The New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport is a fine example of adaptive reuse
COUNTING THE COST
The challenge of finding affordable insurance for listed heritage properties
A transformed forestry industry is now helping to discover and protect heritage sites
BEST MEDICINE
What can we learn from one of Europe’s best-preserved hospitals?
14 Form and function
Rick Herd, former CEO of construction consultancy Naylor Love, has had a lifelong interest in New Zealand’s built heritage
18 A sporting great
Upper Hutt’s New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport is one of the finest examples of adaptive reuse in Aotearoa
24 For your convenience
The evolution of Auckland’s public toilets tells us a lot about changing societal attitudes in the late 1800s and early 1900s
30 On the factory floor
An historic joinery factory in rural Hawke’s Bay has been lovingly restored by a dedicated group of volunteers
36 Counting the cost
For some owners of listed heritage properties, the task of finding affordable house insurance goes beyond Herculean
42 Dark roots, green shoots
Forestry is helping to both discover and protect heritage sites buried beneath large swathes of pine trees across the country
10 Built to last
The oldest purpose-built tramping hut in New Zealand is still going strong 100 years on
12 Rising from the ashes
Queenstown’s former Lake County Council Chambers, home to Speight’s Ale House, has undergone an impressive restoration
48 The best medicine
What can one of Europe’s best-preserved medical establishments teach us about restoring New Zealand’s old hospitals?
54 My heritage place Sumner’s Scarborough Clock Tower holds many memories for author Jane Shearer
Heritage New Zealand magazine is printed with mineral-oil-free, soy-based vegetable inks. This paper is Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified, and manufactured from pulp from responsible sources under the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. Please recycle.
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You also told us, through our most recent membership survey, that you’d prefer three issues of the magazine each year. We’ve listened. Moving to three editions annually helps us reduce costs and redirect more support toward heritage outcomes that matter. Following this edition, you’ll receive your members’ magazine in September, December, and April.
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Issue 177 Hōteke • Winter 2025
ISSN 1175-9615 (Print)
ISSN 2253-5330 (Online)
Cover image:
The New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport by Mike Heydon
Editor Anna Dunlop, Sugar Bag Publishing
Sub-editor
Trish Heketa, Sugar Bag Publishing
Art director
Amanda Trayes, Sugar Bag Publishing
Publisher
Heritage New Zealand magazine is published quarterly by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. The magazine had a circulation of 8214 as at 31 March 2025.
The views expressed in the articles are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
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HERITAGE NEW ZEALAND POUHERE TAONGA
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PO Box 2629, Wellington 6140 Antrim House, 63 Boulcott Street Wellington 6011 (04) 472 4341 information@heritage.org.nz
Dame Jo Brosnahan, Chair of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Board, discusses her first few months in her new role
Heritage is the heart of the nation. Our heritage sites, whether Māori, colonial or more recent, are the footprints of our past. They contain the stories that reveal our history, while shaping our future.
Heritage has always been a personal passion. My husband and I are proud holders of an old-style Heritage New Zealand membership card printed with the number 202, a very low number among what are now many thousands of supporters. Whatever the reality, I like to think this card represents just how long we have been supporters of the former Historic Places Trust, and more recently, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
We are heritage tourists, both within Aotearoa and internationally – where we have used our membership to explore the world. So it was with enormous pleasure that I accepted the role of Chair of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Board, which works alongside the Māori Heritage Council. For me, this is work of the heart.
It has been important to me to get out to view some of the properties and sites under the care of the organisation, and to meet our people. The first visit was to the North; based in Russell over Waitangi Day and the following weekend, we visited Pompallier Mission and Printery, Kerikeri Mission Station (Kemp House and the Stone Store), Te Waimate Mission, Māngungu Mission and Clendon House in Rawene. All in the most breathtaking situations, with huge stories to tell of the first days of colonisation in Aotearoa New Zealand, from the viewpoints of both Māori and Europeans.
The Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga staff breathe life into the built heritage and surrounding Māori taonga through their storytelling. They are wonderful guardians, and translators.
We also spent a day at the fabulous Waitangi Day Festival. Here, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga had a display on whaling, from the importance of whales to early Māori, and the subsequent exploitation of these magnificent creatures by the whalers who were some of our first European settlers, to the present revival of whale pods migrating along the coast. The stories brought to life the former whaling station at Whangamumu, a small bay south of Cape Brett.
In subsequent weeks I visited Old St Paul’s and Old Government Buildings in Wellington. Again, beautiful buildings, impelling stories and great people. Also being uncovered in parts of Wellington is the Māori heritage of Pōneke.
My reflections on my first few months in the role? Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is a small but wellloved organisation, where the people are committed and passionate and work together to bring our past alive, ensuring that taonga are preserved and enhanced for future generations.
What more is needed? Resourcing will always be constrained, and that is where the membership can help. If we are to continue to maintain and further enhance these taonga, we can help by supplementing the Crown and other contributors. This is our history, and if we work together we can ensure that it is protected for the future of our mokopuna.
Make a date to visit some of these fabulous places, enjoy our cafés and shops, and donate where you can.
Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi.
With your basket, and my basket, the people will thrive.
mokopuna: grandchildren taonga: treasures
Providing great social media is usually more of an art than an exact science, but sometimes a story comes along that you just know will be popular. This was the case when our Senior Outreach Advisor David Watt submitted an article about the restoration of the former flying boat jetty in Evans Bay.
Many of you will know the TEAL Solent flying boat firsthand: one of them has pride of place in the aviation section of the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) in Auckland. However, David’s article helped to give the Solent context. The Evans Bay jetty he wrote about was the very one from which the Solent had set off when it transported the 1951 All Blacks over the Tasman for their Australian tour, the ‘Kayforce’ troops (New Zealand’s contribution to the Korean War) to Sydney, plus the occasional prize ram – and not to mention hundreds of other passengers.
David’s story also highlighted the generous donation that Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga members Brian and Sally Hasell made towards the jetty’s restoration.
“The arrival of flying boats would have been a major contribution to reducing New Zealand’s isolation,” says Sally. “We wanted to save that piece of important history.”
The article generated a lot of comments. One person recounted how their father had piloted the final Solent flight from Sydney to Wellington in 1954 – including a “noisy beatup over the Hutt Valley”. Another described the alarming experience of living in Rongotai and having Solent flying boats hurtling towards her house!
There were also discussions on several aviation heritage Facebook pages. These included debates about exactly how long the Solents took to cross the Tasman (somewhere between five and nine hours) and a recollection of the time one of them hit a submerged object and the passengers had to climb out onto the wing to stop the boat toppling over.
