£1m Govt. Printing Office

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31065, 21 May 1966, Page 18

£1m Govt. Printing Office

The new Government printing office i n Thorndon quay, Wellington, built at a cost of more than £lm, is almost comnlete after more than five years.

The six-storey building has a two-storey annex, and is 98ft from foundation to roof parapet —82 ft above Thorndon quay. The main block is 276 ft by 106 ft, with an area on each floor of 29,250 sq. ft. and a total area of 194,000 sq. ft. The contractor was P. Graham and Son, Ltd., of Christchurch.

Because the internal layout of the new office will be subject to continuous alteration, the design gives maximum flexibility on the production floors. Stairs, lifts and vertical service ducts are concentrated in three areas at each end and in an island halfway between. Permanent walls and selfcontained services were, for security reasons, essential in the stamp printing department.

The three main departments—composing, letterpress and bindery—are on the third,

second and first floors respectively. The Plan printing, addressograph, / packing and dispatch sections are on the ground floor, with access from Thorndon quay, and the publications store and shop on tl.e second floor, which leads to Mulgrave street. The paper store and main publication store are in the basement, and the administrative offices on the fourth floor. Security The ground floor department responsible for printing stamps and postal orders is completely self-contained, with small barred windows, and is separated from other ground-floor departments by a concrete security wall. There are double security doors and lobbies under surveillance both inside the building and at the loading dock, where Post Office vans can load and unload.

The building is served by five goods and two passenger lifts, with a monorail hoist over the loading dock to serve the basement below. A large reinforced concrete mural, the design for which was prepared by Mr and Mrs R. Cowan, dominates the Thorndon quay side of the annex.