NEW GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19298, 10 April 1926, Page 13

NEW GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

PROVISION FOR NORTH SHOREDESIGN OF THE BUILDING. „ I PART TO BE BUILT AT ONCECEREMONY NEXT FRIDAY. Before tlic end of the present year the districts on the northern shore of the Waitemata will he in possession of a grammar school which will advance the secondary instruction of tlie young people of Devonport, Takapuna, Xorthcote, and Birkenhead, and the outlying settlements. All these districts have, within the last few months, secured the advantage of rm«*h improved means of communication, thanks to the construction of concrete roads by their local bodies, and there will be no difficulty in gathering the pupils for miles round to the new centre of education. Moreover, the school will be a means of relief to the overcrowding now experienced in the grammar schools of the city. It- will provide separately for the education of both boys and girls. Some months ago, after the consideration of several possible sites in Devonpoet and Takapuna, the Auckland Gram mar School Board purchased an area of 10 acres at the corner of Lake lload and Bt. Leonard's Road, Takapuna, sloping very slightly down to Lake Road, as the site for the proposed school. Plans have now been prepared by Mr, W. A. Gumming, architect to the board, for the necessary building, and tenders will be invited within the next few days for the erection of about two-thirds of the lTuilding provided for in the whole design, with the idea of having it in readiness for occupation after the next Christmas vacation of the secondary schools. Spacious Playing Fields. It is intended to place the building on the northeastern quarter of the site; the portion fronting St. Leonard's Road, at the back left-hand corner looking from Lake Road. The other three-quarters of the property will be utilised for the play-ing-fields of the establishment, which will be spacious enough for the cultivation of athletics on a large scale. The complete design provides classrooms on two storeys, for between 550 and 650 scholars, with an assembly hall connected by corridors with the main building, and also the necessary laboratories, storerooms, demonstration rooms, library, workshops, cloakrooms, sanitary blocks, and offices for the teachers; a quadrangle intervening between the assembly hall and the main wings. In shape, the building will somewhat resemble the capital letter "I." reversed, and with the point of its horizontal stroke prolonged into a wing. That horizontal stroke will run parallel to St. Leonard's Road. The principal facade will front Lake Road, and be surmounted in the centre by a tower. The back wing will give the accommodation for the girls. The entrance for the girls -will be from St. Leonard's Road. The boys will have access to their part of the building from an entrance at the corner of Lake Road, and also from another about the middle of the Lake Road frontage, with one for football grounds between the two approaches. Building In Tudor Style. The portion of the school to be built immediately will comprise the whole of the north-west end of the building, and also about half the portion to the southeast of the main entrance. It will provide for between 375 and 440 students—say from 135 to 160 girls, and from 240 to 280 boys, in 14 classrooms, and also for the greater part of the administrative rooms, the laboratories, storerooms, domestic science room, and other essential appurtenances. The assembly hall is being left over for the immediate present, but it is hoped that the board will be in a position to provide for it at an early date. The enlargements of the future will consist of extensions in the direction of Belmont of both the boys' and girls' wings. The architecture of the building is to be in the Tudor style, as adapted to scholastic requirements. 'J he material will be brick, with red-brick and white cement dressings, the staircases and landings to be of concrete. Alternative prices will be asked from the tenderers for slate and for tile roofs. It is to lie made a condition of the contract that sufficient accommodation shall be provided for both bovs arid girls to permit of the com mencement of school duties at the open ing of next school year. The foundation-stone of the building will be laid next Friday by Sir James Parr, Minister of Education. .