LAND AND BUILDINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 115, 16 May 1924, Page 9

LAND AND BUILDINGS.

I —- i j Tlie new building which is proposed !to erect for Messrs. >anford, Ltd., at , J Freeman's Bay for the handling of fish ! J and other products, will cover v ground I area of 35,000 square feet. Installed .in the building will be freezing chambers and coders on the most modern lines, and Ihe cost of the complete structure is approximately £60,000. It will give an idea of the remark able hoorn in building in Auckland when it is mentioned that during the four years of the war period the total number of permits issued by the municipal authorities in Auckland was 430!), of a declared value of £908,218. From MIS-lfl. which included part of the war period, till the end of 1924, the permits issued Vi ere 13,000 of a declared value 0f'£.i,003,!)60. Preliminary sketch plans have been approved of (he propose.! cathedral at Xel'on, which is expected to cost about ; £50.000. BuiMint; operations are to Jhe commenced when sufficient funds are lin hand, and a sum of £20,000 left by the late Mi*a Marsden will be available for the first portion of the building. The new art gallery, which is to he erected on the site of ihp Civic Centre, N to provide for jrallerios with I.VW I lineal feet of wall space, and there will also he a furniture gallery and bricabrac gallery with To feet of wall space each. Tiie entrance hall will provide 4000 superficial feet of space for the display of statuary, pte but even so this is only a of the extensive scheme, as the pallnry is to he built to allow of extensions. In America they are now talking of a bouse with revolving rooms. The jrround floor is on a revolving which is divided into throe large living rooms. By pressing a hotton when standing on the outer edge of the room one is in, the whole apartment ! turns, including the walls, and Mie next segment reveals another living-room. ' In this way, it is said, dining-room, drawing-room, and library are fit for guests or members of the family at a moment's notice. Now that we can listen-in to America, comments an English sceptic, some night, perhaps, we shall hear a room turninp! Taking as their watchward "A City | of Trees." property-owners and estate J agents in a number of California:! cities j have set in motion a tree-plantin? i movement. In these cities, building I operations and the extension of municipal works have occasioned the deIstruction of many trees. The promoters i of the movement mentioned maintain j that as a matter of good business the. J streets and available open spaces should be methodically replanted. There is i great scope for a similar movement in j many parts of Xew Zealand. j I An electric light fitting of a novel j type, which was exhibited recently in London, is said to give a beautiful light- j ing effect. It takes the form of a flat disc of crystal, which lies close against' the ceiling, and is patterned with great j butterflies. The light is enclosed in a ;small bowl of carved crystal, which hangs from the middle of the di3c. Marble ornaments or plaques (according to a British exchange) can he renovated by applying a mixture comprising four parts of cuttlebone to five parts of kieselguhr and eight parts of crystal carbonate of soda. Mix the ingredients to a paste and apply the paste with a rag, rubbing well. Then wash off the paste and finish with a good polishing cream j to give a final gloss. j Amongst housing novelties lately cxi hibited in England arc knobs and other : door-furniture in a material that resembles enamel, but differs in that its colour J goes right through it, and is not merely' lon the surface; it is smooth to the touch and attracts no dust. Sometimes its colourings are mottled, but the prettiest example shows half the handle in grey and the other half in mauve. There is | Ino limit to the colours offered for one's I choice, and it is quite inexpensive. Wood for doorplatcs and so on in its newest! guise is framed by wreaths of brightly- ; coloured little flowers hand-painted in Lthick oil paint and silver. It is also I painted with simple landscape scenes. lOf course, the woman who is clever with j her brush can do this sort of decoration, herself on plain wood. The new coloured ' ' plates of wood are warranted to wash. (Enamelled steel plates are new and will I not chip or break. There is also some j novel and attractive hand-painted pottery] j door "furniture." j Indirect lighting of house interiors by I electricity gives great opportunity for ! artistic treatment. The light bowls Ehould j harmonise with the design of the room. Many interiors, beautifully furnished, are spoiled by trumpery or incongruous light bowls. Some ol the. old fittings have , metal dishes, which cast shadows, and j fail to shed an even light over the room. j Alabaster dishes have been invented to J 1 rectify this defect, and they do so thor-; loughly. Set in alabaster the light is 3oft I but translucent. No shadows fall from lit. The peculiarity of alabaster is that jno two pieces are alike, so that each dish I presents a different effect, _ and all arc beautiful. There are many and varied 'tints, ranging through pure white, cream i and ivory. Some have crimson veins, j others green tints, but all have high aesthetic value. Two alabaster bowls hanging from the ceiling of a dining room, drawing room or smoke room with a few shaded candle brackets on the walls are recommended. Sheets of tin of various sizes, enanicl- ! led to represent tiles, are being sold in j Great Britain, and they are said to bo i extraordinarily useful, as a wipe with I a wet cloth is all that is required to keep them spick and span. Originally designed for washstand splashers or for j I hiding an ugly hearth, these little I strips of tiling can really be used all ! over the house. They are excellent as wall covers in the converted kitchen, where saucepans and their lids hang I and make marks, whilst as covers for shelves they are cleaner and neater than strips of newspaper and prettier than I a covering of American cloth. Any bits 'of wall by sinks or baths can be protected from being soiled by one or two I of. these strips, while one permanently I nailed to the kitchen table at one end ■ for doing dirty jobs on saves many I scrubbings. In the larder they make ' excellent cold plates on which to put > uncooked meat or fish temporarily, and save soiling plates, whilst as a top for I I a temporary washstand, with another I one used as a splasher at the back on I the wall, the effect is really splendid.

I There is no doubt that the profession jof architecture exercises a rare fascinaj tion, and many young men, attracted by other considerations than the prospects of great emoluments, have entered the j profession only to experience disappointj ment, says a writer in the "'lllustrated : Carpenter and Builder.'' Some indeed, and | those not always the least gifted, have ] found it impossible to obtain from their chosen profession the modest competence [which was all they sought. Others have \ j been disappointed by the discovery that their calling offered them very little scope for the exercise of their artistic I powers, but only an endless succession jof humdrum activities demanding nothI ing but a moderate skill in draughtsmanship and building construction. We do I not know whether Lord Curzon's expressions of enthusiasm for architecture in his speech at the opening of the Architecture Club's exhibition will bring a j fresh accession to the already overI crowded ranks of the profession. In his lordship's remarks on the wide scope and varied interests of the architect's calling there was much truth, but probahly when he said that he would like to have been a working architect himself his hearers detected the note of half-humorous exaggeration.