. Mr. Holmes and his society, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, are content at present to save the garden squares from building, and preserve them not only as a delight to the eye, but as valuable lungs to the districts in which they are situated. The question of a more extended use of the gardens can be considered later on, when the conditions of the surrounding tenancies may have altered the situation.
A scheme for establishing Dorchester House, Park Lane, as an Imperial Art Centre in London is being organised by Lady Beecham, and promises of substantial financial support are already forthcoming. In its main idea of forming a centre and meetingplace for those concerned in the art and literary life of the nation, it seems to follow the scheme which the late Lord Leverhulme intended to carry out at Grosvenor House. The main reception rooms would be used as art galleries, but the magnificent hall and marble staircase are intended to form an approach to a theatre, holding 2, 000 people, to be erected on the
garden ground facing Deanery Street, the banqueting chamber of the house becoming the foyer. As there are ample rooms in the house to form dressing-rooms, offices, etc., it is contemplated that only the auditorium and stage need to be added. A permanent income for the theatre will be provided by the annual subscriptions of members, which will entitle them to seats at the dramatic performances. Promises or guarantees covering a sum of over £200, 000 have been received, and it is stated that the Shakespeare Memorial Committee have provisionally agreed to allocate their fund of £80, 000 contingent on the theatre being added.
The discovery that a considerable stretch of Cornhill alongside the recent building collapse had no visible means of support led to a newspaper scare which has only been allayed by the reassurance of expert technical opinion. The cavity existing under the concrete road bed is said to extend under the foundation of part of the damaged building still standing, and this fact has made the work of shoring and securing the structure more protracted and more difficult. So far no official pronouncement as to the precise cause of the collapse has been made public, and possibly none is possible until all the debris has been cleared away. In the public mind, the cavity naturally suggests itself as a factor in the collapse, and there has been a good deal of speculation about the disappearance of the solid earth upon which the concrete road bed was originally laid. The action of some subsoil water current seems to furnish the most likely explanation; and the building collapse, distressing by reason of the loss and inconvenience occasioned, may have its beneficent aspect if it leads to a closer investigation of London’s hidden streams and to proper provision being made for their flow to a known outfall. In the piecemeal rebuilding of the City, where high buildings with deep foundations are replacing comparatively low structures, interference with water flowing through the subsoil under the former shallow basements may easily occur. Contractors working on comparatively small sites cannot be expected to solve such problems on their own account. Paced with an infiltration of water into an excavation, their chief concern will be to hold it back or pump it away until their solid, waterproofed concrete box foundation is completed. But the flow thus diverted or impeded will almost certainly find another course, with results possibly as alarming and as dangerous as that disclosed under the roadway of Cornhill. Considering that the City is practically all built or paved over, and that the rainfall runs away into the sewers, the existence of so much subsoil water will be a mystery to many people. It is possible that