THE NEW ART GALLERY.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING.
The New Art Gallery, for which tenders have just been called, will be
erected on the Beaufort-street frontage of the Museum Reserve, in
continuation of the existing Museum building, and forming a connecting
link between that and the geologists’s offices and Museum at the corner
Francis-street. The main entrance will be at the south end, adjoining the
Museum, and will provide access to entrance hall 45ft. by 34ft., with
entrances on the ground floor to Museum 114ft. by 38ft., and 20ft. high,
lighted along each side by tripe [sic] windows in each bay, the sills
being kept 12ft. from the floor, to give sufficient wall space for cases
and specimens. Access to the upper floor will be obtained by a staircase
12ft. wide, with double approaches, the landing on the first floor forming
a small gallery 34ft. wide, with entrances opening therefrom [sic] to the
Art Gallery 114ft. long by 38ft. wide, and 21ft. 6in. to the square. The
central portion will be open timbered, with arcaded filling to each
principal, and the side spaces boldly cored, panelled and chambered. The
lighting has been carefully considered, and is provided for by a lantern
running the whole length of gallery, with sashes set at the requisite
angle. The building has been designed in the Romanesque style to harmonise
with the existing structure, the main entrance being accentuated by a
lofty recessed arch, with clustered columns at each side. The ground floor
windows to Beaufort-street are grouped together by arcading, the spandrils
[sic] of which are filled in with diaper work of stone and brick.
Provision is made for a deep enriched frieze at the level of main eaves.
Externally the materials proposed are granite for the plinth, rock-faced
Donnybrook stone below arcading, and brick-work, with Donnybrook free-
stone dressing above. Internally the floors will be finished in tiles and
jarrah and the walls plastered, the frieze to the Art Gallery being formed
of a series of casts of the famous Parthenon frieze, recently acquired by
the committee of the Museum and Art Gallery.
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