NEW WELLINGTON LANDMARK

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21445, 10 April 1935, Page 9

NEW WELLINGTON LANDMARK

PRUDENTIAL BUILDING : OPENING CEREMONY TO-DAY LTHB PEESS Special Ber»ice.] = WELLINGTON, April 9. The new building of the Prudential Assurance Company, Ltd., on Lambton ( Quay, Wellington, is now out of the ' hands of the architects, and will be officially opened by the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, Acting-Prime Minister, tomorrow. This new reinforced concrete building occupies an area with 60ft frontage to Lambton quay, and a depth of 83ft to Plimmer's Steps. The site is an historical one, having previously been occupied for many years by the old Exchange building, which was demolished in order to make way for this new and imposing structure. In New Zealand it has been almost the invariable practice to occupy the full area of land available—to build right up to adjoining properties and to grudgingly provide so-called light areas (which would more aptly be termed "dark areas") to permit of a certain amount of light and ventilation to those portions of the building which would otherwise be "blacked out." The Prudential Company have, however, set back their new building from the adjoining properties on the north and west sides, and so have permitted the erection of a building which is, to all intents and purposes, on an island site, as it is bounded on the east by Lambton quay and on the south by Plimmer's Steps. The new building is essentially modern in design with a strong vertical emphasis. It has been designed entirely iri reinforced concrete and complies fully with the most recent developments in earthquake-resisting construction. The bulk of Welling- . ton's city buildings are on reclaimed land, necessitating either pile foundations or the carrying of piers down through the reclamation to a solid bottom. In this instance, the building has been erected on the original iolid ground, and no extra excavation has been necessary. The building extends for eight floors above the ground floor, being built to the maximum height permitted by the city by-laws. The lift tower rises 20ft higher than the remainder of the building, and besides furnishing a pleasing break in the sky-line of the building serves the practical purposes of housing both the lift machinery and the water tanks for fire prevention and for sanitary services. The use of the vari-coloured cements in the one building is a new departure for this country, and the success achieved by their use in this building gives some indication of the wide scope for designers of city buildings | in the future, the bright colours being a glad relief from the drab natural :■ • i - ..... -uibiy uscci previously. The architects for the building are Messrs Hennessy, Hennessy and Company, of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, in association with Messrs Gray Young, Morton, and Young, registered architects of Wellington. The Prudential Assurance Company, Ltd., started its career at Blacklriars in 1848, and is now on the eve of its eighty-seventh anniversary. The supremacy of this company in the British insurance world has been built

on constructive service over three generations. The following colossal figures show how that service has engendered the trust of a discriminating public. As at December 31, 1934, the assets of the company exceeded £290,000,000. The annual income of the Prudential exceeds £50,000,000, while the total new business in 1934 exceeded £85.800,000. The number of life policies in force at the end of 1934 exceeded 28,000,000.