He took a very active part in the proceedings of the Building Committee. Designs were invited, and two hundred and forty-five were sent in. None of these were considered satisfactory by the Committee, and they submitted to the Royal Commission a design of their own, the principal feature of which was a dome 200 feet in diameter.
Mr. Brunel was responsible as a member of the Committee for the plans prepared by them, and as regards the dome may be said to have designed it himself, but he expressed strong objections to the substantial and expensive buildings which it was proposed to erect in brickwork. His idea was that the building should be in what he called the ‘railway shed style;’ and he wished to produce effect rather by the construction of the roofs, &c., than by any architectural elevation.
When, therefore, the plans of the Building Committee failed to meet with public approval, and the late Sir Joseph Paxton submitted his well-known design, Mr. Brunel gave it his cordial support, and defended it against its detractors. He thus spoke of it in the report of the Jury of Class VII.
As regards Mr. Paxton’s claim, amid the competition of the whole of Europe, he proposed that mode and form of construction of building which appeared on first sight, and has since proved to be, the best adapted in every respect for the purpose for which it was intended. The design possessed this merit of fitness for its object in a singular manner. There was no startling novelty in any one point which could lead astray the judgment of those who had to determine upon the choice of plan, or which could in the first instance obtain, still less permanently secure, the good opinion of the public. As regards the form of outline, which is most simple, several designs nearly resembling it had been submitted in the general competition. As to the material, several proposals had been previously made to cover the whole area to be enclosed with glass, and iron would of necessity be employed for the framing; but in the combination of form and materials, in the particular mode of applying those materials, and in the adaptation of the forms to be selected to their convenient use, as well as in the various details by which the whole was rendered perfect, the design was entirely distinct in character from all that had been proposed, and appeared at once to have the one single merit of being exactly that which was required for the purposes in view. The design as realised has completely fulfilled every condition of utility.
The award of Council Medals (the highest prize given) was recommended to Sir Joseph Paxton, and to the contractors, Messrs. Fox, Henderson and Co.
In a later part of the report, in announcing the recommendation of a Council Medal to His Royal Highness Prince Albert, for the model dwelling houses which were erected near the Exhibition building, and exhibited by the Prince, Mr. Brunel spoke in emphatic language of the magnitude and importance of the results which would follow from the introduction of improved dwellings for the working classes.[183]
When the Crystal Palace Company was formed in order to purchase the Exhibition building and erect it, with additions, at Sydenham, Mr. Brunel took a great interest in the project, and frequently went down to examine the progress of the building and gardens, and the beautiful architectural courts which were to be the chief attraction in the interior of the Palace. The water towers, which are so conspicuous a feature in the building, were designed by him.
The towers are 284 feet high, and carry near the top tanks 47 feet in diameter and 38 feet high, holding 1,200 tons of water.
The foundations required great care in their construction. The tanks had to be placed at a height of more than 200 feet, and the towers, which, with their load, weighed fully 3,000 tons each, had to rest on the sloping side of a clay hill. There was also the possibility that by the bursting of a pipe a large quantity of water might be suddenly discharged, and so cause a slip in the surrounding ground. Mr. Brunel carried the foundations down to a considerable depth, forming a large base of Portland cement concrete, and placing on it a cone of brickwork in cement, rising up to the ground level. The towers are twelve-sided, with two hollow cast-iron columns at each angle. The height of the building below the tanks is divided into ten stories, and at each floor there is a strong wrought-iron diaphragm, or shelf, 5 feet wide. The columns are also connected by strong diagonal bracing in the sides of the tower.
The tanks are made of wrought iron, and the water pipes are placed in the interior of the tower. Mr. Brunel did not think it would be prudent to form any of the columns of the towers into pipes, lest the expansion due to the temperature of the water should cause unequal support to be given to the tanks.