LAND AND BUILDINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14855, 5 December 1911, Page 5

LAND AND BUILDINGS.

KEEPING PACE WITH TRADE. PONSONBY ROAD SHOPS. TWO BIG NEW BLOCKS. Tire erection of a block of four brick shops for Mr. G. McGregor and Captain Smith, at the corner of Ponsonby and Franklin Roads, is now being proceeded with. The shops, which will bo of tho double-storey order, will be provided with residential quarters, and will be given handsome fronts and fitted with every modern convenience. The total expenditure on the block when completed will be about £4000. Mr. L. McKinstney is the contractor for the work, and Mr. W. A. liolman is the architect. A start has also been made with the erection of a block of six new shops in brick on the Tole estate at the corner of Ponsonby and College Hill Roads, Three Lamps. These shops are being built by Mr. W. Trevarthan for Mr. J. C. Wilson at a cost of £2700. Originally it was intended to build them to one-storey in height, but Mr. Wilson is now inclined to add another storey to the lot, giving the block a more presentable appearance. ERECTION OF NEW OFFICES. TENDER ACCEPTED AT £8000. The tender of Mr. W. Ball, of Devonport, has been accepted for the erection of tho three-storey brick and reinforced concrete building for Mr. Grey ThomeGeorge, at the corner of Chancery-street and Courthouse Lane. The price, it is understood, is in tho neighbourhood of £8000. The architects aro Messrs. Wade and Wade, and provision has been made in the plans for the addition of another three storevs, when necessary. The building, which will be made as fireproof as is possible, will bo let in suites of offices. f LIMITING THE SKYSCRAPER. REGULATIONS IN MELBOURNE. An attempt is being made in Melbourne to put an end to the skyscraper. , Tho council of that city is considering new building by-laws, which will limit the height of buildings in Melbourne to a maximum of 110 ft, which is the altitude of the Sydney Commercial Travellers' Club. Tho A.M.P. building in Sydney now nearly completed, is higher than that, and several buildings are now in course of erection in the New South Wales capital which will tower above 110 ft, tho highest one being 150 ft from kerb to parapet. A Melbourne architect claims that the members of the architectural profession stand between two antagonistic ' forces — the Citv Council will not allow them to go up higher, and the Board of Works will not allow them to go down. The proposed by-law has been before the Melbourne Council and has been referred to the Legislative Committee. Commenting on the proposed by-law, the Melbourne Herald says that there is a very considerable amount of work pending in the shape of additional storeys to buildings at the present juncture, and much of the expensive planning that has boen done will have to bo discarded if this by-law passes. SYDNEY'S EXPANSION.- - EXTENSIONS AND ADDITIONS. The commercial life of Sydney was never more active than it is at present, particularly with regard to manufactures (says a Sydney paper). This was never better exemplified than by the extensions and additions which are being made to factory premises and warehouses. Messrs. Buchanan and McKay, architects, are preparing plans for additional storeys to two large warehouses in the city which have only been built two years. The buildings are each five storeys in height, and when erected were considered to be sufficiently largo to meet business requirements for years to come, but the trade of the houses has completely eclipsed the capacity of the structures. ADELAIDE ABATTOIRS, USE OF NEW ZEALAND PUMICE. A large abattoir and freezing store is being erected at Gebb's Cross, Adelaide, for the Adelaide Abattoirs Board. There are seven chilling chambers in the building for beef, mutton, and pork, each 80ft by 20ft, and these are constructed entirely of wood inside the brick shell. The whole of tho framing of the chambers is completed', and portions of the floors and walls have been put in. These will be packed with pumice, which is being imported from New Zealand. Behind the chilling chambers stands the engine and boiler house, just across the Railway line, which will take tho meat, when delivered by rail, to the distributing centres. Sixteen working men's cottages are in course of construction north of the abattoirs, and also three villas and the manager's residence to tho south of the works.

TENDERS INVITED. LAST WEEK'S LIST. • Tenders for the erection of new buildings have been invited as follows during the past week : — By the Auckland City Council : For new swimming baths at Shelly Beach, and for designs for the new branch library in Symonds-street. By Mr. Arthur 11. White (architect) : For business premises in brick, Dominion and Valley Roads, for Mr. J. W. Bridgman. By tho Northcote Borough Council : For Council Chambers and town clerk's office in Pearl-street, Northcote. By Mr. A. L. Ferneyhough (architect) : For a villa residence at Epsom, in Clark's patent hollow blocks. By Mr. F. G. Havell : For a six-roomed house on the Great South Road, at Otahuhu. By Mr. J. Currie (architect) : For a residence at Kihikihi. By the Auckland Education Board (Mr. J. Farrell, architect) : For a school building at Pakaraka, Bay of Islands. Tenders have also been invited by the Te Kuiti Borough Council for construction of sowers, etc. ; by Mr. R. H. Jackson, for the construction of three new streets at Takapuna; by Mr. John Bovlan (engineer), for formation of Newell-street and Walmer Road. Point Chevalier; by the Mount Albert Borough Council, for raising the Council office at Momingside; by the Birkenhead Borough Council, for road formation ; by the Newmarket Borough Council, for the improvement of portions of Carlton Gore Road, Manukau Road, Victoria Crescent, King-street, and Park Road; and by the Auckland Harbour Board, for a clock, for installation in the tower in the new ferry buildings; by Messrs. Harris and Crump, for constructing three new streets on the Mount Albert Park Estate.