LONDON’S NEW BUILDINGS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 October 1908, Page 1

LONDON’S NEW BUILDINGS.

MARBLE USED IN PLACE OF i’LAS-, TER. MILLIONS ADDED 'TO WEALTH OF THE STREETS. The boast of Augustus that ho “found Romo of brick and left it of “marble’’ may soon be aplicablc to London by its present citizens. New and costly buildings are rising or have risen in the streets conceived on a scale of magnificence that woidd have astonished our fathers, and that has certainly excited amazement and admiration from Hie stranger. The development is mainly in the use of more beautiful and costlv building materials. Portland stone displaces brick, bronze takes the place of iron, marble the place of plaster, and polished hardwoods replace painted deal. Probably the last word in luxury is the use of jasper, which is being employed in two new buildings in course of construction in London. One is the Norwich Union office, St, James’s street, where the lower part of the building is faced with Welsh jasper. MARBLE FLOORS AND WALLS. The most magnificent new building in London, probably, is Hint of the United Kingdom Provident Institution in Hie Strand. Its bronze outer doors open into an entrance ball lined with Swiss Cipol--1 ino marble, with a roiling of mosaic and a floor of Italian and Siberian marbles, the prevailing green tones being contrasted with bronze enrichments. The great circular office beyond has walls framed in Greek Cipollino, one of the world’s most exquisite marbles, its cool grey-green tones contrasted with violet Cipollino panels. The staircase is of Swiss Cipollino marble, and the upper ball is lined with Irish and other green marbles enriched with inlays of blue sodolitc from Canada, a stone much admired and first quarried for Hie Princess of Wales. Over the doors arc decorative panels of ormnln bronze and mother-of-pearl. Though comparatively small in area, the building cost upwards of £IOO,OOO. The now Central Criminal Court, which ha.s a fine marble staircase, with marblelined public halls and wall paintings by famous artists, involved an expenditure of £250,000. A hank in Lombard street cost a. like sum, and is decorated with the choicest marbles and fine wood-panelling. The new War Office and the now Public Offices, each involving a sum of about £500,000, are. necessarily costly because of their size. Both buildings have fine principal staircases, that at the War office Wing of alabaster, with Piastrarcia and Brescia, marbles; and Hint at the new Public Offices being entirely of Mazzano marble from Brescia, a dark cream and very bard stone, which has not been previously used on an extensive scale. ‘ MARBLE EXTERIORS. The re-opening of the old Hellenic quarries hv an English syndicate has led to the use of Pentcliknn marble for the exterior of several of London’s new buildings, including the Royal Insurance office at Hie north-west corner of St. James’s street, which is faced with marble. Onvx has long been used for decorative panels. The difficulty with semi-precious stones is to get sound sheets of fair size. Pentelikon costs, rough!-- nor foot cube twice as much as Portland stone; but Hie price of marble depends always on the sizes of the blocks. Large blocks cost more per foot cube than small nnos. Seven of the hotels and other buildings recently opened in Hie West End represent an approximate addition of £2.000,010 to Hie wealth of London’s streets. ...any iunre costly buildings, like Iho Victoria and Albert Museum, the new Admiralty block, the now Victoria Stations, and the now Wesleyan Hall are on the way to completion.