ABSTRACT
Before the year 1900 many skyscrapers had been erected in the United States of America and steel-frame buildings were quite usual there. Cast-iron bases and columns were much in use, while buildings of thirty storeys were considered high. In England, steel-frame construction had not commenced in a general sense. The cast-iron column was in favour and internal steel beam framing and steel filler joists for thick breeze concrete floors. Most buildings were constructed in self-supporting brick walls and wooden joist floors. The first steel-frame building of importance in London was the Ritz Hotel, erected in 1904. The Calico Printers' Association building in Oxford Street, Manchester, erected about 1910, was a splendid example of modern building for warehouses and offices. It was built as a complete steel frame, the length about 350 ft. and the width on plan about 250 ft. with internal courts for lighting.
