File:The Civil engineer and architect's journal, scientific and railway gazette (1839) (20031906534).jpg

Title: The Civil engineer and architect's journal, scientific and railway gazette
Identifier: civilengineerarc07lond (find matches)
Year: 1839 (1830s)
Authors:
Subjects: Architecture; Civil engineering; Science
Publisher: London : (William Laxton)
Contributing Library: Northeastern University, Snell Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Northeastern University, Snell Library

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/4..0 iroHi were at the top of the beams, as represented by the holes a a a, (fig. 3,) whereas they are generally fixed in the position as under, at e e, (fig. 4;. Fig. 4. From the above it will be easy to conceive the nature of the building, and the mode of construction in general use in these districts. The arches, it will be observed, are composed of a brick length from c to rf, ; brick from d to e, and half brick in the centre. The top of the arches is then filled up with a concrete of lime and ashes, on which is laid either the stone flagging or tiles, as the case may he. The verdict of the jury was accidental death. THE NEW -ROYAL EXCHANGE. The intelligence of the tesselated pavement of the Mercliants' Area being since taken up has given us rather a chill, for it seems at present rather doubtful whether it will ever be laid down again, and if so that part of the building will be deprived of what was not only a magnificent piece of decora- tion, but one quite unique in this country. We suspect that this unfortunate failure must have been, in a great measure, owing to the hurry wiih which the work was urged on, merely for the sake of getting the place in readiness by a certain day for a ceremony that was manifestly premature. A mis- nomer it certainly was to call that the " opening" of the Exchange, which was only the prelude to closing it again; and surely it would have been far more respectful towards the Queen to have delayed the " inauguration" until the whole had been perfected in every pari, and rendered fit for immediate occupation. That economy could have been the motive for this strange pre- cipitancy is utterly impossible, because tlie expense it occasioned for tempo- rary preparations and fittings-up must have been a very formidable item in- deed, considering that there is nothing now to show for it. What then is to be put into the opposite scale against it, those best can tell who are au .fait in the mysteries of city politics and diplomacy. To us the affair of the "open- ing" appears to have been hurried on very injudiciously, if only because it now looks like a mere " flash in tlie pan," or a sudden start off before the signal of " all right!" had been given. However, if we care nothing for the manner in which that business was managed, we can speak with satisfaction of the edifice itself. We do not, indeed, pretend to have as yet so fully examined it as to be able to give a decisive and mat\ired opinion as to every part; but speaking from such ob- servation as we have hitherto had the opportunity of making, and taking it as a rich and dignified pile, fully equal to what we expectedâin some resp els superior to what tbe architect's first designs promised. At present it is diffi- cult to collect what is the general opinion of competent judges in regard to it, until the mere hubbub of newspaper praise shall have subsided. That it should be universally admired by professional men is not to he expected, if only be- cause it throws some of them and their productions into the shade, and re- proaches the poverty and dryness of manner which they would palm upon us for simplicity and purity. Accordingly we are not at all surprized at finiling that a disposition to carp at the E.\change has begun to manifest itself. It is alleged to be overloaded with ornament, and coarse in its details; and it cer- tainly must be acknowledged to be the first in an eminent degree, in comparison with the bareness generally, and the blankness with respect to sculptured en- richment in particular, which we have been accustomed to in other public buildingsâsome of them principal onesâerected in the present century. As to coarsenessâwhat may appear such to some, we might call energy ; and if both the design itself and the treatment of it in regard to style are somewhat 5id generis, so also is the purpose of the building ; and it was probably consi- dered desirable that it should at all events e.\press both stateliness and libe- rality of ornament, even though tinged in some degree with heaviness and quaintness. With regard to the shops we certainly do not approve of iheni, being decidedly of opinion that there ought not to have been any at all; nor do â we see what particular advantage can accrue to the tenants from their shops being incorporated with the Exchange, since there is no sheltered walk before them as was the case in the former building. At all events they ought to be occupied as offices and not as shops for retail business. However, they were made a sine qua non, and the architect had no alternative but to comply with immutable instructions.âWe annex a very able description of the Building from the Times. The Site, Is remarkable for its commanding importance in on« aspect, the western, and for its irregularity on the other three sides, having, as is well known, a wedge-like form, produced by the convergence of Cornhill and Threadneedle- strert towards the Mansion-house. The munificence of Parliament having facilitated th« purchase of the isolated property to the west of the late Ex- change, an opportunity was obtained for turning the most important facade of the new structure in that direction, instead of placing it to the south, as formerly. By this means the space unintercepted by buildings in advance from the centre of the present portico becomes extended to the unusual length of between 500 and 600 feet. On the other hand, the large and still increased amount of accommodation required in the new Exchange, together with the necessity for keeping that accommodation within an easily accessible elevation from the great thoroughfares, rendered it imperative that all the available ground on the north and south boundary lines should be occupied with building, in spite of the irregularity and want of parallelism to which we have just referred. We pass on, then, to examine what is the nature of that accommodation which principally governs the extent and distribution of the building under our notice. In the structure first raised by Sir Thomas Gresbam only two objects seemed to have been provided torâthe daily meeting of the merchants, and the reception of the shopkeepers ; the upper part of the building having been, as it seems, arranged very much after the manner of a bazaar. Its successor, the late Royal Exchange, rebuilt after the great fire, ultimately received some new and important bodies of occu- pants, in lieu of the upstairs shopkeepers of the former establishment. First in order of time, came the association that originated in Lloyd's Coffee- house ; their introduction was followed by that of the Royal Exchange As- surance Corporation, and this again by the provision for the Greshani Col- lege, on the purchase of its establishment by Government for the use of the E.xci8e. In rebuilding the Exchange once more, the Gresham Committee have made provision, not only for an increase in the extent of accommoda- tion to the shops, but for the reception of an additional company, that of the London Assurance ; while they have assigned the Gresham College to a separate edifice, and provided a suite of rooms, hitherto unallotted, in the situation at first devoted to that body. The principal departments of //«? present building consist, therefore, of the following portions, as to number and order:â The Merchants' Quadrangle. Lloyd's. The Royal Exchange Assurance. The London Assurance. The unappropriated offices. The offices and shops of private parties. Plan of the Building. Setting the portico out of notice for the moment, the mass of building pro- duces a figure about 272 feet in length from east to west, with a frontage of 118 feet at the west end, and of 176 feet at the opposite extremity, the north and south sides being equal, and connected with the eastern face by

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