You can read David’s original article at heritage.org.nz/news/stories/historicflying-boat-jetty-restored
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Next time you grind your way through Auckland’s Newmarket or Morningside during peak-hour traffic, you might like to consider how these place names came to be.
Two colonial Auckland families – the Bucklands and the Kerr Taylors – were responsible for bestowing names on these and many other parts of Auckland that are still used today, 160 years later.
The stories behind these European place names make for fascinating but uncomfortable reading, given that they often replaced existing Māori place names.
Grace Pooley, Visitor Services
Coordinator at Highwic, the historic Category 1 mansion in Newmarket, recently undertook research to shed light on the origins of some of Auckland’s place names.
Built in 1862, Highwic was the seat of the Buckland family, while Alberton (built in 1863) was the Mount Albert home of the Kerr Taylors. Today, both are cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, and are open to the public and for functions.
It seems both the Bucklands and the Kerr Taylors had particular penchants for renaming places.
“Alfred Buckland was the original owner of Highwic, and was a pastoralist whose land interests extended all over the Auckland Province,” says Grace.
“He, along with other stakeholders, was instrumental in developing a ‘new market’ for the sale of livestock that spanned the intersections of Remuera Road, Great South Road and Broadway.”
Eventually the name ‘Newmarket’ stuck, replacing the original Māori name – Te Ti Tutahi (The Cabbage Tree that Stands Alone) – a sacred tree and landmark
that had originally given the area its identity. Fears that local schoolchildren might be exposed to falling branches resulted in the tree being taken down in 1908.
Ironically perhaps, it was Alfred Buckland who rescued shoots from the tree, replanting them in Highwic’s garden.
Street names around Newmarket reflect the prominence of the Buckland moniker.
“Mortimer Pass, for example, runs alongside Highwic and is named after Alfred’s mother, Elizabeth Mortimer,” says Grace. The family could often be found holidaying at Buckland’s Beach.
“Like the Bucklands, the Kerr Taylor family also named parts of Auckland –names that are now in common use. In their case, however, whole suburbs were created and renamed.”
Morningside, for example, was known originally to Māori as Ngā Anawai, after its many water-filled caves. However, subsequent to the purchase of this land by notable New Zealand landowner Allan Kerr Taylor, the Kerr Taylors named the area after a suburb in Edinburgh that was closely associated with a hospital for the mentally ill.
“It seems Allan’s brothers believed his choice of land was a bit mad,” says Grace.
The house and the family also lent their names to Alberton Avenue and Kerr Taylor Avenue – both located close to the historic property and indicators of the influence the family once had.
Other Kerr Taylor family members also made their marks on colonial Auckland.
“Allan’s brother Richard named his farm Glen Dowie, while another brother, William Innes Taylor, named his farm after his mother, Barbara Innes. Glen Innes was the result,” says Grace.
Tharron Bloomfield, Pouarahi/Māori Heritage Advisor for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, is keenly aware of the cultural transitioning inherent in these names, and says there is a growing movement today to reclaim and reuse original Māori place names around the country.
“Whether these English place names will still be used in 100 years time, who knows? But it’s interesting to understand how they came into being.”
highwic.co.nz
alberton.co.nz
For this issue you write about Coles Joinery Factory in Ongaonga. What’s something that you were surprised or interested to learn on this assignment?
The plans of the Ongaonga Historical Society to one day open the factory to the community for hobbyist carpentry really captured my imagination. I find that kind of continuity interesting – the idea that the history of woodworking could live on in the space.
What do you enjoy most about writing about New Zealand’s heritage?
I did my undergraduate degree in history and I’ve always been interested in getting as close as possible to the people of the past. To me, heritage places are tangible links to the experiences of historical people. It’s also interesting to explore the ways these places have been preserved through time, and what they continue to mean to us.
What’s a favourite heritage place to you and why?
I currently live in Te Whanganuia-Tara Wellington, but I grew up in Te Papaioea Palmerston North, where Category 1 historic place the Regent Theatre is a community landmark. It’s a beautiful space that holds many fond memories for me – my parents spent many a school choir performance admiring the kōwhaiwhai on its rafters!
A selection of the wonderful heritage attractions available around the country this winter
Ōtautahi Christchurch/Kaikōura)
The rise of Matariki in the sky above Aotearoa signifies the start of the Māori new year and is an important event in the Māori calendar. While it was previously only acknowledged and celebrated by iwi, now all of Aotearoa has the opportunity to celebrate. The event is marked by a holiday – this year on 20 June – so why not do something extra special and treat yourself to the Matariki Rail Experience? Take the train from Ōtautahi Christchurch to Kaikōura (Aotearoa’s newest International Dark Sky Sanctuary), enjoy some delicious kai and experience sunset and stargazing at Fyffe House (a Category 1 historic place and former whaling station), with expert guidance from the Dark Sky Trust. For those who can’t make it to Kaikōura, there will be Matariki celebrations up and down the country, including in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Ōtepoti Dunedin and Ōtautahi. greatjourneysnz.com/short-breaks-and-packages/matariki
Dunedin Midwinter Carnival (27 and 28 June)
Held in and around beautiful First Church, a Category 1 historic place in Dunedin, the Midwinter Carnival features giant lantern installations and performances from an array of local music, dance and cultural groups. While the kids are enjoying the lantern-making workshops, take the time to explore the Gothic church designed by notable architect RA Lawson. Constructed in brick in 1875 and faced with Ōamaru stone, the church is considered by many to be the most impressive of all 19th-century New Zealand churches and Lawson’s masterpiece. midwintercarnival.co.nz
Whakamaua! Wear It! (From 25 July, Te Papa, Wellington)
Browse this stunning collection of adornments from Te Papa Tongarewa’s collections, choose your favourite and see it projected on the wall at the Whakamaua! Wear It! exhibition. The collection includes a pāua pendant, a pounamu tiki, a muka lei, and a ‘Votes for Women’ brooch. There are almost 200 artefacts to choose from, each with its own fascinating story.
tepapa.govt.nz/visit/exhibitions/ whakamaua-wear-it
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National Volunteer Week (15-21 June)
National Volunteer Week Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu celebrates the collective contribution of Aotearoa’s millions of volunteers, and this year’s theme is ‘Whiria te tangata – weaving the people together’. Many of New Zealand’s organisations – including Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – rely on the time and skills of volunteers, so why not take the opportunity to get involved locally and give back to your community?
nationalvolunteerweek.nz
Behind a four-metre-high wall near Ōtepoti Dunedin’s city centre is Lan Yuan, Dunedin Chinese Garden, the Southern Hemisphere’s only authentic Chinese garden and one of just three in the world outside China. It was designed as a late Ming/early Qing Dynasty scholar’s garden and built by traditional Chinese artisans and builders, with most of the materials transported from Shanghai.
