LIARDET STREET SUBSTATION.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144800, 2 October 1915, Page 6

LIARDET STREET SUBSTATION.

'A HANDSOME BUILDING. NOW NEARING COMPLETION. With the general progress of the tramway work in New Plymouth the electric Jigiit and tramways sub-station m 1/iai'de t street is last neamg 'completion, and the finishing touches which are now > being added to the building give it a decidedly attractive appearance. The structure is indeed a handsome one, and when finally completed will deserve the designation or the finest corporation bonding in Taranaki, and it is not too much to say that it will have very few equals of its kind in the Uomimon. It is of reinforced concrete, is two stories high, and the total area covered is bdft. oy 83ft. The outside of the building is finished in cement, and the monotony of colour is most effectively relieved by the green tile panels placed midway on the walls. This elfect is turtner added to by the bngnt appearance at a distance of the red idea roor, and at a close inspection, by the quaint style of windows, which are fitted with Woolnougfi’s patent sashes. The front facade is of the lonic order, and the design is a very artistic one. The main entrance to the building is from a portico in the centre, and proceeds along a panelled vestibule to the counter of the public office, in fiere is a correspondence lift to the top floor, and opening into the public ofiice are a strongroom (12 x lo) and a telephone room. Accommodation handy to the general ofiice is provided for tfie cfiiei engineer and the accountant. Alt tfiese omces are to the right of the entrance. On the left is a showroom in which electric fittings etc., will be displayed. There are two large plate-glass windows (each Uft. by 9ft./ so that the display can be seen more effectively from the footpath, Opening into tne showroom is a storeroom, and a room is provided near-by for the mams engineer. There are other small rooms m the front downstairs portion; ail available space is utilised. Alt the corridors and offices are finished in white plaster with handsome oak panelling to a height of 6ft. ihere is a wooden stairway leading to the second floor, and here are found a meter room and general office, typiste** room, engineers office, drawing-room, and waiting room. Most of these win be finished in white plaster but others will be in different tmts in distempers. This concludes a description of both floors of the front portion, and proceeding to the back portion of the building, one finds that, upstairs and downstairs, preparation is being made for tue installation of the machinery and switchboards. The first floor at the back comprises a machine room, a repair shop, and a transformer room, from which latter a concrete stairway leads to a battery room forming the top portion. Am. pie provision is made for extensions to the machine room, and there is a travelling crane which will deal effectively with all heavy machinery eta, that has to be moved. The floor of the machine-room has a red ozide finish, while a menohatel floor is provided for the battery room upstairs. The building will be completed in about a fortnight, and a start will then be made with the contract of installing the machinery. The builders, Messrs, Shaw and Payne, are to be congratulated on the excellent job they have made of the structure, which was designed by Mr, €. Tilleard Natusch, and the clerk or .works, Mr. H. L. Hogg, has to be complimented on the way he has carried out his part of the work. The building is an exceptionally handsome one, ana is a great credit to New Plymouth.