THE £1,000 ALL-BRITISH HOUSE
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]
SIR,—From the fact that, in his letter published in your issue of December 23rd, Mr. Banks does not deny specifically any of the detailed criticisms quoted in my earlier letter, I must assume that these were justified and that the faults in design which prompted them had to be remedied before the house was built.
In view of the considerable modifications entailed, any comparison between estimated and actual costs of construction would clearly be useless. It remains true, however, that even in 1932 a building-cost in the region of one shilling per cubic foot for a house of the quality to which this should have aspired was so low as to be almost phenomenal.
I was well aware that architects are not usually required to submit working drawings for competitions ; but it comes as a surprise to me to learn that Mr. Banks regarded the detailed and dimensioned plans which he furnished for the competition in question merely as sketch designs. This fact merely strengthens the main point of my original article, which was written to expose the fatuity of this particular school of architecture.
May I remind Mr. Banks that sheep (to which he gracefully likens me) not infrequently reach better pasture by following
each other ?—Yours faithfully, GEOFFREY BOUMPHREY. Conigree, Bredon, near Tewkesbury.
[We cannot continue this correspondence.—En. The Spectator.]
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