FLATS FOR WELLINGTON

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 58, 1 December 1917, Page 9

FLATS FOR WELLINGTON

•■..'.'..—; « ,;;!; city,.council's approval. There are flats and flats. There aro plenty of people in Wellington who, in view of the acute demand for hous6 room, have subdivided their houses by putting in a new door here or blocking up a passage there, and have let them as flats. The modern acceptation of the term is, however, something a little different. It implies all iho comforts of a modern home, built in such a mannor that ensures almost complete isolation to comfortable suites of rooms in the one building, each and all fittco with all manner of labour-saving ana hygienio oonveniences (including an ideal kitchenette), electric contrivances, etc. So far such buildings have rot been favoured in Wellington by the city authorities, but the urgent neea for house accommodation in a restricted area has Drought about a change ,of view. . The By-laws Committee.of tho City Council on Thursday night recommended that permission bo granted for the erection of a tenement building at Lindum Terrace, in accordance with' plans laid on the table. - "Tho hy-law icquires," stated the committee, "that tenement buildings should have double the airspace required for an 'ordinary dwelling, which the City Engineer, re-, ports is not provided for in this:application. He reports, however, that the building will have a double frontage, and' no objection can bo taken to the site from the sanitary point of view; The city by-laws also require that the staircase at the various floors shall bo three feet in width, with an addition of one foot for each floor. In the present proposal two staircases aro provided, and, altogether, make up more thaji the by-law requires, although neither of them separately complies with the full requirements. The City Engineer's opinion is that two staircases aro better than one." The council adopted the recommendation. The plans, prepared by Messrs. Clefe and Wdliams, provide for a reinforced concrete building containing twenty residences. The work is being undertaken by\a Btrong syndicate, and the scheme is pronounced by experts to be an excellent one. Each residence will be self-contained, and when the ten; ant is once within his own door he will be quite isolated from his . fellowmortals. On the other hand, the lady of the house, in the absence of hei husband, will have no feeling of loneliness as she has only to step out of hei front door' and summon the janitor, who.will be always on tho spot to take messages, receive parcels, and in othei ways act as "domestic agent"; or, should she desire it, she can take the lift, touch the proper button, and be conveyed to tho'roof garden, where there will he a most beautiful view of the harbour and city. Work saving is one of the chief aims of the scheme, and this is achieved by the compactness of the plan and in other wctb. Practically every living rJom will hsve an excellent view, and will tare access to a balcony which, by an ingenious piece of planning, serves as an escape separate from any that are inside the buildine. The construction of the building will be in reinforced concrete, and there will be no timber used, except in the doors and sashes and thcii frames. It will therefore he fireproof, and, as far as it is .possible to say, earthquake-proof.' There, will bo an automatic lift, and it is intended that each flat will be furnished by the owners.