The garden is centred on a large lake, which is surrounded by numerous structures including a climbing mountain, a square pavilion and a tea house. Built to celebrate the influence of Chinese people on Otago’s history and heritage, Lan Yuan is recognised as a six-star Garden of International Significance by the New Zealand Garden Trust. The garden is open daily (except Christmas Day). dunedinchinesegarden.com
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The oldest purpose-built tramping hut in New Zealand is still going strong 100 years on
Nestled near the alpine line in the rugged Tararua Range is a tramping hut that is testament to New Zealand’s pioneering spirit and enduring love of the outdoors.
Field Hut, a Category 1 historic place, is the oldest purpose-built tramping hut in New Zealand. It has been a steadfast shelter for trampers for 100 years, with generations of adventure-seekers using it as a refuge and gateway to the Tararua Southern Crossing.
The hut was built in 1924 by the Tararua Tramping Club, New Zealand’s first tramping club, as increasing numbers sought to tramp in the Tararuas, despite their sometimes-treacherous conditions.
Recognising this, William Hughes (Willie) Field, a Member of Parliament and a tramping supporter, helped secure government funding for its construction. He became the first president of the Tararua Tramping Club and the hut bears his name in recognition of his role in its establishment.
The Tararua Tramping Club took up the task of building the hut, with Joe Gibbs, a skilled bushman and tramping club member, playing an instrumental role in its construction. Perched 750 meters above sea level, the hut takes three to four hours to reach from Ōtaki Forks.
Tararua Tramping Club President Cathy Wylie says trampers today still drive
out to the forks on a Friday and make the climb to Field Hut, using it as their base to complete the Southern Crossing in a weekend.
“Field Hut holds a treasured place in trampers’ hearts,” says Cathy. “It’s used not just by Tararua Tramping Club members, but also by many families. It’s a good track for taking kids into the bush, and it’s comfortable when you get there.”
The hut’s walls are lined with photographs and plaques marking the people who did the work and left what has become an enduring legacy.
Natalie Marshall, Heritage Assessment Advisor for Heritage New Zealand
Pouhere Taonga, says Field Hut is linked strongly to both the development of tramping as a national recreational pursuit and a growing awareness of, and appreciation for, the country’s natural environment.
The hut has long been held in high esteem, demonstrated by its continued use for 100 years and by the efforts made to retain and maintain it.
Natalie says what strikes her about Field Hut is the love that the Tararua Tramping Club members have for the site and the value they place on it.
“Field Hut has become a tribute to the club’s contributions, a source of pride and a symbol of the
The Tararua Range stretches 80 km from near Palmerston North to the top of the Hutt Valley.
place of tramping within the national culture,” says Natalie.
Field Hut was built before the days of helicopters and modern machinery. Instead, timber was pit sawn on site, a technique that had largely faded from use by the early 20th century. The remains of the pit-sawing site have become somewhat overgrown, but they offer a rare glimpse of this labour-intensive process.
Conservation architect Chris Cochran assessed the hut’s heritage value and says the pit-sawn technique used to construct the hut is a very rare feature.
“What surprised and amazed me was that in 1924 you had a bushman who knew how to pit saw timber. While common practice in the mid19th century, [pit sawing] was rarely used in the 1920s, and only then if you were in an extremely inaccessible place well away from civilisation.”
Photographs held by the Tararua Tramping Club capture Joe Gibbs, one of the last practitioners of this almost lost art, at work. Using timber sourced from the site, Joe and his team crafted a sturdy shelter that has withstood the test of time.
Over the past century, Field Hut has remained largely unchanged. Its original fireplace endures, although the extreme weather conditions have necessitated repairs. Cathy says that the Tararua Tramping Club has long been committed to maintaining the hut.
“It’s pretty tough weather up there, so it’s needed work over the years. Over that time, Tararua Tramping Club members have held regular work parties,” she says.
Recent efforts, supported by a bequest, have included installing new mattresses that help to make overnight stays more comfortable, while the hut’s rustic charm is still being retained.
Field Hut is more than just a place to rest weary legs, however; it is a cherished landmark in New Zealand’s tramping culture. The hut’s walls have echoed with conversations, songs and the laughter of families introducing their children to the joys of the outdoors, says Cathy.
“When you’re at the hut, you have such a sense of being part of a tradition of people who really rejoiced in being out there in the bush, on the mountains.
“You have a sense of being part of a wider community and a deep respect for the work that went into it.
“You think about all the people who’ve enjoyed this hut, who’ve cooked meals there, who’ve sung songs there, who’ve played there,” she says.
The historical importance of Field Hut was formally recognised through a heritage inventory compiled by Chris Cochran and historian Michael Kelly more than 20 years ago. Their research played a key role in securing the hut’s place on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Chris, who was also on the Heritage List/ Rārangi Kōrero Committee, says despite some changes the hut is still true to its original form of 100 years ago.
“It’s just remarkable in such a tough environment and that is testament to the craftsmanship. I think that’s what stands out for me. It was all hand built and hand sawn.”
In 2024 a centenary celebration of the hut was held, echoing the 50th and 75th anniversaries before it. Trampers gathered to share
stories, sing songs and enjoy cake and bunting in true Tararua Tramping Club fashion, says Cathy.
“We had a big celebration last year... some of the people who made it up there had been to the 50th and 75th. I expect, in 25 years, some of the people who were there last year will be there again.”
While Field Hut stands as a relic of a bygone era, its future remains bright. The ongoing commitment of the Tararua Tramping Club ensures that it will continue to provide shelter and inspiration for future generations. As trampers traverse the Southern Crossing, Field Hut remains a steadfast companion – just as it has been for a century.
Search the listing number at heritage.org.nz/places to read more.
After a fire caused widespread damage to Queenstown’s former Lake County Council Chambers, home to Speight’s Ale House, the building has undergone an impressive restoration
WORDS: ANNA DUNLOP
Early one morning in March 2023, smoke began pouring from the historic Speight’s Ale House in Queenstown. Shortly afterwards, flames could be seen, and although firefighters eventually managed to extinguish the fire – caused by an electrical fault in the kitchen – the damage was extensive.
“The fire was largely contained to the kitchen, but there was massive smoke and water damage throughout the whole building,” says Dan Cruickshank, Director/Property Advisor at APL Property, who project managed the ensuing restoration – significant, given
the building’s importance to Queenstown’s cultural and historical landscape.
