What is the position about the new Students' Building? Not enough people are asking this question and until the student body wakes from its apathy towards the building the answer will always be that the foundations have not yet been laid. We cannot leave the planning, financing and construction of our goal to a few enthusiasts, eager though they are, or to the College Council. If the students fail to interest themselves in their own building, no fairy godmother will wave her wand and accredit them with a shining new palace scintillating in the watery Wellinton sunshine.

1. Design.

Happily all are agreed that a new building is not only desirable but necessary for the proper functioning of Victoria College as a University. It was not till this year, however, that any concrete move was made towards a decision on what needs our building should be designed to fulfill. It is of the very highest importance that no attempt be made to erect a four-story shell which may be subdivided according to taste after the building has taken external shape, and according to the whims of the student body or Executive at that particular time.

Instead, we must take the broader view and forecast now, so far as is possible, the needs of the Association in the future, and what emphasis should be placed on each of them. We should have in front of us the general scheme decided upon by the General Meeting this year and keep it in mind for revision or addition up to the time the plans are commissioned. We must avoid at all costs the idea of putting up a building and hoping that the needs of the moment will shape the interior. This does not mean that the purpose of every room in the building is to be allocated now. We should lay down tow that we will require, say, three committee rooms for general purposes with an area of two hundred square feet in each, not that ''a little extra space in this part of the building might be useful." We have not the money to build ivory castles containing nothing but air.

More important still is the fundamental principle of modern design that it should be functional. The parts of our building which contain a theatre, a restaurant or a dance hall should look like a theatre, restaurant, or dance hall, and not like a converted warehouse. Also, the interiors should be designed for the needs they are to fulfil. It is useless to build two halls and decide later which is to be a dance floor and which is to be sub-divided into lounges and restaurant.

2. Needs.

One of the biggest advances so far made has been the adoption by the General Meeting of draft requirements. The proposals, after discussion by the Executive, were cyclostyled and circulated as widely as possible before the special meeting. After being slightly amended, they were adopted by the meeting, and for the first time there was some definition of the aim for which we are working.

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The principal needs agreed upon are:—

(a)	A concourse through which most students will pass each day on their way to different parts of the college, and to contain notice boards, postal facilities , telephones, sales counter, access to cloakrooms, etc.
(b)	A theatre to seat 500 in comfortable tip-up seat; sloping floor project both, adequate stage facilities. Available for hire to outside bodies for plays, recitals, conferences, etc.
(c)	Restaurant and quick lunch bar to seat 150—200.
(d)	Men's, Women's and common Common Rooms. Sun Terrace!
(e)	Administrative group.
(f)	Large dance hall, 4,000—4,300 sq. ft., with sound shell and sprung floor. Available for those sports which would not harm the floor, e.g., Miniature Rifle range.
(g)	Medical Scheme; Committee and Meeting Rooms, Locker Room and Showers.

This would mean that we would go on using our present building as a gymnasium until the end of its useful life. We could then erect a light shell for use as a gymnasium preferably on Kelburn Park, if an agreement can be reached with the City Council. It is not possible to combine theatre, dance floor, and gymnasium. Each requires a different type of construction. Because the present "Gymnasium" replaced the tin shed erected by the Football Club, there has been a tendency to think of the new building as a gymnasium. We would be most unwise to spend £10,000 on a gymnasium in our permanent building when £2,000 would carry out the job easily on another site. The saving in noise alone would be worth the separation.

3. Civic Needs.

Before going ahead we must consult other local groups who may possibly be involved. It is of no use for the City Council, the Wellington Repertory Theatre and the Association all to build the same sort of theatre. It may be that we should each concentrate on different types of auditorium. A preliminary approach to the Repertory has already been made. A slight variation in our design might mean that we could be of great assistance to other local cultural groups, to whom we have a responsibility. We aim to build what will be one of Wellington's most important buildings, both from the point of view of architecture and of its place in the community.

