Architects would gladly resort to the
last-named material if it could be procured in sufficient size and mass
without the difficulties attendant upon shrinkage in the burning, and
the winding and unevenness of the lines thereby caused. They have also
an even more tractable material in concrete ready to their hand, if they
would seriously bring themselves to the task of stamping an expressive
art upon it, instead of going on designing concrete houses as if they
were stone ones. Cast iron has the advantage of being a tried material;
it is well adapted for structures not liable to sudden weights or
to vibration, and so it has come to be used for features of an
architectural kind, by a sort of tacit acknowledgment in its favor.
Those who are desirous of seeing examples of its employment in fronts
of warehouses will find instances in Queen Victoria Street, Southwark
Street, and Bridge Road, and Theobalds Road, where the whole or portions
of fronts have been constructed of cast iron. At some corner premises in
Southwark, the piers as well as the windows are formed of cast iron,
the former being made to assume the appearance of projecting pilasters.
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