SOUTHSEA POST OFFICE
104 Clarendon Road
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Year: 1934 (reconstruction of interior) Selected bibliographical references Portsmouth Evening News 1 Sep 1934, p. 9; 5 Sep 1934, p. 4 (illustration) History Opened: 3 Sep 1934 Closed: 13 Feb 2008 Building description From: Portsmouth Evening News 1 Sep 1934, p. 9 The most luxurious Post Office in the whole of Portsmouth and district - and probably in any other place on the South Coast - will opened on Monday. The building is the Southsea Post Office in Clarendon Road, and the previous office has been transformed and almost rebuilt. It is now fitted, furnished, decorated, ventilated, and lighted in ultra modern style ... The ornamental Iront doors have large bronze handles, and their solid teak is highly pollished. The front of the old building has been completelv taken out and in its place a metal front has been put in. The stamp machine and the posting box are all strip lighted. These illuminations are automatically controlled. They come on half-an-honr before sunset and off at the stroke of midnight. There are even curtains - an unconventional innovation in the Post Office world - hung in the windows. The old counter has been replaced a straight one of shining mahogany, the panelling is of teak The heating system is ingeniously concealed in the ceiling and even the grills erected on the counter to protect the assistants are of bronze. No more will the irate telegram writer he able to complain bitterly of the legendary broken nibs of Post Office pens. On the new writing table with "argo board" - one of the latest ornamental products - there are half-a-dozen new pens ready for the public's use on Monday. In the construction of the office every possible detail has been thought of. By long experience the authorities have found that the counters and the pannelling underneath became damaged and the paintwork or varnish scraped off. So at Southsea a cut away metal foot protector has been fitted. The telephone cabinets have telescopic doors, and there are three of them fitted with up-to-date phones. The floor is almost noise proof. Made of vulcanized rubber material it deadens all sound. The lighting system lias been improved and during the evening the office can flooded with light from the numerous hangings in the ceiling. Behind the counter there are also many improvements and innovations. The tills can be removed from their drawers and locked away at night in a large "crimeproof " safe. The assistants are cared for in every way and their comfort is assured in in more ways than one. In the kitchen at the back of the office there is every convenience found for cooking. This will be a boon to those assistants who have their lunch on the premises. New type scales can used those members of the public with parcels to weigh. Embedded in the counter the scales have two faces, which enable both the customer and the assistant to see the weight registered. Following the parcel from the counter it can traced to the parcel hatch. Here it is shot on to a table, checked and put into a bag for delivery. |