4. Site.

(a)	We are advised that the proposed site between the Tennis Courts and Salamanca Road is probably the best that could be chosen from an architectural viewpoint. It would always be in the centre of internal traffic, and would fit in well with the general scheme for development of the College buildings. A structural engineer has been engaged by the College to report on the site.
(b)	Should the College move to another site in Wellington, then, of course, our position will be determined as part of the general scheme.

5. Progress.

Over the last year or two there has been a determined attack on the whole question of the building which can be traced direct to the work of Mr. G. F. Dixon. He is so eager to see the building up that he has himself arranged for surveys of the site, both on foot and from the air; he has interested old students and citizens throughout the district in the Building, and he has even arranged, at his own expense, for the preparation of draft plans of a possible building for the site he has championed. The greater part of Mr. Dixon's spare page 43 time has for a long while been devoted solely to this building and if we had had ten old students like Mr. Dixon the foundations might have been in by now, had materials been available.

Because of the controls on building, any proposal of this sort must be apportioned a place in the Five Year Plan of the Commissioner of Works, but it is understood that permission to build could be given by the time we are ready to commence.

At present our first task is to raise the necessary money.

6.Finance.

In the plans drawn up by the N.Z. University Conference, the new building was given high priority; the students should find part of the cost. In view of the needs of the students, and because it is proposed that the building should be a Memorial to those students who Jell in the Second World War, it is hoped that the Government would subsidise the cost in the same ratio as gymnasiums in secondary schools are assisted, i.e., £1 for £1, or £2 for £1. The Building Fund stands now at something over £8,000, but this is only a fraction of the amount required.

It should be remembered that while the figure of £2 15s. 0d. per square foot has been adopted by the Executive, building costs may continue to rise. The specifications adopted by the General Meeting provide for a building which will meet our needs, but if any provision is to be made for expansion more than the 18,000 odd square feet already provided for will certainly be required. There may also be large charges for furnishings and for treatment of the site.

Once the building is erected it is there for two and a half centuries, which means that we must plan with every care or we will earn the maledictions of tens of thousands of students. The College Roll has increased 50 per cent since 1942, and is 30 per cent greater than the peace time (1939) high.

The plans presented by Mr. Dixon allowed for considerable excavation (a necessity on this site if any great increase in floor space is decided on) to provide a building of 30,000 sq. feet. One estimate of the total cost of his building is approximately £100,000: His plans were prepared before the General Meeting adopted draft specifications. Consequently, if we made our target another £20,000, we should have to be sure of not over-shooting it.

Two other large building schemes are now calling for public support, the Cathedral and the Boys' Institute, and since they are worthy objects which will divert some of the money which might otherwise be made available to us we will have to find in other ways.

Time is of the essence if we are to have the building celebrating the Jubilee. For the next year or two we must be prepared to subordinate all other requirements to that of the Building. When it comes to a matter of offending public opinion, the student must consider whether he should put his soul in pawn for the sake of the building. There will be no thanks handed out to present students. The people who have to shoulder the bulk of the work will not be at College to reap the results of their labours, BUT the students of today may well see the foundations laid and many of next year's freshers should be in the building before they are capped.

We must decide whether we are to have the plans prepared now and call for donations on the basis of those plans so that we are bound to them, or whether we are to go ahead and raise the money and take advantage of the vastly new materials and new building methods developed during the war. For instance, we know now that fluorescent lighting would be chosen, but would we use laminated plastics?

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Whatever we decide we must drive NOW for the necessary finance.

One returned student, a life member of the Association, sent an apology and a National Savings Bond for each Annual Meeting of the Association he had missed. The students themselves must find considerably more of the money, whether by donations from some of those students who are in good jobs, or by an increase in the Students Association fee. It is a time for unselfishness

7. Immediate Steps.

The last Executive recommended that the Building Committee should be given more power, instead of functioning, as at present, through the Executive.

You must place the building foremost in your thoughts.

i.	You should send in to the Executive in writing any improvements you feel ought to be incorporated, or any references you come across to similar buildings overseas
ii.	You must think out how you personally can raise some of the money needed, and how the clubs and people you are associated with can help.
iii.	Next year's Extravaganza will be the signal for an all out public appeal for funds. The new Building must be up for the Jubilee. The time for work is NOW.