The (former) Lake County Council Chambers, as the Category 2 historic place is officially known, sits on a prominent corner in the Ballarat Street Historic Area. It is one of several stone buildings – the Courthouse (now a bar and restaurant named 1876), the Library and Reading Room and the Ballarat Street Bridge, all Category 1 historic places, and the Forresters Lodge, Category 2 – erected during the town’s goldrush years of the 1870s and ’80s, which
comprise Queenstown’s most historic precinct.
The building’s construction was not without controversy. After the first Lake County Council was elected in 1866, meetings were marred by riots and violence, and the council was criticised for its excessive spending. So the public was not happy when noted architect FW Burwell was engaged to design a permanent structure to replace the earlier timber shelters –and members voiced their opposition loudly during the opening ceremony in 1881. However, the construction of the schist building indicated the council’s confidence in Queenstown’s transition from a mining settlement to a developing municipality.
The building remained as the Lake County Council Chambers for almost 120 years before being sold privately in 1999. Speight’s Ale House then opened its bar and restaurant in 2000 and had served the Queenstown community for 23 years before the fire forced its temporary closure two years ago.
Dan says that protecting the building’s heritage properties
was a priority for all involved, notably the building’s insurer AIG and it’s assessors at Sedgwick’s southern branch.
“We worked closely and collaboratively with the insurers and assessors throughout the rebuild project,” he says.
Arrowtown-based Origin Heritage, an archaeological, architectural, heritage and building conservation consultancy, was quickly engaged after the fire.
“We were on site from day one to inspect the damage to the heritage fabric and identify any salvageable materials,” says Kirsten Gibbs-Allen, Origin Heritage Director/Architect.
“Our role was to oversee the reinstatement of the traditional architectural elements and specify repair works.”
Origin Heritage worked closely with others: architectural firm DGSE, which focused on the non-heritagerelated aspects of the project; Ignite Architects, which undertook the interior design; Dunedin-based stonemasons Wainwright & Hickey; and the lead contractor, commercial construction firm Naylor Love.
After a new concrete pad was poured and the schist stone walls were repaired in order to support the new roof, attention turned to the building’s interior.
“The brief was to return the interior to how it was before the fire, so we made sure to identify materials as accurately as possible, using physical investigations such as timber sampling and archival research of old written records and photographs,” says Kirsten.
“Most of the stonework and plaster remained in situ, and the surfaces were cleaned and repairs carried out where necessary,” she says, adding that traditional features such as the brick fireplaces were also retained.
Origin Heritage worked closely with Ignite Architects
on the interior design, ensuring the walls were plastered with lime plaster then painted with modified limewashes that allowed the stonework to breathe through the plaster and its paint finish.
Origin Heritage was hopeful that some materials would be salvageable, and Naylor Love removed each floorboard and all the roofing timber carefully with a plan to reuse each one. However, the smoke and water damage was too substantial.
“Unfortunately, with the exception of the window frames, most of the timber elements could not be salvaged,” says Kirsten.
“We made sure we recorded all the details, such as the tongue and groove board profiles and sizes, and the tree species.”
Timber sampling conducted by Scion showed that the floorboards were likely to have been tōtara, so Naylor Love staff searched for a suitable replacement.
They found a sustainably sourced, preserved tōtara log, felled in the 1800s, that had been recovered from a riverbed in the North Island and kiln dried.
After consultation with local iwi, the Department of Conservation and the Ministry
for Primary Industries, the log was shipped to Queenstown.
“The new floorboards were all milled to the bespoke sizes of the originals,” says Chris Baines, Naylor Love Senior Project Manager. “There was just enough timber to cover the whole floor.”
The floorboards were then coated with a dark stain that enhanced the tōtara grain, matching the aesthetic of the old floorboards.
Susie Farminer, Conservation Advisor Otago/Southland for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, considers the conservation approach, care and skilled work undertaken throughout the project a testament to its success.
“The heritage values of this historic place have informed the project from its inception, and the team has beautifully restored the building, literally from ashes, while making it fit for the future.”
Speight’s Ale House reopened to the public in September last year, and while the interior of the building now looks almost identical to its pre-fire aesthetic, indications of the disaster are still apparent in some places.
Queenstown is located on the shores of Lake Whakatipu in the southwest of the South Island.
“Evidence of the fire damage was left in certain back-of-house places, such as on the mezzanine walls and behind the modern kitchen linings,” says Kirsten.
“This will inform future specialists and owners that a fire has taken place, allowing them to consider it in future heritage assessments, and it also conserves this part of the building’s story. It means the fire is now part of the building’s colourful, ever-developing history.”
Search the listing number at heritage.org.nz/places to read more.
WORDS: KERRI JACKSON / IMAGERY: MIKE HEYDON
A 1970s Ministry of Works engineering cadetship imparted Rick Herd, former CEO of construction consultancy Naylor Love, with a lifelong interest in preserving and admiring New Zealand’s built heritage
Rick Herd grew up surrounded by cultural history and heritage engineering. His childhood home in Opawa, Christchurch, at the junction of Vincent Place and Judge Street, was once a small pā, but it was the contrast between two nearby structures – the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and the Christchurch Gasworks – that really captured his imagination.
The two buildings, one an ornate Renaissance basilicastyle cathedral and the other a Victorian-style industrial power plant, are a fitting representation of Rick’s passion for New Zealand’s built heritage. He’s driven by a fascination for the form and
always really admired. It was once described by George Bernard Shaw as ‘the greatest cathedral in the world, built next to a gasworks’ because right across Moorhouse Avenue was this Dickensian, almost steampunk, gasworks,” Rick says. Though both the cathedral, a casualty of the Canterbury earthquakes, and the gasworks are gone, they left lasting impressions on Rick.
“I could just about see those gasworks from my bedroom window. I could smell them. It was fascinating. I’d wonder how it all worked or how you’d go about building something like that. It’s really where my love of engineering started.”
When Rick was 16 and turning “a bit rebellious”, his mother signed him up for an engineering cadetship with the Ministry of Works in Christchurch.
“I did a New Zealand Certificate in Engineering as part of my cadetship, and everything I learned there set me up for a 50-year career in engineering and construction.”
After several years working in roading and bridges, in 1977 Rick made the move to Wellington with the Ministry of Works, working on key infrastructure projects like the Ngauranga Gorge interchange. But it was a move to Mainzeal Property and Construction in the 1980s that saw Rick being asked to lead a relatively small heritage rescue project – a project of which he is still extremely proud.
