180 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



rjuNE, 



House, which last is sm iiMiiarkaUe for nothing as for its sir.ngness and 

 spruceness, for its utter want of dignity, and clownright insignificance 

 of manner. Still though there is a fine architectural feeling pervading 

 the whole of Mr. Barry's design, we cannot say that it is marked by 

 originality, notwithstanding that a mansion of such a character will in 

 itself be quite a novelty in the metropolis. It will be a large, oblong 

 and insulated pile of building, two sides of which afe shown in the 

 drawing (No. 9S1), viz., the South and West, tlie latter facing the 

 Green Park. Judging from what we see, we presume that the same 

 architectural character will be kept up throughout the whole of the 

 exterior, and that the North side will be the principal entrance front, 

 there being there a square tower carried up a story higher than the 

 rest of the edifice, from which we conjecture that tlie lower part of it 

 will form a carriage porch. The summit of this tower shows itself 

 picturesquely in the view above the general mass of the mansion, and 

 is, no doubt, intended to serve as a sort of belvedere, — an appendage 

 certainly micoismon, but in this instance justified by the locality, in the 

 immediate vicinity of the Parks. We may describe the design gene- 

 rally — at least what is here shown of it, by saying that it consists, of a 

 rusticated basement or ground floor, with a continuous Corinthian order, 

 comprising a principal floor and mezzanine; the whole surmounted by 

 a balustrade and vases of globular form. Botli the elevations which 

 are shown are perfectly similar in design, except that the South front, 

 which has fifteen intercolumns, consequently so many windows on each 

 floor, has pilasters, while the West front or end towards the park, 

 has three-quarter columns, and six intercolumns less, or only nine 

 ■windows on a floor. In both elevations, all the windows of the prin- 

 cipal floor have triangular pediments, and the mezzanine ones key- 

 stones to their architraves. The angles of the building are strength- 

 ened by coupled pilasters, so that two adjoining ones exhibit a group of 

 three of them. It should further be remarked that the superstructure 

 is in some degree rusticated as well as the basement, the jointings of 

 the stone being shown on the surface of the walls between the columns, 

 &c. This must suffice in the way of description, — which however 

 exact, can merely enumerate the several items of a design, without 

 exhibiting their aggregate etTect ; and the particulars we have noticed 

 will serve as an outline of this composition of Mr. Barry's. The size 

 of the building may be tolerably well guessed at, for the Park front 

 may be taken as very nearly the same as that of the Reform Club- 

 house, each having nine windows in breadth, and the proportions of the 

 openings and spaces between them appearing nearly the same in each 

 case. At any rate the difference cannot be much either way, conse- 

 quently the South front of Bridgewater House, will be to that of the 

 Reform Club as 15 to 9; or we may compute its extent at 190 feet, 

 more or less. 



It will be said — we have, in fact, said as much already ourselves, 

 that there is nothing very striking either in the individual" portions of 

 this design, or in their combination : — it is nothing more than an ex- 

 cellent application of a good Italian style — absolutely nothing more. 

 But then there is this difference, and a most prodigious one it is, be- 

 tween Mr. Barry's imitations and those of many others — see for instance 

 a lately built facade in Regent Street, — that he generally refines and 

 ennobles the style, and gives us its true sentiment, while they, more 

 frequently than not, absolutely vulgarize it, and render it poor and in- 

 sipid. If Mr. Barry's principle of composition is no secret to them, 

 why do they abstain from making use of it themselves? It is true, 

 not every one has the same opportunities afforded him, but even those 

 who have favourable opportunities do not turn them to the best ac- 

 count — often throw them quite away, giving us the crassest architec- 

 tural crudities. We own that Barry has here had a most noble oppor- 

 tunity put in his way ; and should the design be strictly followed 

 out — at any rate not impaired by being pand down, we may safely 

 predict that it viill prove a splendiil addition to our metropolitan 

 architecture; and we further trust will be an example forming an 

 epoch in it, by stimulating others of the nobility to imitate such pre- 

 cedent; — whereas hitherto there has been some sort of excuse for their 

 choosing to keep their houses as plain and as homespun in appear- 

 ance as possible, lest while seeking gala suits for them, they should 

 be imposed upon by such rascally Monmouth-street finery as that in 

 which the Regent Park terraces, and other similar accumulations of 

 architectural Brummagen, tawdriness and vulgarity, are bedizened 

 out, till they almost look like so many regiments of ginshops. 



We must pull up and rein in our Pegasus, for we are now got we 

 know not where, — among Charles Barry's antipodes, — the ultra-cock- 

 neyfications of people who build by wholesale, — how unlucky that they 

 do not also build for exportation only 1 — Cjuiet ! Pegasus, quiet 1 dont 

 kick. We notice some monstrosities of the kind on the walls of the 

 Academy — as when do we not. Nevertheless we will not notice them 

 further at present ; therefore give them a chance of escape. 



