CAN A BUILDING LAST TOO LONG?

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17861, 6 September 1923, Page 4

CAN A BUILDING LAST TOO LONG?

(Contributed.) is civilisation is progressive, and the so-called luxuries of one generation become tit's necessities of the) next, the question arises—can a residence outlast its period of usefulness? I think of the changes during tho last 25 years. Windows, doors, roofs, interiors, heating systems t and conveniences have all altered according to demand. Science, discovery, and invention are still unfolding their gifts to man, so that the home of a century hence will not be the typt of home of to-day. Experiences m Great Britain have emphasised this.. Permanent buildings built a century ago have become obsolete j and in some cases 6lum areas, because they have not changed with the demand of the times. Some such buildings have recently been demolished, by Government's order, to make way for present-day buildings, while in other cases large dwellings remain untenanted. vVhero buildings were constructed of stone, or other solid matter, proposed reconstruction was either too expensive or impracticable.

The past has taught us many lessons, for, even in New Zealand, the observant will have noticed that the eld homes,'built 40 or 50 years ago, are in many cases still standing —still occupied—and likely to bo for many years to come. These wooden buildings have their defects —in some* cases due to being placed on piles or blocks, which have settled or straining the buildings, so causing leaky roofs and other troubles. The weatherboarding, in many cases, shows decay and borer, accompanied by general insanitary conditions, and although such buildings have become semi-obsolete in design and convenience, they nevertheless teach us an important lesson. If these buildings had been erected on a brick or concrete foundation with a dependable exterior, in place of the weather-board, the lifetime of the structure would have been equal to their period of utility of 75 years or more. To-day, the demand is for the 'most economical and serviceable home at a reasonable cost, and there is no reason why this demand cannot be supplied in a good modern residential building, on a brick or concrete, foundation —even in ordinary sap timber, but with a dependable exterior in ulaoe of the old type weatherboard or rustic, which would then last at least a century, probably much longer, providing the exterior is of such material that will readilv lend itself to economical reconstruction.