The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-30 00:00:00

•
6fr:

0.
COMMITTEE ROOMS
HOUSES OF PARLIA "t 1
We have before briefly noticed that s• IflEalrailwaY
committees have commenced the occupati • I e •
of Parliament. This taking possession o • 'rtig_khe,Y4 •
unfinished building confirms the expectation that 111Vitimie;
may be entered upon in the next session, and the event is
worthy a more extended notice than we were enabled to
spare room for.
The Committee- rooms are at present approached by the
entrance to the old Committee-rooms, close to the porch of
Westminster Hall. The access is circuitous, and the grand
corridor, into which all the rooms open, is reached by an
ascent of various staircases, numbering altogether seventy-
eight steps. If we assume each step to be half a foot deep,
the elevation of the Committee-rooms is nearly forty feet
about Old Palace-yard. The grand corridor extends the
whole length of the river front of the building, and from
it each Committee-room is entered directly by two
doors, one entrance being for the public, and the
other for the Members. The rooms, with the exception of
two larger ones in the centre of the building, are of equal
size, being about thirty-two feet long by thirty wide, and
twenty feet high. Each of them is lighted by two windows
looking towards the river, of which they command a
magnificent view. The windows reach from near the
bottom to the top, and even with the present imperfect
glazing by small panes of glass in wooden frames, there
is an abundance of light. The ceilings not having yet
been underlined, the brick flooring by which the different.
stories are divided, for the better protection against fire,
are exposed to view and their mode of construction. It
is evident that it would be impracticable to construct a
level surface of bricks to form the roofs without supports ;
and to have given the rooms vaulted roofs would have caused
a great
consequently
recourse
thinagdn iron girders, that reach the length of the room. By this
o
recoursewtot waste
ecfonepstarueecti; construction
;the
of
architect hi
seriest ect
ofh
has
esmeealel as
s
means the space lost between the floorings by these arches
from iron girders, will not be above one foot ;
but there must necessarily be an immense weight resting on
the iron supports, which have to bear nearly the whole of the
pressure.
At present this magnificent suite of apartments presents
an extremely naked appearance, the only fittings of the
rooms consisting of the baize-covered tables, a few chairs, a
tcieliislindgesfecntowt
ilbleminogst
deal press to contain the papers of the Committees, a green-
frionoi
finished
(t area
and
d unfavourablefurnished. fipnric:
green-
baize skirting, and cocoa-nut matting. In consequence of the
bfhoaeldllytehnr the transmission nor
ste r,h.e loowwv
eavl lesr, plastered,o ofn
e sound, th
bute
the
en
Committees, already
d desiring
irg thatto
o ofdi
srceutsi
sr removed when they are
hers of Committees. It occurred onmaterial
theng rooms sl for t
thathe memi
a disputedaypoint, it was
o
requisite to clear the room, and all the counsel, the witnesses,
and other persons were compelled to wait in the corridor
until the deliberation was ended. This is a defect which
can only be remedied by appropriating smaller rooms for
consultation, on the opposite side of the corridor, which must,
however, be in most instances, at a considerable distance from
the room of the Committee.
At present only half of the range of rooms on the river
front is in a state of readiness, and some of those are not com-
pleted; the others are, however, preparing, and will pro-
bably be ready next week. The two larger rooms near the
centre of the building, cne of which is occupied by the North
Kent Railway group, are one-third larger than the others,
their height is the same as that of the other rooms.
being lighted by three windows each, instead of by two, but