“The old Wellington Children’s Hospital was being demolished, but inside it was a collection of large Royal Doulton tile murals. Each one was about the size of a door, and depicted a scene from a
function of engineering, as well as the beauty and history of our buildings.
As an engineer by trade, and recently retired after more than a decade as CEO of New Zealand-owned construction consultancy Naylor Love, Rick was involved for more than 50 years in the construction industry. He oversaw or worked on a huge number of heritage building projects, including Wellington Town Hall, Dunedin Railway Station and the now-stalled rebuild of Christ Church Cathedral (all Category 1 historic places), but it all started with those two contrasting Christchurch buildings.
“On one side you had this beautiful old classic Roman Catholic cathedral, clad in Ōamaru stone, which I
well-known nursery rhyme or fairy tale,” says Rick.
“Royal Doulton wanted to make sure they were salvaged, but no one was quite sure how to do it, so I was given the job of figuring out how to get these tiles out without damaging them.
“It’s one of the jobs I feel most satisfied about, even all these years later, because it was left up to me. It required a combination of creativity and technical engineering to come up with a plan then successfully execute it.”
He succeeded. The 10 salvaged tile panels were later moved to Wellington Regional Hospital, where they are admired to this day.
Another Wellington project that remains special to Rick is Wellington Town Hall. He first worked on an upgrade to the building in the late 1980s, and then oversaw the initial stages of Naylor Love’s current refurbishment of the building, which is due for completion in 2027.
Although he has worked on several of the country’s
It required a combination of creativity and technical engineering to come up with a plan then successfully execute it”
historic and notable buildings – most recently before his retirement, the rebuild and conversion to apartments of Auckland’s 1960s Brutalist Civic Administration Building (Category A in the Auckland Unitary Plan) – Rick’s first love is engineering.
“I’m an engineer first, so my heritage interests do tend toward engineering, like the
building of New Zealand’s bridges and dams.
Asked to name the New Zealand engineering feats he finds most fascinating, Rick’s list is long: the Mangaweka Viaduct, the Raurimu Spiral (Category 1), the Waitaki Dam, the Ōtira Tunnel and the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel (initially known as the Moorhouse Tunnel, Category 1) – not to mention the “general engineering of New Zealand’s whole rail system”.
“New Zealand is geologically very, very challenging. We’re fractured and where we do have flat plains, they’re normally punctuated with rivers and swamps, or ash, papa [soft grey mudstone] and pumice. All of those present real challenges for building.
“So when you look at the engineering feats of our railroads in particular – the viaducts, the Raurimu Spiral, the tunnels – and consider that much of this infrastructure was built 150 years or so ago with pick and shovel, it’s absolutely outstanding.”
Rick considers himself lucky to have had the opportunity to work on so many projects that allowed him a creative outlet while satisfying both his engineering and heritage interests, whether they were building a converter station at Benmore Dam early in his career or overseeing the seismic strengthening of Dunedin Railway Station with Naylor Love.
“I’ve had opportunities to work on some amazing projects. Most of those have been happy accidents because I’ve gone wherever the company I was working for needed me to go, but it’s given me some great opportunities. I enjoy being able to say to my family ‘I worked on that’ at different places around the country.
“But it all comes back to that gasworks in Christchurch, trying to imagine how it worked and thinking it looked just as beautiful as the Ōamaru stone-clad cathedral next to it.”
Now retired in Nelson, Rick still seeks out heritage buildings and engineering feats to satisfy his continued interest in New Zealand’s built history. He rides his mountain bike along the local Coppermine Trail, following the route of the historic Dun Mountain Railway, the country’s first railway, which operated between 1862 and 1901.
He’s also become particularly fond of Melrose House (Category 1), pictured below, built for one of Nelson’s first settlers, Charles Fowell Willett Watts, who died in 1881 shortly after the house was completed. After having been lived in by family members, the house was gifted to the Women’s Division of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union (later the Women’s Division Federated Farmers) as a rest home for rural women. In
1974 its ownership passed to Nelson City Council, and the Melrose Society was formed to manage the interior maintenance and restoration of the house. Part of the building is now home to Melrose House Café.
“It’s a beautiful building and I’ve become very fond of it, not least because I can look out the window over its roof. We walk the dog daily through the grounds, which are beautiful; it’s a little oasis with native bush,” says Rick.
“I also really like that there is a New Zealand flavour to the building itself. It’s a nod to the classic European style with those Corinthian columns, but instead of flowers around the top they have ferns, which is a nice feature.”
Retiring near a heritage building seems a full-circle moment for Rick,
who grew up next door to The Hollies (Category 2), an early colonial stone house built by Edward Richardson who, with George Holmes, oversaw the completion of the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel. It’s thought most of the stone used in the construction of the house came from the tunnel excavation.
“Our family home was built on what had been The Hollies’ tennis court, and our section included the original rockery and fish pond from that property,” says Rick.
“We’re really fortunate that where we are in Nelson we’re surrounded by parks and stately buildings, like Fairfield House [Category 1], but Melrose House is a very special place, and it’s good to still be comfortably surrounded by history.” n
WORDS: NIKI PARTSCH
The New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport in Upper Hutt is one of the finest examples of adaptive reuse in Aotearoa
Tucked away in Trentham, Upper Hutt, the New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport (NZCIS), a shared-use campus that occupies around 18 hectares on the former site of the Central Institute of Technology (CIT), is now the official training base of New Zealand Rugby and the largest commercial precinct in the Hutt Valley. It is also one of the largest and most impressive examples of adaptive reuse in the country.
In June 2023 NZCIS opened the state-of-the-art Performance Institute, and now Upper Hutt, with a population of barely 50,000, is a home away from home for hundreds of high-performance athletes – including the All Blacks, Black Ferns, Wellington Rugby, the Hurricanes and Wellington Phoenix Football – and their support people.
Many international teams have also enjoyed the manaakitanga and luxury of this facility, the first being the Sweden women’s national football team, whose members made NZCIS their home during the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.
Architect Chris Brook-White was responsible for the original Brutalist design of CIT’s 1970s buildings, which are characterised by large, expressive geometric shapes and have an emphasis on raw materials and functionality over aesthetics.
Planning for CIT began in 1956, when the government of the time proposed 12 regional technical institutes throughout the country, and a central institute located near Wellington. The foundation stone for CIT was laid in 1971, and it remained an education facility until 2001 when it was closed, having not attracted the expected number of students.
The site lay dormant for more than 15 years until the land and buildings were purchased by Malcolm Gillies and Kevin Melville in 2015 (both are well-regarded advocates for Upper Hutt and have strong connections to the area). A skilled team was quickly assembled, including HDT Architects and Holmes Construction.
