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<... I
THE NEW HOUSE
OF
COMMONS
Speaker's Chair and Footstool.
General view of the Main Chamber from the extreme rear of the Public seats.
The new house, Gothic in style, is designed as a steel- framed structure and has been erected on the original plain lime concrete raft which is about five feet thick and extends over the greater part of the site. In the old building, how- ever, the loads were well distributed along the many load- bearing walls. With the steel-framed construction of the new house, the loads were concentrated at the stanchions, and varied up to about 600 tons.
Mild steel was used throughout except for girders spanning about 50 feet over the Commons Lobby. Here the architectural requirements limited the width and depth available for these girders and it was necessary to construct them of high tensile steel.
The floors generally are of reinforced concrete slabs or of hollow tile construction, although in isolated cases where it would have been difficult to erect and remove shuttering, precast flooring units were employed. The floor of the Chamber is in Queensland walnut, a gift from Australia.
The exterior and interior masonry is practically all in Clipsham stone, worked by various firms in different parts of the country and then brought to the site for fixing. Port- land and Caen stone is used for the restoration of the old Cloisters adjoining the new buildings which were badly damaged by bombs, and the marblework for pavings and lavatories is mainly in Hadene stone.
The large quantity of prime English oak required was cut on the quarter to the required thicknesses and seasoned and kilned under the supervision of the Forest Products Research Laboratory.
Specially designed bronze casements with H-section glazing bars, showing the same inside and out, were used throughout. Door locks are under a system of Master and Sub-Master keys, with a Secret Session key for certain doors which, though using the same keyhole, over-rides all other keys including the Master.
The entrance to the Chamber from the Commons Lobby is through the Churchill Arch, built from the damaged stones which remained in this position after the destruction of the old Chamber. They have been carefully rebuilt as a memorial of the occasion.
The floor of the new Chamber is exactly the same size as that of the old one, namely 68 ft. by 45 ft. 6 in., but above the gallery level the dimensions have been increased. from 84 ft. by 46 ft. 6 in. to 103 ft. by 48 ft. This provides additional seating for reporters (161 seats instead of 93) and visitors. Seats are provided for 437 Members out of the total of 915 seats which give a clear view in the Chamber; there are a further 24 seats behind the stone screens.
The Chamber is 46 ft. high and has a shaped ceiling which, with its large span, gives a much better effect than a flat ceiling, besides assisting the acoustic properties. This ceiling, which in daylight appears to be all of oak, has a large number of glass panels through which the lighting of nearly the whole Chamber is effected; the glass, being the same colour as the oak, does not break up the general effect.
Although the general form and arrangement of the Chamber conforms with that of the old, the general
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characteristic of the new oak work design is a concentration on ornament to form horizontal bands of enrichment with contrasting plain areas. A domestic type of window has been adopted as being more suitable than the somewhat ecclesiastical type of the old windows,
The seating in the Chamber is covered with pleated leather in green, the traditional colour. The colour scheme adopted throughout the new building is green for areas used by Ministers. brown for those parts (M.P.5' rooms, Division Lobbies, etc.) used by Members. In the Chamber the specially woven Wilton carpet covering the floor is green, the raised tiers occupied by Members are covered with brown carpet. The green carpet carries the traditional red "sword line" running the length of each end of the front benches.
The Speaker's Chair is at the north end of the Chamber, where accommodation is provided under the galleries for departmental officials and certain male visitors.
The Strangers' Gallery, the first three rows of which are reserved for Special Strangers, is immediately opposite the Speaker. The Centre Side Galleries are used by Members, and the Gallery immediately above the Speaker is reserved for the Press.
Communication facilities for reporters in the Press Gallery include over 70 telephones in sound-proof, air-conditioned telephone booths, situated mainly in the lobbies of the two Galleries. Of these lines, some are private, direct to individual newspapers. There are pneumatic tube communications between the Press Gallery and the Post Office in the House, for despatch of cables and telegrams. Three teleprinters con- nect to the principal towns in the country. Writing rooms, a library and reading room, and provided for the reporters.
Behind the Press Gallery, on the top (second) floor, is the Reporters' Suite: buffet, dining room, kitchen and servery. All are air-conditioned.
The use of leather for upholstery has been restricted to the Chamber, Division Lobbies and the Prime Minister's con- ference room. All the other upholstery in the new building is a specially woven tapestry cloth (either green or brown) with the Portcullis interwoven. Chamber benches and chairs have latex seating
All the furniture has been designed by the Architect on Gothic lines in keeping with the architectural features. The chairs have been made by the same firm (Messrs. Waring and Gillow) that made chairs for the rebuilt House after the fire of 1834.
The new seating is in latex foam rubber (Dunlopillo) cushioning, with a covering of fluted pale green hide. There are 1622 feet, in long lengths, of the cushioning in the Chamber and division lobbies alone. Dunlopillo cushioning is used in the rest of the House for the lounge settees, armchairs, small chairs, restaurant chairs, office chairs and stools in the Prime Minister's room, the Leader of the Opposition's room, Ministers' rooms, Conference rooms, secretaries' rooms, waiting rooms, restaurant and telephone boxes. Dunlopillo was chosen after samples had been prepared and tested in different Govern- ment offices for the Select Committee considering the building of the new House,