Instead of proceeding methodically, according to the order of the 



catalogue, we plunge in mclim hh, and turn to No. louij, Mr. H. L. 

 Elmes' Design for St. George's Hall, Liverpool, which certainly satis- 

 fies us much better than did any of the drawings for the same subject, 

 exhibited last year. To say the truth, it is much superior to the 

 general run of our Anglo-Grecian architecture, in which there is no- 

 thing Grecian except the columns alone, while here there is some taste, 

 and some study shown as to the other parts. The solid, but ornamental 

 stylobate, enriched with a narrow panel with figures in relief, is good 

 and effective, and some play is jiroduced by the entrances being made 

 separate compositions at the extremity of this stylobate; but we do 

 not understand why instead of being continued throughout, the panel 

 should be divided into two by a blank space forming a break in the centre 

 of the stylobate. The order is a fluted Ionic, forming an advanced colon- 

 nade of thirteen intercolumns, containing as many windows, which be- 

 sides exhibiting considerable novelty as to the pattern of their glazing, 

 are more than usually decorated, and have cornices of peculiar design, 

 crowned by a central ornament — a novelty that deserves to be en- 

 couraged, though the form itself might be improved upon. The cor- 

 nice of the order is also better, because less meagre and insipid than 

 usual, and possessing some degree of embellishment. Thus far we 

 can conscientiously commend — and though it may stand for nothing, 

 our commendation means something; but we must also qualify our 

 praise by some objections, one of which is that the colonnade appears 

 so shallow, as to be little more than an ornamental range of columns 

 placed before the building, nor does there seem to be any entrance to 

 it from the interior. Neither do we at all approve of a colonnade of 

 this kind being made prostyle or jutting out from the building, as if it 

 were a portico forming the approach to it; because it looks too much 

 like a mere useless addition to it, nor is that eftect of shadow obtained 

 which is produced by recessing the space behind the columns within 

 the building. However from a perspective elevation alone it is im- 

 possible for us to judge very accurately in regard to such circumstances. 

 His other design, for the Law Courts, turns out much better than we 

 expected, for when we first heard that its chief feature was a Grecian 

 Doric portico, we were apprehensive that it would prove merely one 

 of those ultra-Grecian aflairs concocted according to recipe a la Stuart, 

 in short some such regularly classical piece of design as the New 

 Liverpool Custom-house. We were therefore agreeably surprised at 

 finding it so very much better, and with more than usual taste as to 

 composition, and study as to detail, in which last respect there is one 

 rather happy novelty in the mode — not easy to be plainly described — 

 in which the podium and its mouldings follows the curve of the 

 columns, and form what may be considered either continuations of 

 their shafts, or distinct pedestals, by the podium itself being omitted 

 in the intercolumns beneath the pediment. The general design may- 

 be described as consisting of five compartments, viz., a narrow one at 

 each end between antce, and three others making altogether seventeen 

 open intercolumns, five of which form the slightly advanced central 

 division beneath the pediment; consequently the arrangement of the 

 whole facade bears so far considerable resemblance to that of the 

 Fitzwilliam Museum, at Cambridge. The whole is raised on a low 

 stylobate, and the ascent to the portico is tastefully managed. The 

 pediment is filled with bas-relief.* 



Good as the preceding design is, there is far more of originality, 

 both as to conception and treatment, in No. 09S, (E. B. Lamb,) for the 

 same building, described in the catalogue as being in an Italo-Grecian 

 style, to which designation it answers sufficiently correctly, being for 

 the most part Grecian in its physiognomy, — in the regularity and rich- 

 ness of its colunmiation, — but relieved from Grecian monotony by 

 some judicious modifications, and by some application of Italian fea- 

 tures. Leaving others to settle whether such style would best be 

 turned Grecian Italianized, or Italian Grecianized, we will examine 

 the merits of the design itself. The order which is Ionic, is raised 

 upon a somewhat lofty stylobate, or rather, basement floor, and is carried 

 uninterruptedly throughout the whole facade, so as to form an open 

 colonnade of 15 intercolumns, and a closed compartment at each ex- 

 tremity between bold coupled antcD. This last circumstance gives 

 additional value to the rest, — for those parts contribute materially to 

 breadth and repose, while they are far more important in themselves 

 than had there been merely two antae and the space of an intercolumn 

 between them. At the same time that greater contrast is thus ob- 

 tained, a pleasing degree of uniformity has also been kept up, and this 

 has been accomplished in a manner as effective and tasteful as it is 

 novel, viz., by recessing the upper part of the wall between the ant£B, so 



AVe have been informed that this design is almost iJenlically the same 

 w id) that by Barry for the Law Courts, proposed to Ije erected in Lincoln s 

 Jnn Fields. We greatly doubt, however, if .'ucli l,e the case, except, as far as 

 the fj'eneral arrangement goes ; for if the peculiarity above pointed out. with 

 regaril to die coUVmns. be the same in bolli instances, it would be a very re- 

 markable coinci'Ience indeed. 



