nary way by partitions, are laid out with painted lines, marking the hallways and the various divisions where offices may be located. These spaces are rented at so much a square foot. This rental includes the services of a central information desk from which all people coming on the floor receive information and direction, a central switchboard, and other office attendance if desired.

Many manufacturers who maintain such an exhibit have only one or two representatives, who are probably covering a large territory, so this central information service is invaluable, as it provides these representatives with a permanent secretary who takes messages and gives intelligent answers to all inquiries. A rental sufficiently greater than is charged for office space can be obtained to offset the expense of this additional service.

The building up of a tenantry for a large exhibition building requires peculiar attention to the needs of these manufacturers. This is comparatively slow work, because the advantages offered must be made known in the home offices of the various factories and leasing of the spaces effected gradually by patient selling methods. A renting manager, with one or two assistants and a small amount of stenographic help, however, can operate 100,000 square feet or more of such space. When this rental system is once under way it is profitable.

The presence of exhibits by companies producing similar lines is usually regarded as an asset rather than as objectionable competition. The Bush Terminal building in New York has gone one step further in this particular type of exhibition building, in that it not only provides space as described, but actually represents the exhibitor as a selling agent.

TERMINAL BUILDINGS

In recent years we have had some remarkable terminal developments in our large cities. One of the pioneers in this movement is Mr. Bush, who erected on the waterfront in Brooklyn an immense terminal building. This has been followed by many various enterprises in this and other cities. Terminal buildings are erected at points where rail and water

shipping meet. They are planned and constructed for storage, manufacture, and office purposes.

Such terminal buildings have a special characteristic: they house the small manufacturer and the larger shipper, and they are so designed that space can be subdivided into both small and large units to accommodate the demand as it varies from time to time.

Terminal buildings are usually constructed with exceptionally large elevators to accommodate shipments, and have a floor-carrying capacity ranging from 150 to 200 pounds per square foot, in order that they may satisfy the needs of manufacturers using either heavy machinery or storing weighty goods. Much attention is paid to light. In all such construction the unit cost of the buildings can be kept at the lowest possible figure-a low figure because the buildings are large, are erected on a uniform plan and the land is low in price. The rentals have been uniformly much lower than rentals for corresponding spaces elsewhere in the more congested portions of the city.

The greatest contribution of the terminal building is in the economical handling of merchandise in large centers. Here, raw material is brought in and manufactured, and arrangements are made so that shipments can be made direct from the building. In other words, the building is a great factory and a freight terminal combined. In such centers as Greater New York, the amount of time and money saved in trucking and all of the movements involved in the bringing in and the trans-shipment of goods runs into untold amounts of money.

In the renting of space in large terminal buildings owners usually employ a special group of renting men to canvass constantly and follow up inquiries. Every effort is also used to cooperate with the real estate offices who specialize in industrial properties.

Although terminal buildings usually are leased to occupants, they are also offered for sale. Attractive terms are frequently offered by which firms are able to purchase their own buildings under long contracts, the payments being made monthly or quarterly in the same manner as rent,

CHAPTER XXVI

HOSPITAL AND INSTITUTIONAL

CONSTRUCTION

By G. RICHARD DAVIS

The structural features of all fireproof buildings are alike, but the requirements for a hospital are such as to call for the utmost skill in architectural design and specification. The amount of work to be detailed in building a hospital is greater than in any other type of structure, because the arrangements of the floors are usually different, and the buildings in the hospital group, being for different purposes, are likewise different. The workmanship and supervision required must be more expert and careful, and there is no doubt, from both the architect's and the builder's standpoints, that the hospital is probably the most difficult type of building to plan and build.

MODERN HOSPITAL NEEDS

We are just awakening in this country to the fact that we need new hospitals to supplant those built many years ago, which fail to meet the requirements of modern hospital practice, both as to construction and operation. A non-fireproof hospital is a menace, but the hospital which is insanitary, poorly arranged, and costly to run is much worse.

Qualifications in Construction and Plan.-The modern hospital must be fireproof to begin with. It must be built in accordance with the very best standards of construction, both as to material and workmanship, and, above all, it must be planned, finished, and equipped so that a maximum result can be obtained at a minimum of operating cost.

For years, hospitals have been built only a few stories in height and spread over a great deal of ground, thus necessi

tating long horizontal service. It has been demonstrated, without a question of doubt, that a high hospital building will cost less per cubic foot to build and less per square foot to operate than two or three low buildings of the same capacity. Vertical service provided by electric elevators is cheaper and quicker than horizontal service. The pipes for heating, plumbing, and electricity are more easily installed and distributed in one high building than in several lower ones.

Hospitals should be as nearly soundproof as possible and free from noise and dust. The lower stories of high hospital buildings, if used for administrative, laboratory, and dispensary service, leave the upper floors for ward and room. patients, with more light, better air, and increased quietness. A modern hospital today uses brass for water pipes; a modulated heating system; properly installed artificial ventilation for kitchens, utility rooms, laundries, etc.; noiseless floors and subdued lights in corridors; steel door frames and trims that wheel chairs and stretchers cannot harm; glasslined chutes for soiled linen; elevators with automatic stops at the level of each floor; tile walls throughout the service portions; and metal furniture, dressers, and equipment. All of these and many other items are being installed by architects and builders in the modern hospital.

Reasons for Increased Cost of Hospitals.-The cost of hospitals has increased greatly for several reasons. First, because building costs have increased, and also because the character of construction and the kind of equipment necessary in the modern hospital has increased the cost of such construction out of proportion to that of other buildings.

In 1915 a survey made by competent authority showed, in the case of fifteen hospitals built that year, that the lowest cost was 26 cents a cubic foot, the highest 38 cents a cubic foot. Today 65 cents would be a low figure and 90 cents a maximum.

Mechanical Equipment.-Hospital design should exclude all unnecessary ornamentation. It should be attractive and serviceable, but inexpensive materials and methods should be considered. No economy should be attempted in the mechanical portion of the work where only the best materials

and methods should be considered. Radio connections for convalescent patients, reading lamps at each bedside, vacuum cleaning apparatus, running iced water, etc., are now considered necessities. On the other hand, marble wainscoting, ornamental plaster, and other unnecessary trimmings which were seen in hospitals of former days are no longer in vogue.

Construct for Easy Operation.-A hospital needs to be kept very clean. Therefore, in constructing it every effort must be made to prevent dirt pockets, corners and places hard to clean. Radiators should be hung on the walls; plumbing fixtures also should be hung, wherever possible. Plaster coves should be used where ceilings and walls meet and sanitary coves at the base where the walls join the floors; door sills should be omitted. Windows should be specially designed and protected with weather strips, to prevent dust as well as cold air coming through.

Ventilation. Hospital ventilation has been much misused in the past. There may be little need to ventilate the rooms or wards, but the toilet rooms, utility rooms, and bath rooms should be ventilated, as well as the kitchens, laundries, and other service portions, to remove odors, live steam, and excessive heat. Whatever ventilating is done should be done well. The ducts should be large enough, and the vents properly installed, so as to give good service. Ventilating systems are in bad repute with many hospital superintendents, chiefly because. of faulty design and installation. If the work is laid out and put in by competent engineers, perfect results can be obtained.

While hospital construction presents great difficulties and requires the closest attention of the builder, it has its compensations. It is one of the most interesting types of building construction, and the service to humanity the building will render when finished enlists the sympathies and cooperation of not only architects and builders but the mechanics and those who furnish material, so that when completed it becomes a source of pride and satisfaction to all who have been concerned in the erection of the building.