Detailed planning, expertise and significant funding were required to achieve their vision. “From the outset there was always an intention to reuse and repurpose everything,” says Jamie Tout, NZCIS Director of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation, who has been an integral part of the team for the whole journey.
To that end, most of the buildings, which include 450 accommodation rooms, dining and conference rooms, a daycare centre, dormitories, gyms, recovery pools and workout spaces, were previously part of CIT. The iconic CIT towers are now commercial real estate, occupied by government tenants and private enterprises.
“People are just awestruck that anything like this exists in New Zealand,” says Jamie.
A key focus of the project was the integration of spaces. The level of careful planning and consultation
“They talk about that sense of being part of a community or of something bigger than their own teams”
is evident in the seamless transition of wood, steel, concrete, plywood, bamboo, plastic, glass, grass and trees as you move from path to hall to open areas.
The reuse of materials is everywhere, and everything that could be repurposed has been given a second life: the original light fittings are used in the dining areas and massive native timber picture frames were built from repurposed science lab desks and embellished with rugby boot laces fashioned from brass that came from surplus door latches. The picture frames now host large photographs that capture the mud, blood and sweat essence of grassroots rugby.
Across the campus is a geometric tower housing three 100-seat lecture theatres. All are rich with native timbers and details from the original 1970s build.
“Almost every building is original, and we’ve retained all of the original CIT layout,” says Jamie. “Nothing was ripped out without careful consideration, and a lot of thought was given to the new builds.”
1. CIT’s 1970s Brutalist buildings included multistoreyed lecture theatres.
2. Green-fringed walkways take you past patterned concrete and steel.
3. The NZCIS lecture theatre tower.
4. Jamie Tout stands before one of the many repurposed buildings on campus. Imagery: Mike Heydon
Of course, a facility such as NZCIS is going to have plenty of modern features, and new accommodation and high-tech learning and training spaces have been incorporated into the campus.
There are doctors’ rooms and physiotherapy rooms. The dining hall, with its massive full-industrial kitchen, supplies up to 16,000 meals per month to athletes, trainees and conference attendees.
There is more than just a nod to accessibility. Every changing room in this complex has one, if not two, accessible stalls and showers, alongside accessible bathrooms. The hallways and walkways are wide enough to accommodate multiple wheelchair users, which was highly valued during the Wheelchair Rugby qualification tournament for the 2014 Paris Olympics.
“We had eight teams, with around 100 wheelchair users plus their support on site. That was only possible due to the flat and wide access space that we have,” says Jamie.
“People are just awestruck that anything like this exists in
1. NZCIS co-owner Malcolm Gillies.
2. One of the three 100-seat lecture theatres, resplendent with original native timber panelling. Imagery: Mike Heydon
3. The 1000-squaremetre gym has state-of-the-art equipment and systems.
4. NZCIS is a place for athletes and their support people to train, recover, eat, sleep and meet.
Imagery: NZCIS
Outside, green-fringed walkways take you past patterned concrete and steel to your next destination. Inside and out, there is a flow of energy, a luxurious spaciousness and a prevailing sense of wellbeing. Jamie is always excited to hear feedback on the vibe from teams. “They talk about that sense of being part of a community or of something bigger than their own teams.”
At the far end of the campus are grass playing fields. Some are natural grass, others are hybrid, with synthetic fibres stitched into the grassed soil every two centimetres. To the untrained eye or naked foot, you wouldn’t notice the difference.
“There is a lot of technology in those fields, with 16 ground-based field sensors and five cameras per field to capture the training for real time or playback,” says Jamie.
Just beneath the entrance to the hybrid ground sits a mauri stone, uplifted from Hutt River Te Awa Kairangi just prior to the opening of NZCIS in 2023. This large piece of stone in its raw state signifies the life force of the whole campus, the people, the environment, and the buildings.
One of the most striking additions to the existing CIT layout is the Performance Institute, a massive new building where teams are welcomed into the facility.
The late Luke Crawford (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Toa), who was Chief Advisor to New Zealand Rugby and Māori All Blacks Kaumātua, visited the new-build site when it was just dirt and steel and commented that this would be the teams’ wharewaka. Luke maintained his support throughout the build, and it was under his guidance and direction that Jamie uplifted the mauri stone. It was later placed in the ground by Malcolm and Kevin during a dawn ceremony.
The vast wharewaka occupies 7500 square metres. “It is our biggest classroom and includes a green room with the world’s largest interactive screen,” says Jamie. “The cameras allow self-review, which in turn accelerates learning.”
The main part is home to an outstanding World Rugby and FIFA-approved turf surface. “Beneath the flooring is compressed earth and recycled foam matting; on top is synthetic grass and 160 tonnes of loose cork and sand to make it a contact tackling surface,” says Jamie.
5
5. Behind the gym, the wharewaka is where teams are welcomed to NZCIS and is also their biggest classroom.
6. The 7500-square-metre wharewaka is lit by energy-conserving honeycomb light-harvesting panels.
Imagery: NZCIS
Three large waka paddles are boldly represented on the wall of the wharewaka, and elsewhere around the campus. The designs represent the values at NZCIS (see sidebar, right).
On Friday nights the wharewaka hosts several hundred children and their supporters for Rippa Rugby, part of the $300,000 worth of community support that NZCIS provides each year.
“It’s pretty awesome seeing the kids’ faces and watching them when they walk into some of the spaces they wouldn’t otherwise have seen,” says Jamie.
“People are always commenting on the beauty of the architecture,” he adds. “They love the blending of the old and the new, with subtle touches like the energy-conserving honeycomb light-harvesting panels in the wharewaka.” (These are connected to LED lights and continuously brighten or dim to maintain a vibrant environment day and night.)
“Malcolm, Kevin and the team are super proud that we have been able to repurpose a lot of the old spaces and reuse a lot of the old buildings. When people visit NZCIS, it’s nice to be able to celebrate that legacy.”
manaakitanga: hospitality waka: canoe wharewaka: boat house
The three waka paddles displayed around the campus represent the core values of NZCIS.
“What really drives us are these three paddles,” says Jamie.
KORU: Emerge, grow, rise, excel, succeed.
MANGŌPARE: Endure, persist, overcome, prevail.
TAIAO: Power, temporal, environmental, elemental, connection.
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Public toilets might seem like mundane urban fixtures, but they can also offer a fascinating picture of our evolving approach to gender, safety, and sanitation.
