DUNEDIN POST OFFICE

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 290, 2 September 1933, Page 6

DUNEDIN POST OFFICE

Successful Tenderer for New Building THREE YEARS’ CONTRACT An announcement that the Fletcher Cqnstruction Company’s tender of £292,448 had been accepted for the erection of the Dunedin Post Office was made yesterday by the Minister of Public Works, Hon. J. Bltchener. Tenders were received from well-known firms in various parts of the Dominion, and the prices quoted were all in the vicinity of the departmental estimate. As previously stated, said Mr. Bltchener, the new building was to be of steel and concrete, specially strengthened against earthquakes and faced with New Zealand stone, the lower portion with granite and the upper portion with lighter-coloured stone. The period for the completion of the contract was three years. Details of the proposed new building were given by Mr. Bitchener and the Postmaster-General, Hon. Adam Hamilton, in a combined statement they issued in the middle of July. In this the Ministers said the foundations had already been constructed by the Public Works Department, and the building would cover a whole city block, approximately 142 ft. by 150 ft., bounded by Princes, Water, Bond, and Liverpool Streets. Height of Building. “Owing to the slope of the ground,” they continued,“the height of the building will vary from an average of 105 ft 6in. on Princes Street (eight stories) to 116 ft 9in. on Bond Street (nine stories), with four corners, which will house lift machinery, carried up an additional seven feet “The lower portion of the building—the fabric of* which will be steel and concrete specially strengthened against earthquakes—will be faced with granite, and the upper stories with lightercoloured stone. New Zealand materials and manufactures have been specified wherever possible. “The design is distinctly modern, and has no cornices or projections except on the* Princes Street frontage, where a large renaissance feature 84ft. wide, extending through seven stories, marks 'the main entrance front. A striking feature of each facade will be a group Of wide windows extending through four stories, with bronze panels between the windows on each floor. Four Entrances. “Besides ihe main entrance, which has three 12ft. wide openings, giving access to the postal, telegraph, moneyorder and savings bank public offices, there are four entrances located at the corners giving access to six lifts serving upper floors, a special entrance at ground levelvin Water Street for the parcels office and old-age pensions office, and an entrance to private letter boxes on Liverpool Street. Two loading docks, each 17ft. wide, are provided in Bond Street for the handling of mails, and the posting slots are ■located immediately adjoining the main entrance in Princes Street on a level with the footpath, k / : “The building,” concluded the Minister, “will be replete with'the most modem heating, lighting, time and fire protection services, and specially designed .conveyors are being installed to handle mails in bulk. The lower five floors will be occupied by the Post and Telegraph Department, and other Government de-> partments which are occupying scattered rented premises will be housed In the remainder of the building/’ New Zealand, materials and manufactures are to be used wherever possible. PURCHASE OF STEEL A Quantity from England USE OF BLUFF GRANITE Dominion Special Service. Auckland, September 1. It was stated on behalf of the contractors for the Dunedin Post Office tonight that no large amount of work was likely to be done on. the site* for about a«couple of months. The reasons for this were that.the foundations had al-, ready been constructed by the Public Works Department, and that little could be done in the erection of the building proper until the arrival of the. structural steel for the frame. There would be altogether 2400 tons of steel. As much as possible would be obtained in Australia, but the specifications provided for the use of very heavy column members of “H” section. These' were of a new British type, and were not rolled in Australia at present They would therefore have to be ordered from England. J Much of the work of calculating the lengths of the various members of the frame had already been done, but a little further time would be needed to complete it. Exactitude was necessary in order to avoid having to cut steel oh the job. The framework was particularly heavy, and was specially designed to resist earthquakes. It was probable that the granite for facing the lower two stories would not be obtained from Coromandel, but from Bluff. The two granites were very similar, and the Bluff stone was rather more free from large blemishes. ' Putaruru stone would definitely be used for facing the upper stories, and 12,000 cubic feet of it would be required. The labour for the contract would be obtained in Dunedin. A large amount of work would be available for a wide variety of tradesmen, including steel-workers, carpenters, and stonemasons. Many builders’ labourers would also be needed. Plumbing, plastering, painting and various other work would be carried out under sub-contracts.