N.Z. BUILDING PROGRESS

Progress, Volume XVIII, Issue 1, 1 September 1922, Page 5

N.Z. BUILDING PROGRESS

VOL. XVIII. No. i.

Monthly.

Registered as a Newspaper .J

Honour to New Zealand Architects.

Our heartiest congratulations to the architects of New Zealand who made so splendid a showing in the world competition for the Auckland War Memorial Building. For New Zealanders to head the list among over seventy competitors is no unworthy achievement, and this should completely convince the general public of the Dominion that the architectural profession in this country is on a high plane. It will be remembered that a New Zealand architect won the prize for New Zealand’s principal national building, Parliament House, some years ago. One may almost hope from these evidences that the Dominion is entering upon that happy era when taste in design of its public buildings is to become a paramount consideration with public bodies. It might be added that there is a similar responsibility resting upon the larger private institutions of the country in respect to their buildings, and there are ample signs that they have Begun to realise the value of good architecture. The day of ornate and pretentious shams is departing. Auckland is setting a further good example in the generous response of its citizens to the appeal for funds with which to erect a permanent memorial to the most glorious achievements of this young nation. Of the £200,000 required for the war memorial, all but £78,000 has been secured, and from what we know of Auckland’s public spiritedness in the past, there is little need of anxiety on the part of its Citizens’ Committee in respect to the balance. Christchurch has its war memorial of more modest planning under weigh, but Wellington, alas, seems under the spell of the Government grant, and has nothing to show in the way of a war memorial. A vote of £IOO,OOO was placed on the Consolidated Estimates some years ago for the purpose of a national war memorial to be erected in Wellington, but under the stress of present conditions, there is no hope of practical work being done for some time. Meanwhile Auckland has magnificently eclipsed the capital city in the extent of its ambitions, and the amount of its accomplishment. The competition gave a great stimulus to the architects of New Zealand. Though many must be disappointed that they did not quite reach the great goal, they have

the satisfaction of knowing that the general level of attainment was high, therefore it was no disgrace to miss the mark. We sincerely hope that the Government will not long delay in giving the profession a further opportunity of proving its mettle on big things. Tendering Methods. It is quite evident that some members of the building trade have not quickly adapted themselves to the changed conditions of the times. We are convinced of this by the plain evidence of a series of different classes of building tenders recently brought under our notice. The general experience of owners just at present is that while possibly onehalf of the contractors show, by their prices, a careful calculation of the probable cost of the work, others have taken a less systematic way of bringing out their final figure, and have made up for loose methods by ample allowances for contingencies. The result of rule-of-thumb methods in tendering under existing conditions is that the only man who gets a chance is the one who has knowledge of costing on a sound basis. Intending clients of the building industry need not fear that the rule-of-thumb builders are getting their high prices, for there is a substantial majority of contractors thoroughly alive to the position, and submitting tenders which show on the face of things, a desire to do .the work for the real cost and a fair profit. However, in the general interests of the industry we deemed it our duty to draw attention to tendering methods through the medium of a special article, published in another part of this issue, which has been written in a spirit of critical helpfulness by one well qualified to deal with the subject. Our hope is that the information will bring more builders into line with the spirit of the times, and thus hasten the day when the industry will reach a condition of normal activity.

The State Advances System. Two millions of fresh money are promised by the Minister of Finance for the State Advances Department, which has been tunning under ;short sail

:_, j.t-_ _j.i._.. - r 1 £-.. _ __' :j i-i, *:,,,- iii LiivJ lltctllCl Ox Hew luaiis i.ui a. u;iiniur.i rt.i_;sc LJillG. This accession of funds should cause a prompt abandonment of the conservative methods of valuation followed by the- Department. Strong complaint was made recently in Parliament that the Department places so low a value on land and buildings that the actual ■ result to the borrower is that he gets a loan of scarcely one-half of the actual expenditure on the security. Although he gets his 50 per cent, at a low rate of interest, the benefit is seriously discounted if he has to' go into the open market for a second mortgage, to make up a reasonable sum, and possibly pay 10 per cent, interest. Such a system turns the Government's cheap money into a pretence. The State Advances Department may mend its methods under the stimulus of fresh capital, especially as an amendment of 'the law will enable it to charge, for the new money, a rate of interest one-half per cent higher than the rate which the Government will pay for the necessary loan. This is the breaking of the precedent of loans at 4! per cent., plus a half per cent, sinking fund, and it cannot be criticised when we find local bodies willing to pay 6 per cent, for loans backed by the ample security of the rates. Technical Education. There is a refreshing reaction in educational circles from the fetish that education of the better class must be of the classical type. Parents with a commendable ambition to place their children in a more comfortable position than themselves, push the pupils into the secondary schools in the hope that they will eventually dignify a profession. Every boy cannot achieve this ambition, else there would be many lawyers, doctors and dentists in the ranks of the unemployed. Educationists have been steadily encouraging boys to carry on their secondary courses in the technical schools, for they declare that, about 50 per cent, of those who go to the colleges do not turn this class of education to full account in after life. While secondary education cost the State last year, it is consoling to find that technical schools providing the more practical kind of secondary education for the average child, are stea'dily extending their work. The expenditure on technical instruction last year was £244,627. Reports of the Inspectors of Technical Schools show that on the whole the standard of work in previous years was maintained. In evening classes, generally speaking, the students are keen and industrious, but the fact that most of the classes are heterogeneous as regards the attainments' of pupils renders class-work difficult, with the result, that teachers are compelled often to resort to individual instruction where class-work would be much more effective if all the pupils were all at one stage. This difficulty is due to the small numbers offering in many -trades in most of the schools, and can hardly be removed until the population of the Dominion becomes much more dense than it is at present. In the day classes at

technical Schools this drawback is not very seriously felt, and in the technical high schools it is only noticeable in the higher classes in certain courses. In these schools, usually offering four of five different courses, the senior pupils of more than one course are often taken together for general subjects of instruction, in preference to the pupils in two or three years of one course being placed in one class. Part-time day continuation classes have not hitherto been encouraged by associations of employers except in the case of painters and decorators in one large centre, states the Education

Department. It is hoped that such classes will receive the support and encouragement which they deserve from both employers and employees, and that the single example at present in operation will be followed in all trades and occupations. Some form of compulsion may be necessary to secure the regular attendance of apprentices and other young workers at day continuation classes, but it is felt that no such compulsory classes would prove successful if they lacked the sympathy and aid of the masters and men in the occupations concerned. The character of technical instruction is best shown by

quoting from the report the details of technical classes throughout New Zealand;— Classes

Art and artcrafts ... ... ... 211 Mechanical and electrical engineering, theoretical and practical ... ... 230 Building-construction, carpentry, plumbing and other trades ... ... 218 Experimental and natural science, practical mathematics, &c. ... ... 110 Agriculture, wool-sorting, dairy-work, &c. 22 Domestic subjects ... ... ... 389 Commercial subjects ... ... ... 375 Subjects of general education ... ... 397 Total 1,952

There are 16,832 children attending these classes.

Cement-asbestos corrugated sheeting is now being used extensively in England, in lieu of galvanised iron, chiefly because it is a non-conductor and there are no annual charges for upkeep. The Building Research Board of London states that the problem of loss of heat depends largely upon the colour and character of the surface, as this accounts for radiation losses. A dull dark surface radiates heat rapidly, while a light-coloured polished surface retains it. The experience gained by the recent hot weather and the use of cement-asbestos shows that the slightest movement in the way of expansion or contraction cracks it, and when fixing, the nails or screws should not be driven tight home, and every other provision should be made to counteract these effects, particularly when laid upefn an iron framed roof.