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79
(b) Brantome Place Area.— In continuation of the course of events recorded
in the Report for 1906, in March, 1907, tenders for the buildings
designed by Messrs. Joseph and Smithem were advertised for. The
tender of Mr. H. L. Holloway for £17,479 for the buildings and
£760 for the lodge was accepted by the Borough Council, and also
the tenders of Messrs. Lascelles & Co. for artificial stonework for
£1,689, and of Messrs. Hawkins & Baxter for ironwork, &c., for
£545.
The contracts were signed in the beginning of July, and the
work proceeded with.
On the 7th November, 1907, the Mayor, Alderman Donald
McGregor, j.p , laid the Foundation Stone in the presence of the
Aldermen, Councillors, and visitors.
The Dwellings are being erected with a frontage of about 368 feet to a new
street called Brantome Place, in course of construction, between Mabledon
Place and Burton Street, and containing a superficial area of about threefifths
of an acre.
At the rear of the buildings there will be a large open space of an average
width of 50 feet, which will afford ample lighting and ventilation to the
buildings, and at the same time can be used by the children of the tenants as
a playground.
The elevations, though of the simplest character, will be most attractive in
appearance, as the long front will be divided up by large projecting bays, and
the broken sky line will form a pleasing feature in the design.
The buildings will be six storeys in height, including the half-basement and
attic storeys, and will be faced with red Leicester bricks relieved with
dressings of artificial stone of a pale buff tint. The half-basement will be
made as attractive as the ground floor, as there will be a long slope planted
with evergreens in front of the windows.
The buildings will be of fireproof construction throughout, the floors being
formed with steel and concrete, and the pavings and landings being finished
with granolithic material. The walls of the staircases will be faced with white
tiles, thus ensuring an absolutely smooth and clean surface, requiring no
annual expenditure for painting or distempering. The floors of the w.c.'s
will be laid with mosaic and the walls tiled in the same way as the staircases.
The buildings will contain:—48 three-room tenements, and 36 two-room
tenements, containing 216 rooms, and will house about 432 persons, based on
an average of two persons to a room.
All the tenements will be self-containcd, that is to say, each tenement will
have a separate scullery and w.c., and every tenement will be entered from a
lobby so as to give absolute privacy to the tenants. From this lobby access is
obtained to the scullery and w.c., and thus completely cut off from the liv ing
rooms. These lobbies will be provided with a shelf and hat and coat hooks.
The scullery, which will be used as a kitchen, will be fitted up with a
washing trough and an independent copper for washing clothes, a larder,