What Western Samoa is Doing in House-building
p. 63 · Read in the full issue
TO cope with an acute housing shortage brought about by the influx of NZ public servants concerned in Western Samoa’s de velopment plan, the Public Works Department is in the process of building 9 new houses. Most of these are in the Moto’otua area and to cut costs are of a standard design.
All the timber is pre-cut at Public Works, and transported to each job for erection. This mass-production technique has kept the cost down
to about £Stg.3,ooo per unit.
The houses are well-designed, cool and comfortable. They consist of servant’s room with shower and toilet, wash-house, kitchen, dining alcove, living room, 2 or 3 bedrooms, with a shower in the main bedroom, bathroom, toilet and garage-cum
workshop. They are all-electric,
with hot and cold water. They have ample cupboard space with some useful built-in furniture such as book-case, sofa, wardrobes and dress
ing tables. They are completely in sect-proofed with removable plastic screens.
The kitchen and bathrooms are finished in tile-board and this with the pastel tints of other walls helps preserve a cool atmosphere through out the houses.
Our photographs show, left, a completed unit; they have 5-ft roof overhang. And right, the living room of one of the houses, with its built
in fitments.-