The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 15, 1868.

SHARE LIST.

ORDINARY SHARI:B AND STOCKS.

THE NE 117 L ATV COURTS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,—Mr. Edward M. Barry will feel greatly
oblig ql by the publication of the enclosed letter.

He considers that the Government entered into a
contract with the competitors in order to obtain
designs from them ; and that nothing that has
occurred since the designs were furnished, for which
the competitors are not responsible, can vitiate this
con tract.

21, Abingdon-street, Westminster, S.W.,

June 13.

" 21, Abingdon-street, June
.8, 1868.

" Sir,—l am informed that her MAjesty's Go-
vernment propose to disregard the award of the
Judges of Designs for the new Law Courts, and to
appoint Mr. Street architect of that important
work, notwithstanding that they h tve been officially
informed by the Right Hon. W. F. Cowper, the
ch:tir►nan of the Judges of Designs, that the judges
have decided that my design is the best in regard
to convenience of plan and internal arrangements,
and that of Mr. street in regard to elevation only.
• " The conditions of the competition provide, in the
most stringent manner, that excellence of plan and
internal arrangement is to be. preferred to all other
considerations. The conditions state, on page 11,

that the chief points to be kept constantly in
view, and to be treated as superseding, so far as
they may conflict, all considerations of architectural
effect, are the accommodation to be provided and
the arrangements to be adopted, so as, in the greatest
degree, to facilitate the despatch and the accurate
transaction of the law business of the country ;
and, in carrying
out this design, the first ob-
ject should be to provide ample uninterrupted
communication and, accommodation for those
who have legitimate business in the new
building.' On page 7we read—, The arrangement
of the courts and offices is of vital moment ; on it
mainly depends the success or failure of their ccn-
centration, and its importance cannot be over-esti-
mated. For the interior of such a building, andin
such a locality, a requirement of the first magni-
tude, and one having an important bearing on the
question of arrangement, is abundant window-light.
It will be impossible to give too much to any of the
offices. Almost every room throughout the build-

ing being devoted to purposes of writing or reading
will necessarily require the fullest extent of light
'cation of a sufficiency of
Again, on pages 8 and
light
g—h
hi h
isß cuoatf n
while
o great
e importance,
and must neces-
sarily have influence on the arrangement of the
rooms, a necessity of almost equal urgency is quiet.
In short, that the utmost precautions be taken, and
means provided, by which the quiet of the courts
may be secured. The comparative degrees of
quiet required for the different offices are
meant to be indicated in the schedules thus, q 1,
q 2,
quietest.'
sigAnigfyaiinng,
on
gsppeacti:ely quiet, quieter, and
13—' The ;convenient
working of the whole arrangement depends on the
manner in which facilities of communication are
afforded.'

" The above extracts are but specimens of the
spirit which pervades the conditions throughout,
laying down the principle to be followed in the se-
lection of the architect, and their requirements are
summed up by the general heading in the index,
Utility to be attendel to before effect.'
" Few practical persons will fail to admit the good
sense of these instructions, or the difficulty of com-
plying with them, in respect of
,a building which is
to be one of strict utility. Fewer still will be pre-
pared to find that the result of the competition is
to disregard them, as if they had never been writ-
ten, and to choose a design avowedly recommended
by a preference for its elevation alone.
The Judges of Designs have twice officially re-
corded their judgment in their award that the de-
sign of Mr. Barry is the best in regard to plan and
distribution of the interior.'
Two of their number,
who
Messrs. Shaw and Pownall,were specially ap-
pointed to advise the Royal Commission on points
of professional detail,' have recorded their opinion
seriatim on the several points contained in the in-
structions to the competing architects, and have re-
ported in my favour under the following hca3s :
Light and Mr, quiet, relative position of depart-
ments, accesses and staircases, communication
betwe.m different sets of offices, intercommu-
nication, separation of traffic ; private road,
Ranch Bell-yard, an.] Strand ; gacen's
Ben Court and
rooms, Common Pleas
t'a3n-inn,
and rooms,-
,Excheluer Court anl
rooms, Exchequer Chamber, Spare Court,
rCeLoooloeur Justices Courts and rooms, Vice-Chan-
cellor Kindersley's Court and rooms, Vice-Chan-
cellor Stuart's Court and rooms, Vice-Chancellor
Wood's Court and rooms, spare Court of Equity,
Registrars' offices, Enrolment office, Visitors in
Lunacy, Queen's Bench Judges' Chambers, Com-
mon Pleas Judges' Chambers, Exchquer Judges'
Chambers, Queen's Bench Master's office, Common
Pleas Master's office, Queen's Bench Associates,
Common Pleas Associates, Exchequer Associates,
Circuit Associates, Crown Officers' rooms, Royal
Commissions'
offices, spare rooms, waterclosets and
urinals.
•

