Zealand.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 284, 1 December 1898, Page 4 (Supplement)

Zealand.

l-" ""'7.\ ,: ■"' . [JasK .-.: 7 1 ' • - j'orough\ £ '«c storied-V _ u% . -.«oTthat; ;*rses now rei .-a'ced it is i not 7or a facsimile? of the building .•croyed to be put up, but somethingis erected on a scale more in keeping with the increased business importance. Perhaps it cannot be said that the day has arrived when the enhanced value of important city property ■will make it necessary that at least three storey buildings occupy the land to make a profitable return on capital, Jbut that day is not far distant. It. would be too considerable a matter to name all the buildings in town with any pretensions to architectural -merit, but a few may be specified. All the bank premises are in keeping, with the size of the place, while the buildings of the New Zealand, South British, Government Life, Mutual Provi-' dent, and Mutual Life Insurance companies are ornamental and effective. On the water front the offices of the Harbour Board immediately attract attention, and the Sailors' v Home adjoining also adds to .the appearance of the'town, looked at from the harbour. The Victoria Arcade, on the . Shortland-Queen-stre.et corner, is<a very handsome building, and the 'Auckland Star'- Office, facing both Shortland and Fort streets, is an imposing structure. The line of buildings now in course of erection along the Queen-street end of Customsstreet East may all be considered valuable additions to the architecture of the town. 'The New Zealand Herald' buildings in Queen-street arc striking, and the Free Public Library and Art Gallery and V.M.C.A. are both handsome structures. Of hotels most ~of the buildings are anything but insignificant, while The Grand, The Star, The Waverley. The Metropolitan, The Imperial, The Central, The Albert and the new Shakspeare have all considerable pretensions to architectural merit. St. Paul's, St. Patrick's, St. Andrew's, the Congregational Church, Heresford street, and the Tabernacle are' good samples •of permanent church edifices, and St. James', St.. Sepulchre's, St. John's, and S*. Mary's Cathedral afford an illustration of handsome wooden churches. •A considerable addition to the church architecture of the city will be made Tvhen St. Matthew's, desig-ns for which »re now being prepared, is completed. SUBURBAN.- RESIDENCES. Nd. place can boast 'prettier suburban residences than Auckland. A

I ,;,i ■«-=• uaa uecii iuhud .-- during the past few "me. thing, a departure has ~|ona.'^he box-style of. house \ ' irly comprised a great section' ot'su Durban homes. It ■_*' how recognised that even, in' small dvyeilings the unbroken square is hot necessary,, and our suburban architecture has correspondingly improved. An-

other myth that has died a lingering death is that embodying the question of painting. The uniform cream or brown coloured paint for exteriors has at last been broken away from, and one may now see grood effects in almost any shade. Kauri is particularly well adapted for obtaining pleasingresults in painting, and the only wonder is that the. former rule as to colour was not superseded earlier. Practically all residences in Auckland axe built of wood, and it will be

a great ™\lny years before any considerable percentage of the dwellings are in stq;, ne or b r ick. Wood is not.only less expensive, but lends itself better Ao**pleasing effects on a small; scale. "'Ail element of variety has been introduced into local residential architec- ',. ture recently in i*ed tiled houses, and: ■what are known as Canadian snowhouses. The effect of such houses,

peeping from among- the wealth of trees characteristic of our suburbs, is distinctly pleasing. There is no doubt that the day of emancipation from preconceived notions in respect to the buildi-ifi- of residences locally has come; and the license of to-day in allowing a breadth of design and colouring is very different from the narrow conservatism of it few years ago—a fact plainly visible in the. many pretty villa residences to be found in all our suburbs.