BRICK BUILDINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20491, 17 February 1930, Page 12

BRICK BUILDINGS.

Sir, —"Colourful" and "More Colour" deplore the lack of brick facing to our city buildings' and many agree with them in their desire to see more brick than imitation stone—freestone —now becoming fashionable. In this damp country, why are 90 per cent, of houses built in timberframe and weatherboard ? We are lavishly provided by nature with clay deposits suitable for" the manufacture of bricks equal to those of Sydney or other parts of the world, while our labour costs are equally low. The reason why brick buildings are not more "popular is because of the unduly high cost of the bricks—over £6 a thousand for common stock ..just recently quoted me locally, when in Sydney I can get the same at half the price. At least one house in Auckland has been built with the imported Australian brick and completed at little more than the cost would have been in timber. But this bringing "coals to Newcastle" is frowned upon* by the union of our protectionist friends—even though our brickmakers cannot produce the country's needs at a fair price. They were cheaper a few years ago. This is why our city buildings lack colour, why our Harbour Board favours concrete and corrugated iron and our suburban villas are far removed from the stately homes of England—where brick "it." Free Trade.