386 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1917. 



Port Sunlight, a Model Industrial Village. 



By John Barnard, Architect. 



THE movement tor the better housing of employes, which is 

 occupying the serious attention of leading minds in the 

 rubber, cotton weaving and other great .American indus- 

 tries, had its inception in England several years ago. Such 

 garden villages as Port Sunlight, Bourneville, Hampstead and 

 the like are not without their philanthropic aspects, usually pro- 

 viding home comforts and advantages which the operatives had 

 never known before. But they have proved to be a paying in- 

 vestment to the employer, a factor which several .\mcrican manu- 

 facturers were quick to make the most of. 



Many firms that must house their employes have discovered 

 that the cost of doing so well is only a little more than being 

 niggardly in the matter, and that the accruing benefits more than 

 offset the additional investment. Rut the mere housing, how- 

 ever well it may be done, does not provide the only essential to 

 a full measure of success in such a venture. Community spirit, 

 recreation facilities, educational and other welfare features are 

 also important, particularly in locations somewhat removed from 

 any long-established town or city. Therein lies the principal ad- 

 vantage of tl>e English model industrial village over most of the 

 merely real estate developments for American operatives. The 



h'nglish tavern. olTers good rooms and meals at moderate prices 

 for travoling moii and other visitors. The museum contains 





Two-F.\MiLY Semi-Detached Houses, One of Brick .ano 

 Timber, the Other with Slate Wails. 



inhabitant of such a town enjoys many interests and benefits in 

 common with his neighbors, and in every sense becomes a citizen 

 with the opportunity to take part in the management of village 

 affairs. 



Take Port Sunlight, near Liverpool. England, for instance. 

 There, in a setting of delightfully shaded, curving streets, well- 

 kept lawns, ample shrubbery and beautiful flowers, nestle many 

 attractive houses picturesquely grouped and overgrown with ivy. 

 Scattered here and there among them are the community build- 

 ings, including a church, inn, school, hospital, museum, social 

 hall, library, swimming pool, playground, gymnasium, stores, etc. 

 The Sunlight Soap Co. also has a bank and cooperative associa- 

 tion giving employes an opportunity to save money and buy 

 stock in the company. Flower gardens here and there beautify 

 the picture and provide the outdoor exercise so essential to the 

 health of factory workers, while vegetable gardens, often in tracts 

 01 land by themselves divided in squares for the use of separate 

 families, are important factors in reducing the cost of living. 

 Rivalry as to the best gardens is often very keen. Here as 

 elsewhere hedges are usually employed for division lines. 



Of tlio ciimmunity buildings, the inn, modeled af^er an old 



Five-Family Type of Brick. 



many fine paintings, pieces of sculpture and furniture which have 

 been donated and is a relining influence in the community. 

 Modern in every respect, the hospital takes care of factory acci- 

 dents and any sickness in the village. Adjacent to the Gothic 

 church of stone lies the cemetery, after the old English manner. 

 The dwellings, set well back from the street, are mostly of 

 the semi-detached type, from two to ten in a block, four to six 

 being the usual number. Cheaper labor and materials in Eng- 

 land, together with the omission of cellars, have made perma- 

 nent fireproof construction possible. Coal and wood are stored 

 in a small scullery oft" the kitchen, and there the laundry work 

 is done. 







A Six-Family Type of Brick and Stucco. 



Most of the houses have lower stories of brick with brick 

 p?ity walls, and upper stories of oak framing filled in with 

 brick or terra cotta and plastered with cement. Some, however, 

 have slate-covered walls over a wood frame, while others have 

 stucco e.xteriors with no timber-work showing. All roofs are of 

 slute. 



]Tliis is the second of a scries of articles devoted to the better 

 housing of employes. — Editor.] 