" By this report my design is selected as the best,
for almost all the courts and most important offices,
and is especially
preferrei in the all-important
matters of light and air, quiet, accesses, general
arrangements, &c., which are the vital points to be
attended to, and for the neglect of which no
exterior, however attractive, will farni,h com-
pensation. •

"Mr. Street's design is only specially noticed four
times ; first, as to condition No. 5, as being incon-
sistent with the conditions, in the important mat-
ter of the size of the courts, which is stated to
be deficient ; secondly and thirdly, as to area of
site and tramways, on which points it is preferred ;
fourthly, it is put on an equality with the designs
of seven other competitors, in the
provision made
fur the receiver of Wills Department.
" When the architects were invited to compete,
they were informed by a Treasury minute dated the
23d of December, 1865, that the notices, or invita-
tions to compete, should be issued by the Committee
of Judges,' and that their award should be final,
and though I have been willing, in deference to
their award, to waive my special claims, and to con-
sent to act jointly with Mr. Street, I must, in
justice to myself, maintain that by the award of the
judges my claims were made superior to those of
any other single competitor, and no other ought to
have been preferred to me.

"I write in no spirit of hostility to my friend Mr.
Street, but it is impossible not to see that my design
has bean selected as the best, for what I have done
in respect of those important points which the
competitors
were of vital moment.
The
d
roun(ls told'
of
the judgment in my
favour are plainly and intelligibly recorded,
so that all the world may judge of their im-
portance ; while Mr. Street is to be appointed, from
an u3thetic preference for his elevation alone, in de-
fiance of the clearest statement that such preference
was not to determine the competition. Moreover,
as Mr. Street's elevation is inconsistent with the plan
approved, and cannot, therefore, be carried out, he
is selected, but for what
hem
a ground upon which he might
as well have been chosen without any competition-
ayet notd o, for what he has done,
at all.

" I have every confidence in Mr. Street's ability
to design and carry into effect a building worthy of
the nation, but I regret to say that I cannot
acquiesce in the justice of the course proposed to
be adopted, as I consider it directly at variance with
the letter and spirit of the conditions on the faith
of which I, in common with the other competitors,
agreed to devote my time and attention to this
work.

" Having conformed to the regulations of the
Commissioners—having
of
he
complied with the condi-
tions competition—and having the decision
o t
of the judges in my favour, I have a right to ask,
very respectfully, but most urgently, that the
Government, on their part, should abide by their
engagement, formally recorded in a Treasury
minute, that the award of the judges should
be final. I therefore most earnestly appeal to
their lordships ,pot to turn my success in this
competition into a serious loss and injury by denying
to me, after a long and trying suspense, my just

reward, and excluding me from all connectio, 1 with
this great national work, with which they have
allowed my name to be publicly associated daring
more than twelve months.—l have the honor tr to
be, sir, your obedient servant,

"EDWARD M. BARRY..
" P. Sclater Booth, Esq., M.P., Seereiailr
to her Majesty's Treasury."