THE BUILDING OF THE FUTURE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 301, 29 January 1910, Page 2

THE BUILDING OF THE FUTURE

THE "CAVIT'I" OR "CAMERATED" CONCRETE SYSTEM. A building which is attracting a good ileal of iniu-o.ii as it progresses is the. wool and grain store now being erected on thi' corner of Gill and Liardet streets by .Mr. R. W. Uond for .Messrs L. A. -Solan and Co. The building is of concrete. which is no novelty, but the method of construction is new, and promises to revolutionise the building trade. Tim walls arc of eamerated or chambered concrete, really two concrete walls, with cavities extending from top to bottom, and reinforced by steel vertical rods anil horizontal galvanised steel wire. An inspection of the work leaves no room to doubt the claim of the inventor that the buildings this constructed are damp-proof, and soundproof; about thirty per cent, cheaper than brick, and costing only ten per cent, more in the initial outlay than buildings of wood. This, of course, is soon saved owing to the less expenditure in painting, papering, and renovating; in lower insurance premiums, and because the older the house gets the better it is. The great saving as compared with brick is effected by the lower wages bills, unskilled labor being able to do the greater portion of the work. The diil'ereiice between the wages of a good bricklayer and a good laborer is about five or six shillings a day, and in a building this difference amounts to a considerable sum. In oxplaining the method of construction, which must of necc.-sity be somewn.it curtailed, we hope only to induce .111 interview with Mr. Bond, who is quite willing to explain the whole system 10 anyone interested. Briefly, the method is as follows. From an ordinary concrete foundation stays are erected the height 01 the way proposed. A planking" of'parallel planks of Oregon pine n foof high, with steel braces, is placed in position and kept rigidly there by yokes. Within these planks are placed collapsible cores equidistant. A concrete of .small material is mixed in the •■.Miracle" concrete mixer—said to :>e the finest concrete-mixer extant—and then poured round the cores and between the cores and the boards. hi about three or four hours the cores can be removed, for the wall has hardcnel. The outer boards arc taken away, and the hollow concrete wall remains, one foot high. The framework for the whole of the next section of the wall a foot high— is put up, and treated in precisely the same as the first, the concrete at the lower part of the second section mixing with the concrete in the upper part of the first, so that there is no visible joint. Plug* are inserted where required, to take arci.uravcs, etc. The building can be finished in any color or style."to represent stone, brick, or .plastered wall. Architects in Xew Zv.v land and Australia, where the system was invented, write very highly of it, and iav special stress on the strength, durability, cheapness and damp-proof qualities,' and buildings have been erected in Auckland. Wellington and 1 Christehurch. Mr. Bond has photo- | graphs of some_beautiful villas, oot- ! tauvs". and terraces" erected in Sydney. , The sfoFe now in course of erection has a frontao-e of 83ft to Gill street and 40ft to Liardet street. The building will be Two-storeyed, each -storey having an lift stud, and the total height wnl be 28 feet.