BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1746, 23 August 1905, Page 2

BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES

THE NEW BUILDING. WORK PRACTICABLY COMPLETED. A HLANiDSOME STRUCTURE. As a site for a banking establishment that portion of land fronting Lamhton quay on which the new premises for the Bank of New South Wales have been erected could not be surpassed in the city. For about a year the bank has been carrying on business in temporary offices in Grey street, and it will be with feelings of thankfulness and pride that the manager and his staff will; move into their new quarters about the end of this month, for it is expected the building will be ready for occupation about that time. And what a handsome and commodious structure that building is! Certainly its outward appearance is not burdened with any strikingly ornamental elaborations—its beauty lies in its solidity and massiveness and bold outlines—but veiy handsome it is. It is a credit to the bank, the architects (Messrs Crichton and McKay) and the city, for it unquestionably ranks amongst the finest buildings in the colony. Throughout the building is fitted with the most modern and up-to-date attachments.

With a ground space of 107 ft by 93ft, the architects had a fair field to work upon. The new building is of three stories and a basement, rising to a height of 71ft above the street level. The style of architecture chosen, was the Italian Renaissance, which lends itself to simple treatment. The front is supported on huge granite blocks, standing about Bft above the pavement. At present painters are busily engaged painting the whole of the front, which will be “ treated ” with sand later on, and made to resemble sandstone. The main features of the facade is a large pediment, 44ft across, supported on six monolithic columns, each 25ft in the shaft, running through two storeys, and finished with lonic capitals. The pediment is enriched with carving and the bank’s monogram, and surrounded with parapet and two large turretformed terminals'. Surmounting the main cornice is a parapet pierced with balustrading, and finished a.t the extreme ends with large effective terminals

The entrances to the "building are three in number —one in the centre leading to the banking chamber, one at the right hand extremity leading to the offices to be occupied by the inspector and his staff and the third at the left end of the building, giving access to the letting portion of the premises. Bach vestibule is 12ft wide. The banking chamber, which is 60ft by 52ft, and 20Pb to ceiling, is a magnificent apartment lighted by an imposing lead-light dome and rear windows. The lighting effect obtained is artistic to a degree. The rays stream -through the sparkling glass, and give a bright appearance to the whole chamber. In point of beauty the ceiling of pressed zinc, picked out in gay and fascinating colours, commands great admiration. The designs are extremely pleasing, and the work of painting has been carried out with skill and care that could hardly be surpassed. The walls of the chamber are finished in Keene’s cement, divided into panels with pilasters, and the ceilings, cornices, and columns dividing the floor space are finished in fine plaster, richly coppered and ornamented. All the woodwork in the chamber is Tasmanian blackwood, which takes an excellent polish. The counter, which slopes inward towards the floor, is of very rich workmanship, and is on heavy supports, surmounted by carved lions’ heads. It is worth mentioning that the carving was modelled in Wellington. The general design is very fine indeed. Provision has been made for four tellers’ boxes, and to the right of these will he the bills department, next the accountant’s room, also a private" entrance from the street for exchange clerks. The accountant’s room is surrounded with glass screens, and so placed as to command a full view of the whole banking chamber. The managers’ room, 21ft by 14ft; securities room, 14ft by 10ft; and waitingroom, 12ft 6in by lift, are also situated to the right of the main entrance. Each of these rooms is excellently lighted, is provided with hot-water radiators, and has a Chubb’s patent fire-proof safe ingeniously let into the brickwork. The painting and ceilings are judiciously variegated; no two rooms appear to be finished with the same design in ceiling, while the colours used have been excellently chosen. Provision has been made at the tack of the banking chamber for cloak-rooms, etc. The remaining portion of the ground floor is divided into suites of offices.

A striking feature of the building is the magnificent effect produced by the use throughout of Carrara marble for the staireasee. It is almost a pity to soil them! The iron castings and woodwork are correspondingly beautiful, and equally worthy of admiration. The right-hand wing of the building is di-

vided from the letting portion by li brick party wall. The first floor con. l ? tains the inspector’s offices, offices fo« clerks, and a typewriter’s room. Provision is also made for a clerks’ lunch-eon-room. The custodian’s quarter! are on the upper floor, where there will also be sleeping accommodation for resident clerks. In the letting portiofi of the building the offices are commodious and well lighted in every case. The whole building is furnished with a wealth of safes and strong-rooms, which appear as much burglar or fire-proof human ingenuity can make them. At the south entrance the fine stairway of polished marble, flanked bv ornamental iron-work, and highly polished wood mountings, winds round ail electric lift to the top floor. The lift is one of the very latest “Otis” type, and can travel at a speed of 175 ft, pel* minute. It is beautifully designed, and finished with copper bronze. The architects arranged in their plans thcvfc the controlling weights should be outside the building, and the result is thal? the lift is absolutely noiseless in its action. Everywhere there is marked evidence of a desire to make the premises commodious and convenient in all respects. There are special features innumerable about the building, but columns would be required for their recital, and in these days people are too busy to be worried with a technical description of any building, however fine. Below the banking chamber are the vaults and rooms where coin and valuable documents will be stored* Huge doors are set in immense concrete walls, and inside again there ar£ “grill” protections on the latest Chubb' pattern, which it would defy the ingenuity of a Sherlock Holmes to get behind.

The ventilation and sanitary arrangements of the building are fashioned on the latest and most improved specifications, while the premises, as a whole, are as much fire-proof throughout as A building of the kind could be made. The building is lighted with gas throughout. About forty-five tons of steel were used in the concrete fiooto and walls. The walls are bound with wrought iron bands and hoop-iron bond, to minimise risk from earthquakes. The building was constructed by Messrs Mitchell and King, of Sydney, at a cost of about £40,000. The pritt> cipal sub-contractors, to whose skill and management the various works were entrusted, are : —Plumbing and heating engineers, Messrs Jenkins and Mack; plastering, M. J.'Carroll; painting, W. G. Tustin and Co.; ceilings, Wunderlich Company; gas-fittings, Wellington Gas Company; ornamental iron-work, Macfai’land and Co, Glasgow; fittings, W. Nees and Son®, Dunedin; lift- and enclosures, Standard Electrical Company, Sydney. Without doubt, the building is one of the finest in New Zealand, and sets a good example to other large associations and companies who contemplate rebuilding in the future. It is a credit to the city, the bank, the architects, and all concerned.