SHAW, R. Norman.

First edition of this pioneering architectural work illustrating the construction of habitations using W.H. Lascelles’ ‘patent cement slab system’. R. Norman Shaw, R.A. (1831-1912), is considered one of the greatest English architects. He specialised in residential buildings, preferring classicism over Neo-Gothic, for instance, Bedford Park, Chiswick. In 1875, the architect W.H. Lascelles had patented ‘a remarkable system of reinforced pre-cast slab construction’, to speed up and reduce the costs of building projects. It ‘consisted of a wooden framework […] faced with concrete slabs […]. The slabs were cast in moulds with “iron rods embedded in the concrete to strengthen the slabs, [which required] no further finishing […] [and] the outer face of the slab would look like wall tiling’ (Collins, p.42). In 1878, Shaw agreed to assist with the architectural and aesthetic definition of these buldings, so that country dwellings made with modern material would resemble old buildings. The lithographs, with elevations, plans and measurements, include a workman’s and a labourer’s cottage, one on two floors, a small bungalow residence, a small mission church for 80 worshippers, a boat house, a shop, a school, and a billiard and smoking room. The coffee and entertainment rooms were those built in Bromley, Kent. A very interesting book of civic architecture.