FOUR-SQUARE

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 50, 28 August 1922, Page 8

FOUR-SQUARE

TO ALL THE WINDS

/FORD MOTOR BUILDINa

Once-upon a time Wellington could boast of possessing the largest wooden building iii the world, and .wig proud of it, but travellers from America say that some oi the hotels on the Florida beaches could lose our Government Buildings ■in one corner of their vast acreage, while enough' timber and nails have been used on their construction, to erect- ;51 small New.Zealand.town. However that may be—and' Americans have certainly wonderful imagination—there is one building in Wellington to-day that absolutely dominates the centre of the city. > Thi« is the Colonial Motor- Company's new premises in Coui*6nay. place, better known as the Ford Building. , , ' Four/square to all the iwinds that blow : —and it,does blow, occasionally over the Te Aro flat—this huge .cube-of brick,, concrete,.and steel, almost geometrically perfect in its dimensions, stands head and 'shoulders above ■ all surrounding "structures, and commands the most comprehensive view, of city and harbour to be obtained in Wellington. Its very simplicity of outline and complete freedom from external ornament, as seen from the main thoroughfare of traffic, adds to its impressiveness a certain autere dignity, 1 symbolical, perhaps, of the industry of the immediate future. It turns, as it were, its back on the bustle of Courtenay place, and presents its plainly adorned facade to the narrow blind alley of York, street. : It looks to-day a bit like .Gulliver in Ldlliput, but, with »the development of the city, it will be extended on similar lines to front Courtenay place, and should then be easily the largest one-piece building in the Dominion. V ,

' The external dimensions of the C.M.C. building are , practically j 100 feet each way—a perfect cube. Above th© flattopped roof, rise two towers, the higher of which, containing the water-tank for the «toihkter system, rises 24ft above th« root, Sheer down below the- people in Corartenay place look like pigmies, and out beyond ia a noble vista, of Wellington Harbour; and the Hutt Valley with; the snow-capped Taiaroaß in, the bin* distance. The other way. lies all the city—east, west, and . south. On fine days in the summer the top of the massive structure would make an admirable roof-garden. Part ia already, glared in ot cover th^e well area, which gives light to the interior of the nine flows. Fronting Courtenay place the well i*. temporarily closed in with iron, until'such time as the whole building ia completed out to the main street. A wide and spocioua arcade will in the meantime give access* to/the new prenufeß of the company from Courtenay place through the existing jojd building. , , The interior of the ' building ia 'as 'severely simple as its exterior. There' it 9500 sqnare feet of floor space in each of the nine storeys, and the.bulk of it, I will be devoted to 'the: business of the! company in. assembling and handling car;, trucks, and tractors. For such a purpose, the accommodation and arrangements are ideal. Each of: the nine floors covers practically the whole area of the building, and there is abundant natural light "from large steel-framed windows/ The building itself i* of steel-frame type,, the whole of the "weight being carried on. massive steel columns clothed iv concrete and interlaced with be«mfl ; and joatt, similarly covered,;to;support the floors. The impre«ioh one. g^Ste from a visit is chiefly of the enormous strength of such a structure, which seems as if it could defy any of the forces' of nature or time iUeJf. So'solidly rooted'in its *deej*: foundaflon* on grilles of steel girders is the ponderous1 edifice, weighing nearly 12,000 tons, that there is not the slightest hint of any dtflection under the 'weight.'. . ■■-■' ','''' r ■> "■' ■'■ •' ' , The ground floY is some 24ft high,, in ithree bays, covered.: by traveling cranes to handle the motors and oth#r goods. Two large goods and, two pair senger lifts oonnect with the upper regions, and a travelling crane runs across ' the . top of •'• the area well;. capable of delivering ' goods on platforms built tin with the' structure and projecting; over the well, so as to give access to the various stages or floor* of the building. Fire-proof doors cover'the openings into the well,, arid the glazing of the well is in reinforced glass. Every precaution is tekeh, against fire. Finishing touches are now 'being put to,the interior, and it will soon be ready; for occupation. • : ' . . The architect was Mr. J. M. D»wgonj and the contractors. Messrs. Mitchell and King and the Hansfbrd, Mills Construction Company, ; associated.; It is understood . that .the com-, pany's service building fronting Taranaki street has been sold to the Dunlop Rubber Company, and the ■. company's premises fronting Courtenay, place will be. leased, when the new premises are. ready for occupation.' :; ■< . )