Auckland’s public toilet facilities have evolved from basic shacks to subterranean shelters and multi-functional above-ground facilities as the needs and expectations of the public have changed.
According to a report commissioned by Auckland Council, Caught Short: A Brief History of Auckland’s Heritage Toilets, published in 2015, Auckland’s first public toilet facilities opened in 1863 on Queen Street Wharf. The rudimentary timber and corrugated-iron structure held basic toilet facilities that were strictly for the use of men, who, up to that point, had been reliant on the nearest bush or gutter.
They proved so popular that more urinals were planned for or built on eight additional inner-city sites. As the Caught Short report says, “With so many facilities now available, there was no excuse for men not to use a public toilet rather than the street. Those caught ‘violating women’s sense of decency’ by urinating in public could be sentenced to one month in jail with hard labour.”
Although women’s ‘sense of decency’ was now well taken care of, their own access to public toilet facilities was not. It was almost 50 years later, in 1910, that Auckland’s first standalone women’s toilet was built, as part of the combined public toilet and tram shelter on Symonds Street, next to Grafton Bridge (Category 2 historic place).
Designed by Auckland city engineer Walter Ernest Bush, the Edwardian Baroque-style building provided the only other city bathroom for women outside the public library, the railway station and Smith & Caughey’s department store.
Given its prosaic use, the ornate nature of the Symonds Street structure can in part be attributed to a certain “keeping up with the Joneses” attitude in colonial New Zealand, says Alison Breese, Heritage Assessment Advisor for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
“In that period of New Zealand’s history, there was a big push for it to be seen as being as modern as Europe, or at least on a par with cities like Melbourne. People who’d travelled wanted these beautiful places to be built here to make sure we were seen as just as important and relevant as these other major cities,” says Alison, known as ‘the Loo Lady’ for her expertise on Dunedin’s heritage public toilets.
WORDS: KERRI JACKSON / IMAGERY: MIKE HEYDON
The evolution of Auckland’s public toilets tells us a lot about changing societal attitudes in the late 1800s and early 1900s
It is impossible to tell the story of Auckland’s public toilets without talking about their place in New Zealand queer culture. As long as Auckland has had public toilets, there has been an adjacent history of their use by the LGBTQ+ (often male) community, although in public records this use is often referred to simply as ‘crime’.
Chris Brickell, Professor in Gender Studies at the University of Otago Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, says accounts of a public sex culture between men in New Zealand date back to the 1880s, if not earlier.
“Many men did not have access to good private spaces in which they could have sexual encounters, whether they were living in boarding houses or at home with families, so queer culture did develop as a public culture.”
While some men met in theatres or hotels, public toilets provided sheltered spaces for sexual interactions that could be more easily explained away, should men be interrupted, particularly by police.
“The design of a urinal in particular means the gap between an interaction that appears ‘legitimate’ and one that appears ‘illegitimate’ is actually quite narrow,” says Chris.
Public toilets were popular for sexual encounters when they were underground or offered additional, if flimsy, privacy.
The Durham Street West men’s conveniences underneath Albert Street are an example. They were built with an iron screen that allowed at least a sense of safety.
“Those partitions provided a couple of layers of privacy, while still being very public,” says Chris.
Although the Durham Street West toilets were removed during the construction of Auckland’s inner-city rail link, the restored screens will be in place on the original site, complete with the star design that earned the facility the nickname ‘Star of David’ among the cruising community.
Welby Ings, Professor of Art and Design at Auckland University of Technology
Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau, has written several papers on queer culture and public toilets in New Zealand, and conducted interviews for the Kawe Mahara Queer Archives Aotearoa oral history collection.
He cites many examples of regular cruising spots given ‘bogspeak’ nicknames such as ‘The Catacombs’ for the underground, porcelain-lined toilets outside the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
‘The Country Club’ referred to another set of public toilets in Auckland Domain, where, to avoid police raids, occupants would flee and pretend to be admiring the gardens. At night it was known as ‘The Glowworm Grotto’ as a nod to the lit cigarettes of cruising men.
Chris recalls hearing stories of men who made friends and even found jobs through their interactions in public toilets.
“For some people, the toilets weren’t just about what happened inside that space. It was also about being part of a bigger social network.”
“As well as tiles, porcelain and copper, a lot of these early20th-century public toilets had electric lighting and electric ventilation systems, so they were quite fancy”
“As well as tiles, porcelain and copper, a lot of these early-20th-century public toilets had electric lighting and electric ventilation systems, so they were quite fancy.”
While a street presence was important for city pride in some instances, it needed to be balanced with both a Victorian distaste for things they felt should be kept strictly behind closed doors and the need for space in rapidly growing city centres like Auckland’s. That led to many early public bathrooms being moved underground.
Auckland Council’s archive report Flushed Out: The Secrets of the Public Toilet lists several benefits of subterranean toilets, including the fact they could be placed at busy intersections with no impacts on the streetscapes. Some of the most notable subterranean toilets include the Three Lamps men’s toilet at the intersection of Jervois and Ponsonby Roads, the Beresford men’s toilet (moved underground in 1925, and now removed as part of the inner-city rail link development), and a women’s subterranean toilet in Wyndham Street, built in 1915.
The difficulty with subterranean toilets, says Alison, was that they were expensive to build and maintain, often requiring attendants to prevent theft, violence and graffiti. “Anything nice in those toilets would usually be broken or immediately stolen.”
Councils, including Auckland’s, introduced a user charge for public toilets, with women often paying significantly more than men because their toilets required stalls, not urinals (which were typically free to use).
“In most cases, certainly in Dunedin, councils were never really able to recoup the ongoing costs of the public toilets and were always overspending just to keep up the basic maintenance,” says Alison.
Some other practical challenges to using underground toilets eventually led to fewer being built and more being moved back above ground, she says.
“They often had very narrow, steep stairs, and men who’d come home with injuries after the wars found them quite inaccessible. They were also awkward for women in the days when they were still wearing long, full skirts, and you couldn’t take a pram down the stairs, so you had to work out what to do with the children.”
By the 1920s, women’s public toilets had evolved again with the arrival of restrooms, designed to give women not only better access to public toilets but also spaces where they could sit with other women and their children. One of the earliest examples in Auckland was the Karangahape Road Rest Room in Pigeon Park, opened in 1927, which featured six toilets and a lounge, change room, attendant’s room and pram storage room. It was updated in the 1950s and demolished in 2000.
“By the 1920s women were out and about in the world more. Restrooms meant they had somewhere to go to the toilet and rest without going all the way home again,” says Alison.
