"Basil Jet" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Jul 7, 2:31?am, "Basil Jet"
wrote:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...3,-0.206852&sp...

This building has a tiny octagonal ground floor with no external
access. There is an external staircase and ramp up to the large
octagonal first floor which cantilevers out on all eight sides. The
second floor is the same size as the basement. A wire fence prevents
anyone from walking under the main floor, but the space inside the
fence is unused, and the fence does not support the weight of the
first floor. Can anyone imagine why a library might be cantilevered
like this?

I can only assume it was built that way so that it had level access
from North End Road, which is where the main entrance is, which level
is higher than the rear of the premises.

Thanks, but although that's a reason to put the entrance on the first floor,
it's no reason to cantilever a big first floor out from a tiny ground floor.


Possibly there was existing infrastructure, in the form of large gas mains ,
sewers, etc running underneath the site which they wanted to avoid when digging
the foundations. Hence as small a footprint as possible, for cost reasons.

The basement may originally have been intended for parking or storage perhaps
but the money ran out before they could build an access ramp. Again costs.

In the second case, maybe there was a change of administration during in the course
of the construction, with a period of belt tightening following the initial
euphoria.


michael adams

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