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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 27, No. 13. 1964.
Library Block Ready Soon?
Library Block Ready Soon?
The new arts library block will be in operation at the opening of the 1965 academic year. The only hold-up in the building has been typical Wellington weather, but this caused no serious delay. Construction has gone ahead as planned.
The construction of the building is interesting in that the library arts block is the first large-scale prefabricated building to be built in New Zealand.
The building consists mainly of prestressed concrete beams, held together by strained wire. The lift wells, columns, and stairs are precast. Panels and partitions on the upper floors will slide into tongue and groove fittings.
This prefabrication was necessary because the small site allowed for little working space on the construction job. Also, the building has been planned to give maximum floor space, the distance between supporting columns being 53 feet.
A bridge-building technique was applied to the construction of the blocks. This required a great many mathematical calculations of stresses and strains.
The only alteration to the main plan is that the law reading room will not be placed in the new building but will occupy the present library.
The Interior floor coverings are to be of soft material except for the corridors, stairs and lift areas. The seating In the new library will vary from ordinary chairs to divans and armchairs. There will also be semi-enclosed corrals, containing shelves of specialised books, where students can study without distraction. The building will be artificially ventilated though not airconditioned.
The cost of the building will be around £800,000 and it is hoped that it will be formally opened during the May vacation, 1965.
"I feel that the S.C.M. is becoming cliquey—it's a nice little group of ex-Bible class members who are still good churchgoers—not the 50 per cent of atheists and agnostics which I would have expected,"—A speaker at the S.C.M.'s A.G.M.