HOUSING EXPERIMENTS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18264, 24 December 1924, Page 4

HOUSING EXPERIMENTS.

FAILURES AND SUCCESSES. An experiment that proves a failure mav I*s quite as valuable as one that is-, successful (says the London "Illustrated Carpenter and Builder" - ). I'disappoint those who pinned their faith to the object or method tested, but it instructs these who seek for knowledge. That is why the Acton Council ::re to be commended for al'owing a part of their, housing estate to loused for the erection of experimental houses. Net all of the exp?riments 'hare been successful, as a report lately published in "The Times" clearly shows. Cut the report afc»> shows that the experiments were well worth making. The principal conditions laid ooirn, savs "The Times" correspondent, when the ground was originally fc-.ken over bv the British Ministry of Health, were that the houses should be at reasonable desfm and construction, and that ♦he price charged bv the contractors responsible should not be liigher than that for a normal brick house. Any lass was to 1« borne by the inventor of anv new method experimented with Mr'S. B. Russell, at tfo't time civc* architect for liousing at the Ministry of Health, was largely respcnsible for the development of this experimental ?rea wheh later came under the supervision of Mr H. O. Weller, formerly the Director of the Building Re-searoti Board, whose laboratories and offices are now close bv. The cottages :•? seen to-day loo.i comfortable* r.nd solid, and arc in no souse frea.ki.sh. for the authorities took care that no fantastic design should be admitted. But closer inspection reveals some of the weaknesses. There is a system, for example, of reinforced concrete construction in which a heavy crane had to be iwed to hr.ul up the stanchions at prohibitive erst, and tite massive roof has since cra"ked ko seriously that it has had to be recovered with slates. Another pair of small cottages were built so strongly that men were at work on them for over a year: each cost over £2OOO. :-nd they could now carry two more storeys with ease. The labour employed on another pair was so unskilled, in preparing rt>ncrete that many serious mistakes wer* made. Those responsible then ler.rnt that t!ie idea that "unskilled unemployed fn be utilised in cottage building was.political moonshine. In ano-thcr ca c e water percola.ted through it until it stood 4ft deep in the basement. Again, in another, tlve concrete blocks foiled so completely to keep out the rain on the exposed side of tlie house that the walls have had to l>e recovered. These defect* are emphasised, not because of anv disbelief in # the future of concrete or in the mixture of sawdust <md concrete that is now being put on the market, but because thev show that results must not be expected too quickly from nesv methods. There were successes as well as comparative failures. A tenant of one tiinber house, made of fif from Canada, cement gummed on the • exterior, and plastered within,-, said recently that she had lived there for three years and had no fault to find with it. But in this case the cost was certainly not lower than that of bricks. Then, too, a pair of cottages made of.hollow brick and brick earth were economical., and are passing all tests. A furnace' room made of pi-c de terre in shuttering designed by Mr 8. B. Itussell shows no signs of weakness. In the majority of cases the new methods, on which great ingenuity was exercised, and much capital w.;i.s expended, have not achieved much. But the cottages at Acton have provided a host of lessons for the future, and t.he> constructional and engineering experts and scientists who co-operate with the Building Research Board are still studying them carefully - and noting, points of weakness and strength.