Once established in Wellington, and after the extension of his office into the Hawke's Bay following the 1931 earthquake, Anscombe travelled to the United States again visiting the Chicago World's Fair for three weeks in July 1933. On this same trip he visited Long Beach, California where he was "very impressed with the beautiful waterfront feature enclosing an area of of still water." This influenced his 1945 proposal for a bandshell and amenities on a wide promenade wall to enclose of still water with an illuminated fountain at Oriental Bay, published in "The Evening Post" in February 1945. Such schemes were sometimes extensions of building projects as in the case of the Post and Telegraph Building in Herd St which shaped a proposed gardens in Chaffers Park part of a plan, which was realised, to extend Cable St as "a new approach to Oriental Bay." Anscombe also contributed to the discussion of the shaping of the Civic Centre, publishing a scheme in "The Dominion" in June 1934.