SAFE SAVINGS BANK.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 177, 12 July 1927, Page 8

SAFE SAVINGS BANK.

ELABORATE SCHEME OF BURGLAR ALARMS. NOVEL FEATURES IN SYDNEY A machine-gun emplacement has been built in the ceiling of the main entrance of the new Government Savings Bank building, at the top of Martin Place, Sydney,, to be used in case of riot. This was but one of the revelations of Mr Herbert E. Ross, of Messrs. Ros a and Rowe, architects for the building, when he conducted a party of members of the Workers’ Educational Association over the building. Mr Ross conducted the party into the safe deposit vault, and pointed out that the surrounding walls were 26in thick. Each wall contained 1000 tons of steel, set at angles, to defeat the efforts of the cracksman's drill. An 1 elaborate scheme of burglar alarms was revealed. Should a drill pierce the concrete, and come into contact with a piece of steel, a microphone in the guard room at the top of the building would magnify the sound, thereby giving warning to the watchman. The main door to the vault, Mr. Ross explained, weighed 30 tons, and was constructed of a special metal, which would resist the onslaught of a blowlamp, or oxy-acetylene drill, and could not be blown up by a charge. It was fitted with six timelocks. which would allow it to be opened for only half an hour each day. There was also an emergency door of the same metal. The main strongroom of the building, Mr Ross added, was similar, but about 10 times as large. Mr Ross explained that there would be 13 lifts, six of which would travel at the rate of 600 feet per minute. On the first floor the party was shown the banking chamber, which, Mr Ross said, was, as far as he knew, the largest in the world. It contained 43 columns of polished scagjiola, coloured serpentine green. Tile dominant idea, said Mr Ross, was permanence. All the materials were carefully chosen for their durability. Of course, at various periods in the future, alterations would be found necessary- Special provision was being made for that. The building was practically fireproof, but an elaborate system of fire alarms was to be installed. If only a piece of paper were set alight a warning bell would ring.