HIGH BUILDINGS BANNED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 939, 8 December 1933, Page 7

HIGH BUILDINGS BANNED.

Town Planning By-laws in City.

Town planning by-laws in force in Christchurch definitely prevent the erection of a building of the type of the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society’s new premises which are to be erected in Wellington at a cost of approximately £IOO,OOO. The Wellington structure will consist of ten storeys and the main block will rise to a height of 102 ft, the limit permitted under the city by-laws, with the lift and water tank tower rising still higher. The Christchurch City Council has adopted a by-law restricting the height of buildings to 66ft or the width of the street, whichever is the greater, and the town planning officer stated to-day that that height included any tower that might surmount the structure. When the question was referred to Councillor E. H. Andrews, chairman of the Town Planning Committee, he stated that the by-law in Christchurch was in line with the policy adopted in many large cities in other parts of the world, where there was a definite tendency away from the idea of building skyscrapers because of the traffic congestion they caused. In Wellington, he said, the by-laws permitted the erection of higher buildings on account of the business area being confined, but that argument did not apply in Christchurch, where there was ample room for the city to spread in all directions. The Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society’s new building in Wellington will be of particularly striking design. It is a modernised treatment of the Romanesque and a considerable amount of colour will be introduced, while bright tiles will be used for the steeplv sloping roofing to give skyline effect. It is to be erected on the corner of Customhouse Quay and Willesden Street, and will be an imposing addition to the architecture of the capital city.