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as r °und the north, south, and east sides ; and, inasmuchin ,, 0Un d that in the old Royal Exchange there were shopsatf aree of the entrances, and as I could very convenientlypk | e a few in the east entrance of my design, I have'»dhlv X ^ lere ' ^et claims, however, arise as they may,cmt s plan now under discussion, there could be no diffi-111 meel ' n g them all, for the area of all the shops andt; Xe j 3 °f all descriptions, in the ground-floor of the OldWan latl ° e ’ amounted to 8,106 feet only, whereas, in thisa PDr l ' le shops and offices provided, exclusive of the part4g s °P r iated to Lloyd’s, to the Gresham College, the London 'Want' 8 ' 106 ’ an( t the Royal Exchange Assurance, exceeds thishy 1,087 feet, the total being 9,217 feet. Thea C(! !lSe, l value of all this, and the exact nature of the.^odation, will, however, be further explained underheads of this descriptive particular.q Accommodation.

\\\^ e ^ lmn College .—In considering this department of thefc 0& lr '8> I was placed in considerable difficulty, not only1,1 the

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total absence of instructions, but because I found,

Uf e - amongst the committee as in society, very considerablefences of opinion on the subject.

I ho ter muc h reflection, I have, however, arranged whatPo r W H1 be considered a complete establishment for most^*ch S ’ au< l *t is as follows :—On the north side of the'Wth Un 8 e > about 45 feet from the west end, is an entrancebe , a stn all hall and staircase. In this hall a porter wouldPets ace< l> who would prevent the admission of improper

shi^j 6 en t r ance-doorway is large, and over it is placed aCon taining the arms of Sir Thomas Gresham . Thisoth ance

and hall are also quite distinct, and, like all theby Parts or distinct portions of the design, it is separated

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the 4 ? one-pair, or principal floor, is a lecture-room orS)„- l) e > °f a horse-shoe form, the dimensions being 46 feet

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On the first landing of the staircase is a^ > 8 room, which would also serve for umbrellas, coats,

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by 36 feet. To this is added a library or lesser

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e 'i'oom, 25 feet by 24 feet; a lecturer’s or librari

^ eet ^ ^ f eet 6 inches; apparatus-rooms, 16 feetOti(] t ^ s by 11 feet; with a water-closet and washing-room ;

0 rooms over the librarian’s, and apparatus-rooms forq^^'dent servant.

e t )>eatre would seat 250 persons on the floor, and 200be conveniently seated in the gallery. It isf'WfSe 6 ’ however, that for many lectures or continuousbttjg Sj this might be too much, but for some it might be tooth ~ have, therefore, placed the library at the back of'»ig} lt eatre . by which, in the latter case, the accommodationW j ts : le increased, or in the former it might be sufficientfor such purposes. The result, therefore, is this,^ an au< fhory of 40 or 50 persons, the library wouldtlj O'ent; beyond that number, and up to 450 persons,' v er e would be the proper place: if a larger number

m^^Pected, the partition dividing the library from thef Wto ! n '®ht be removed, (as is shown in the plan) by sliding>h er l e Wa h> when, by removing the lecture-table a littlet>ni . k, 50 persons more might be accommodated.0 V 1 ' 8 extent of 500 persons, it is probably undesirable

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f have erred altogether, and have provided'* is easy to diminish it; or if it is determined tot } 1 * 8 s * te f° r Whs purpose, the space so complete andI % t | ( "ould readily let by itself, or might be combined1 Ne ( jj unappropriated offices in the north-west anglee y under the theatre. It remains to be added, that

I have also provided ample vault-room in the basement ofthis establishment, and a second staircase connected withthe theatre, and only intended to be used on. a crowdedoccasion, for the dismissal of so large an audience as 400 or500 persons, and for a private approach or retreat for thelecturer.

Royal Exchange Assurance. —This establishment in theold building occupied apartments in the mezzanine, and onthe one-pair floor. The net area being 5,235 feet, exclusiveof passages, staircases, water-closets, kitchen, and rooms inthe roof. . I have had many meetings with the governoron, the subject, and at length I received, so late as the 4thinstant, a list of the rooms, of which I have attached a copyto this description.

The total area in this is 6,284 feet, but omitting the store-rooms and kitchen for the sake of comparison, the net quantityis 5,894 feet. My plan gives this so nearly, and the dimen-sions of the rooms also correspond so generally with therequirements, that I need not occupy the time of the Com-mittee with any further description ; but, in addition, I haveadded what appears to me obviously necessary, viz., strongrooms and cellars in the basement.

As the heights of the floors of this part of the buildingdiffer in some respects from the general section, I beg to addthem here, and they are as follows, viz. : The ground-flooris 2 feet 6 inches above the level of the floor of the Exchange,and 6 feet above the street; under this is a lower groundstory, the height being 10 feet with vaults under.

The ground-floor will be 13 feet high, the mezzanine10 feet, the one-pair floor is 18 feet, except where there arerooms over, when this will be 13 feet.

London Assurance. —I attach a copy of the instructionsreceived from this company to my letter of the 6th March,addressed to Mr. Barnes. The total quantity of spacerequired is 5,553 feet, exclusive of waiting-rooms, water-closets, &c. ; as some of the rooms seemed extravagant insize, I have arranged them somewhat less, and the companyexpress themselves satisfied with my dimensions, the totalbeing 4,834 feet.

Lloyd's .—With regard to this very important establish-ment, I beg a reference to my letter to Mr. Barnes, of the6th instant, to which I attached a copy of the new instruc-tions forwarded by their architect. The total quantity otspace occupied in the old Exchange by this company, exclu-sive of staircases, was 7,914 feet. The space now requiredis 13,781 feet, exclusive of passages, staircases, water-closets,urinals, &c. ; but this includes the commercial room, whichis 4,050 feet. The dimensions of the several apartments inmy plan are very nearly consistent with their requirements,and the total result the same.

The arrangement of the rooms is best understood by areference to the plan of the one-pair floor, and I believe itto be quite in accordance with the wishes of the Committee.

Shops. —I propose that each shop shall have a cellar below,and, with very few exceptions, a mezzanine over. Theaverage height of the shops will bp 14 feet, the basement-floor 12 feet, and the mezzanine 10 feet. Each shop will besecured by party-walls, and roofed with iron beams andarches under the one-pair floor. The water-closets will bein the basements, there will be a separate flue in each shop,and room for the fire-places ; and I propose that each shopand room shall be warmed by an open, or Arnott’s stove, ofthe same pattern.

The staircase will be circular, and of cast iron. Staircasesof this kind, though not much known here, have been exten-sively used in Paris , and are admirably adapted for suchpurposes. I have paid every attention to the mode of light-