The life and works of Sir Charles BarryBarry, Alfred
General
The life and works of Sir Charles Barry
Barry, Alfred
Architects -- Great Britain -- Biography; Barry, Charles, 1795-1860
Having now, I trust, shown the insufficiency of the grounds assigned by
the Commissioners of Woods for reducing the amount of the architect’s
customary recompense, with reference to the New Palace at Westminster, I
have to observe that not only have I, in that capacity, discharged all
those duties by which I am justly entitled to that amount of
remuneration, but I have been called upon to do more than is usual, or
than could have been anticipated. I allude particularly to the unusual
amount of labour and anxiety in carrying out, under Dr. Reid’s
direction, during a period of nearly five years, structural arrangements
for warming and ventilating the entire edifice, to an extent never
before attempted to be applied to any public building whatever, and much
beyond what I considered to be necessary. I have also been called upon
to remodel the internal fittings of the two Houses, and to vary from
time to time the arrangements and appropriation of the offices, division
lobbies, &c., of each House, owing to the changes made in the mode of
conducting the business of Parliament, and the vagueness and
insufficiency of the information afforded for the preparation of the
original design, which information, upon being reconsidered by
Committees appointed from time to time during the progress of the works,
has been found in many instances to be altogether at variance with the
requirements. Those who are aware of the consequences of making a single
alteration in one part of a large and complicated plan, and the
extensive changes to which it often leads in others, will readily
conceive, that, in order to comply with the demands above alluded to,
the entire plan and construction of the building has had to be modified
and recast over and over again, occasioning a considerable amount of
additional thought and labour, and an increase of drawings much beyond
what are required under ordinary circumstances.
I consider, therefore, that I am justly entitled to at least the
customary remuneration in respect of the outlay contemplated in the
original design and estimate; and I beg to add that the whole of the
arguments, which I have urged in favour of such remuneration, apply with
equal force to the expenditure upon extra works sanctioned by the
Government or Parliament; but to these it is scarcely necessary to
observe that the proposal for a limited amount of remuneration can have
no reference.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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