But, within the past eight years, more than one little “poured cement” garden city has come into being in the United States. The first commercialization of the germ-proof house was made near Washington. It was run up and occupied within 30 days, and was conceded to be one of the prettiest and most comfortable homes in the countryside, although it cost only about £400—$2,000. To-day it is surrounded by many others.
The scheme has triumphed because the Washington architect-engineer, instead of deriding Edison and dwelling upon the defects of the idea, set out to overcome the problems involved, especially that identified with the moulds. He has succeeded. Instead of demanding an initial expenditure of £5,000—$25,000—upon this preliminary he has reduced the mould expense down to £100—$500. This brings the idea within the reach of commerce. He does not advocate a mould for the complete house, but pursues what may be described as sectional-stage moulding. Plates of steel are pressed into flanged sections 24 inches square. These are clipped and wedged together to form a trough to hold the liquid cement until it hardens. Above this row of plates is disposed a second similar row, forming another trough upon the top of that which has already been filled, and which is setting. When the lower trough contents have hardened the lower array of plates is rolled over to form another trough above the one in which the cement has been run, this overlapping process, as the wall hardens, being continued until the top has been reached. These plates also serve as forms for the moulding of the floors and roof, and are additionally attractive because they readily admit of the introduction of any desired artistic finish. It is a system which lends itself to cheap and rapid construction, as events have amply proved. That the “poured” germ-proof house, built in one solid block, possesses distinct advantages over the building carried out along orthodox lines is evident from the alacrity with which such homes are purchased or occupied, a tendency which is just as pronounced in this country as in the United States. This tends to demonstrate that while the man-in-the-street knows nothing concerning the pros and cons of building materials, he certainly does appreciate the overwhelming advantages of concrete, which, be it noted, is the logical antidote to jerry-building.
That the poured, one-piece house is not merely attractive because of its relative cheapness is evidenced by the number of stately homes which have been built in accordance with this principle upon the other side of the Atlantic. Seeing that these homes have been built to the order of, and are occupied by, those to whom cost is a trifling consideration, it would certainly seem as if the so-called defects of the poured house were more imaginary than real. I have seen magnificent homes, ranging in cost from £5,000 to £25,000—$25,000 to $125,000—built from foundation to roof upon the Edisonian idea. They certainly would have been promptly demolished and rebuilt in other material if the monolithic house possessed even the slightest sign of any one of the many ills to which it is academically said to be exposed.
Industrial corporations in the United States, as in Britain, are faced with problems concerning the housing of their employees. And they are just as perplexing to solve. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company was concerned with the provision of homes for its wage-earners in the vicinity of one of its mines. The question was surveyed from every possible angle, and finally it was decided that the only really attractive solution was the provision of a little garden city of concrete houses, built upon the poured system. The authorities concluded that in this way only would it be possible to provide model sanitary homes, possessing every inducement, at an attractive price, and the project was handed over to the architect-engineer whose germ-proof house had aroused the interest of the International Tuberculosis Congress two years previously.
The houses are built in pairs, thus being semi-detached. Each is of two floors with flat roof, the accommodation comprising on the ground floor living- and dining-rooms measuring 11 feet and 11 feet 6 inches by 12 feet 4 inches, respectively, large kitchen, pantry, and commodious lobby with the projecting porch incidental to American homes. Upon the first floor are two bedrooms measuring 11 feet 3 inches and 11 feet 6 inches by 12 feet 6 inches, a smaller room, and a porch which may be used as an open-air sleeping chamber, if desired, or lounge, with the usual offices. The houses are set out after the manner now being followed in these islands, that is around the four sides of a rectangle, facing a commodious green and flanked on the opposite side by a deep green lawn. The roads skirt the village on all sides, the highway approaches to the inner square being diagonally from each of the four corners.
