BIG BUILDINGS.

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 61, 9 September 1937, Page 10

BIG BUILDINGS.

WELLINGTON C£TY

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS

Time brings changes and i|j ne of the most marked changes that jnas taken ' place in Wellington in coirj paratively . recent years is the replacement in the ! city of existing buildings /by large modern premises. At the pi esent time '■ in Wellington there are a i| dumber of 1 buildings in this class whiGli are in an ;■ advanced stage of construction. ■ The situation of the nei / premises ' for the New Zealand Insun/ince Co. at ■ the corner of Featherston: and John--1 ston Streets, as well as tttie style of ■ the building, make it -one which ; already has become well H nown to the ■ public. It is of eight sii areys and a ■ feature of the design is til «t large area of glass to the external jivialls. Since the completion of the fov udations the building seems literally - to have shot up. It is estimated that it will be finished about the midojie or end of November. j Two other big insurance buildings are in the course of coj tstruction, one being the offices for thi i Government Life Insurance and the 4 >ther being the new premises for the; South British Insurance Co., Ltd. ,v The Government Lii c job is a big one, and owing to thj; necessity of caisson foundations being sunk because of the proximity of fthe site to the waterfront, it was not! possible to make rapid progress in the (! early stages. The sinking of the founds tions was a task of magnitude alone fl jr the contractor (Mr. M. G. Templetofl ), but with these in .position the steel, frame was soon erected, and of recent months good progress has been mads .• with the stone work, which is expected to be com--1 pleted in about two months' time. A small part of the b.uilding will be ready for occupati* m, by Christmas time, but the la test 4 estimate is that the whole building will not be ready until about April of ne« t year. The Government Life build! tig- is a massive and expansive structure of eight storeys. The South Britiiih Insurance Company's new buildia ,g in Lambton Quay is going up to a height of seven storeys. This building, tha facade of which is to be faced with a ''polished granite base and superstructure of Derbyshire granite, is expected f,o be finished about next February ott' March. , Another big baiillding job. the new Centra] Fire Sta) lon and men's quarters in Clyde Quay, is well on the way to completion, Efs also is the Hotel Waterloo in the vicinity of the new railway station. The contractor expects to finish fhe fire station by the ;end of this md nth. and . the • Hotel Waterloo will loe ready early next month. ____ i^____