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Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18970, 7 April 1927, Page 4

"Builder'' invites contributions from readers on anv matters of interest which they might like to propose. Correspondence on various subjects pertaining to building will also be accepted.

NOTES. Mr E. Lovell-Siaitli. registered architect, 134 Hereford street, is calling tenders for the erection of a brick and stone residence in Fendalton. They close at 4 p.m. next Thursday. Messrs Collins and Harman, architects, are calling tenders, to close at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, for alterations to a shop in Armagh street. Tenders for the manufacture, supply, and delivery of Mangatipa stream bridge bearings close witii the PublicWorks Tenders Board, Wellington, at i p.m. on May 3rd. Messrs J. and G. Smith are the builders of a pavilion in Hagley I'ak for the Basketball Association. Three storeys of St. George's Hospital have been erected, and plastering has been coihpleted in several rooms on the ground and first floors. Tin? Public Works Department intends repairing and painting the exterior of the Christchurch Post Office. Tenders for the work close with the Public Works Tenders Board, Wellington, at 4 p.m. on April 19th. Written tenders will be received up to noon on Monday, July 2oth, 1927, at the office of the Railway Board, Wellington, for the supply and erection of a water tower in steel or reinforced concrete at the new locomotive shops, Hutt Valley, and at the new car and waggon thops. Otahuhu. At Little River to-day the opening of the new Maternity Hospital will take place at 2.30 p.m. The Hon. Mr Young, Minister for Health, was to have performed the ceremony, but he was obliged to return to Wellington. It will now be done by Mrs Thompson. wife of Mr T. Thompson, chairman of the Wairewa County Council.

Interest in the construction of the Sydney harbour bridge is now centred upon the preparations which are being made to receive the cast-steel bearings of thfl two immense spans of structural steel which are to connect the north and .south shores. "Work on the superstructure is steadily beinpr carried on at Dawes but.the other undertaking is of so momentous a nature, and requires such meticulous accuracy in its details, that the eyes of the whole engineering world are upon it. Mission Bay, or Kohimarama, Auckland, though still the scene of a number of old landmarks, is a changed settlement. The chapel, which has gathered a good deal in the way of tradition with the passing of the years, still stands on its original site, but the industrial school that was situated in the district has fallen into decay, and the flying school of the war and post-war period is also being fast forgotten. The district- has been roaded, and at present a residence costing £7OOO is being built ..in an elevated position overlooking the Hauraki Gulf. Plans for other residences arc in hand, so that Mission Bay and Orakei are expected to-be the scene of building activity for many .months to come. Another eight-storey building is being commenced in Queen street, Auckland, on a. site, 63ft by 120 ft, just above the junction of Wyndham street. It will include a block of shops on the street front, and the. remaining floors will consist of office accommodation. In its architectural features the new building will include ample provision for light and ventilation, and will replace a block of aritiquated little shops that have recently been put to a variety of uses. The work of pulling down the building on the site- was begun recently. According to the contract arrangements, the new block should be finished sufficiently for the shops to be occupied by next Christmas. The Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society, for which the new block is .being built, has let the contract to the Fletcher Construction Company for £BO,OOO.

According to a report from tho American Consul at Zurich, Swiss wallpaper manufacturers liave successfully developed a process for using aluminium in the manufacture of wallpaper. As manufactured at present, the paper is made of commercially pure aluminium, rolled, and hacked upon stiff paper. The design is then stamped upon the aluminium surface, the impression of the stamping going through the backing paper. The colouring and embossing processes are said to give satisfactory results, but so far the manufacturers have been unable to overcome a gaudy,, metallic effect in the finished paper: The product has not yet been placed upon the market, but it is understood that it will be sold at prices competitive with the better class of wallpapers.