In carrying out the scheme the designer decided to utilize to the full the available materials upon the spot. This was waste from the adjacent mines, in the form of cinders, with hydrate of lime to give density and weather-proofness. Speed in construction being a vital factor, a novel system was introduced. A railway track was laid around the entire group of 40 houses. The mixing plant was mounted upon one flat car which was also equipped with an efficient apparatus to hoist the concrete. Behind this was a second car carrying the cement, sand, and cinder. The ingredients were shovelled into the mixer, work being continuous. The train pulled up before the first pair of houses, the moulds forming the trough of which were in position. The concrete was hoisted and discharged into an elevated hopper on the vehicle from which a feed pipe and spout was extended to the mould trough of the house-wall. The concrete was run into the trough until it was filled, when the stream was shut off, the feed pipe lifted, and the train moved on to the next house, where the cycle of operations was repeated. By the time the train had completed its circuit and had again reached the first house the concrete previously poured had hardened sufficiently to permit the moulds to be raised to form the succeeding trough, and so was ready to receive another pouring of cement. It will be seen that construction throughout the 40 houses was not only continuous but each supply of concrete increased the height of the wall by about 24 inches, or completed the flooring as the case might be. The building process was not only exceedingly simple, being free from all complicated mechanism, but involved the employment of the minimum of labour, which conduced to extremely cheap erection. The re-setting of the moulds occasions in this system no difficulty, inasmuch as being hinged they are merely swung up and automatically fall into position to form the mould. The work was commenced late in the year 1911 and was completed in the spring of 1912, having to be suspended during the winter months, when, of course, all building operations, irrespective of materials used, is brought to a standstill.
The houses provided in this manner are not only attractive, but are provided at a price bringing them readily within the reach of the wage-earner. True, one objection might be levelled against such standardization as it were, and that is the stereotyped design, but in this instance this is possible of decided relief by resort to tree, shrub, and flower embellishment in which individuality is given free rein, and which effectively breaks up all tendency towards monotony. But apart from extraneous treatment, the village cannot be described as being more monotonous than our terrace system of providing homes for the workers so common to our industrial centres, while even our much-vaunted garden cities are freely criticized from the general atmosphere of similarity.
However, it is cost of construction which constitutes the all-important factor, and the poured house has demonstrated what can be done in this instance. A similar cement city is under way for residential purposes upon the outskirts of Chicago. The bungalow type of house is being favoured here. In this instance cellar walls and first-story walls, measuring some 30 by 40 feet, have been poured in four days. The cost of construction has been exceptionally low, even for America where higher wages and charges prevail, the cost of building a 6-inch wall which in poured concrete is ample for either one-or two-story buildings, having been brought down to 4d.—8 cents—per foot, which is well below the cost of frame houses, admittedly the cheapest form of construction in the United States.
The poured house or any other system of monolithic structure wrought in concrete is freely assailed in these islands for being damp, intolerably cold in winter, hot in summer, and the walls liable to condensation. These are the popular objections raised against the idea. But the experience of those who live in such homes in America completely refutes such statements. The houses are declared emphatically to be bone-dry, exceptionally warm in winter with a freedom from draughts, cool in summer, and free from condensation. The latter defect, it is pointed out, even if it should become manifest, is not irremediable. The chemist can solve it quickly and cheaply. But the great feature which makes irresistible appeal to those who dwell in such homes is that they are always sweet and clean. Washing down walls, ceilings and floors of a room at one and the same time with a garden hose is something beyond the comprehension of British householders, but they will scarcely deny its virtues, and, probably, wish heartily that they were in a similar happy position, because nothing detracts so seriously from the pleasures and comfort of the home as dust and dinginess.
While we display an inexplicable hesitation to build a single house upon the poured system to discover the character of the objections which are said to obtain, thereby ignoring the precept that an ounce of solid fact is worth a ton of theory, we are steadily moving towards the concrete home, although the pioneers are being called upon to battle fiercely against the organized forces of prejudice, conservatism, and vested interests. In order to comply with national and other traditions, so far as practicable, the brick system is being followed. Machines have been devised whereby bricks, but wrought in concrete, are speedily and cheaply produced.