From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Letter from The Rover Company Ltd. discussing the comparative costs and benefits of corrugated iron versus brick buildings.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 27\3\ Scan355 | |
| Date | 15th November 1939 | |
| 8 TELEPHONE 6081(7 LINES). TELEGRAMS: "ROVER,"COVENTRY SBW:ME. THE ROVER COMPANY LTD. COVENTRY. ENG. November 15th 1939 W.A. Robotham Esq., Messrs. Rolls-Royce Ltd., Derby. Dear Robotham, Your letter about corrugated iron versus brick buildings. We put up a fairly large Despatch Dept. with corrugated iron some years ago, it was definitely cheaper then, although I have not the actual figures by me, and they would not be of any real value if I had because prices have altered so much, but any Builder or Architect could give you today's prices per foot without any trouble. So far as I remember on that actual building we saved about £1,500. and as it was a comparatively square building, with therefore a small ratio of outside area to cubic capacity, the extra heat lost was negligible. I am rather afraid that under existing conditions the difficulty of getting corrugated sheet and the high price of it may rule out the advantages both of time and cost, although if corrugated iron is available it is of course very much quicker than brick. Another consideration that we had in mind at the time, and a very important one, was that a shop built of corrugated iron can be extended in any direction at very small cost, because of course the corrugated sheet is merely moved out to the further wall. Yours sincerely, S.B.Wilks. | ||