The NEW PALACE AT WESTMINSTER.
I. HISTORY OF THE GROWTH OF THE DESIGN.--Influence of external
circumstances on the design--Lowness and irregularity of
site--Limitation of choice to Elizabethan and Gothic styles--Choice
of Perpendicular style--Original conception of the Plan--Question
of restoration of St. Stephen’s Chapel--Use of Westminster Hall as
the grand Entrance to the building--Simplicity of plan--Principle
of symmetry and regularity dominant--Enlargement of Plan after
its adoption--Conception of St. Stephen’s porch--The Central
Hall--The Royal entrance and Royal Gallery--The House of Lords,
its construction and decoration--The House of Commons, and its
alteration--Great difficulty of the acoustic problem--Enlargement of
public requirements--Alterations of design in the River Front--The
Land Fronts--The Victoria Tower--The Clock Tower--General inclination
to increase the upward tendency of the design, and the amount of
decoration. II. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTUAL BUILDING.--Its
dimensions--Its main lines of approach; the public approach--The
Royal approach--The private approaches of Peers and Commons--General
character of the plan--The external fronts--The towers--Criticisms on
the building by independent authorities 236