As well as providing toilet facilities, restroom spaces allowed patrons to heat babies’ bottles, leave bulky parcels in the temporary care of attendants, purchase sanitary towels, and use hand towels. The restrooms also enabled women to conduct private business in public spaces.
By the 1950s and ’60s, general public bathrooms were moving back above ground and being fitted out entirely in stainless steel and breeze blocks for easy, cost-effective maintenance. “The focus was on being able to just hose them down and keep them clean and well maintained as easily as possible,” says Alison.
Although that trend towards the functional has seen many of Auckland’s heritage public toilets demolished or replaced with modern facilities, each one still tells an interesting story about the city’s past.
2. Screens and stairwells offered privacy.
3. Subterranean toilets could be placed on busy roads with no visual impacts on streetscapes.
Wellington (Category 2 historic place)
Built in 1929 and named for its twin roof domes, a women’s restroom was under the north dome, with men’s toilets at the south end. Encounters between men were commonplace in these toilets before they were closed in 1966. The building is now the Welsh Dragon Bar and is an excellent example of adaptive reuse.
Dunedin (Category 2 historic place)
This is the last remaining public urinal in the city, dating from 1912. The building was used solely as a urinal until it was closed in 1972. The interior of the building is identical to that of an old underground toilet in Dunedin’s Octagon, demolished in 1989.
Napier
(Category 1 historic place)
Built in 1926 and originally known as Mother’s Rest, these rooms were designed by notable New Zealand architect JA Louis Hay solely for women’s use. The building was damaged in the 1931 earthquake, then restored in 1934 and again in 1993. The building was closed in 2013 due to seismic concerns and is currently undergoing restoration.
Kawakawa
(Category 1 historic place)
Designed by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who was living in Northland, these toilets were completed in 1999 and remain the only New Zealand public building made to a Hundertwasser design with direct involvement from the artist. n
An historic joinery factory in rural Hawke’s Bay has been lovingly restored by a dedicated group of local volunteers
Erik and Rita Scheltema first drove past the Coles Bros building in 2017 while house hunting in Central Hawke’s Bay.
“I said to Rita, ‘Gee, if we move down here, I want to get my hands on that building’, because it looked as though it needed a lot of love,” says Erik. Since their subsequent move to Waipawa, Erik has become project manager and “restorer extraordinaire” of the factory.
The Coles Bros factory, a Category 1 historic place, is thought to be the only remaining example of a small rural joinery factory in New Zealand. It was established by Edward William Coles when he immigrated to New Zealand from the UK in 1877, bringing with him his young family and his building expertise. Edward had been apprenticed as a joiner in Portsea, Portsmouth, UK, until he was scouted by Henry Hamilton Bridge, a runholder who had founded the town of Ongaonga in Central Hawke’s Bay when he subdivided his estate.
Much of Ongaonga was built by builders in the contracting business Edward established there. Coles Bros handled all aspects of building erection, including the surveying,
plans, construction, joinery, plumbing, bricklaying, painting and wallpapering, and glazing. The firm was also the local undertakers and serviced the growing Ongaonga township into the early 20th century, expanding the business as far north as Hastings and as far south as Eketāhuna.
Today the factory is a two-storey building consisting of three workshops, an office, a covered yard and storage rooms for paint, timber and mortuary supplies. The first building on site was a 40-square-metre, two-roomed structure. As the business grew, it was expanded to the east, then a second storey and lean-to were added.
“It was all very utilitarian,” says Erik. “The buildings and their construction in no way reflected the workmanship involved in building the [contracted] houses and churches, which were of a very high standard, but they obviously needed a building in which to carry on their business.”
In 1905 two of Edward’s 12 sons, Frank and Jack, took over the Coles Brothers business. Demand for construction was booming at this time as people moved to the area, but business began to decline during World War I.
The firm continued operating throughout the early 20th century and finally closed its doors in 1963, at that time under the ownership of Mark Coles. Unused, the building fell into disrepair.
“In the 1980s Juliet Holden, who was then the president of the Ongaonga Historical Society, along with Guy Natusch, worked tirelessly with the committee to try and get funding for restoration of the factory, but without success”, says Dennis Schaw, who is the current president of the society. Dennis and his wife joined the society in 2017, around the time of an influx of new members – and new enthusiasm for the restoration.
The historical society gained ownership of the factory after the previous owners, Greg and Anne Frater, gifted the building for one dollar in 2016. The Fraters had made some progress in restoring the building, including reroofing and repainting the outside. In 2018 the society opened the west wing of the building to 200 visitors. The open day stirred public interest in the possibility of further restoration.
Fundraising planning began in earnest, with high tea events and Victorian-themed markets taking place over the next couple of years.
“Those markets were not so much a big fundraiser for us moneywise, but they attracted other people who became interested in donating money,” explains Rita Scheltema, who organised the events.
“The council was really pleased with the work that we were doing in Ongaonga, and backed our application for a lottery grant.”
“The council was really pleased with the work that we were doing in Ongaonga, and backed our application for a lottery grant”
2. Coles Bros employees, photographed outside the factory in the early 1900s.
3. The factory floor mid-restoration, with the Friday volunteers hard at work.
4. Ongaonga Historical Society President Dennis Schaw (left), previous building owner Anne Frater and Restoration Project Manager Erik Scheltema with some of the factory tools.
“We’ve
got the line shafts all up and running now, which adds a lot of authenticity – the sound really gives people an idea of what it would have been like to work in that environment”
1. Erik Scheltema outside the factory building. The window on the left features unusual glazing involving many small panes of glass.
2. View of part of the factory floor.
3. The factory contains many of the original 19th-century machines.
The grant came through in 2021, allowing the society to employ Erik as a full-time builder. Another resource that would be key to the restoration was native timber.
“Really, the building is a completely environmentally friendly recycled building, you could say,” Erik notes.
“Dennis and his expert knowledge of what happens locally is invaluable, because if there’s a woolshed or whatever that’s going to be pulled down by a farmer, he’ll find out about it.”
The restoration of the Coles factory was made possible by the reuse of timber from other sites, such as the Central Hawke’s Bay A&P Show and Society building.
Two-thirds of the factory floor had completely rotted away, causing the structure to sag and sink into the ground and trapping many layers of sawdust underneath. The sawdust was carted away in wheelbarrows, and the replacement timber was painstakingly denailed by the group known as the ‘Friday volunteers’ who supported Erik with the restoration. This small team included a retired signwriter, Ian Cookson, who referred to a 19th-century photograph to carefully repaint the distinctive lettering on the side of the factory.
Clues about the day-to-day lives of Coles Bros employees are hidden in the structure.
“The glazing was unique; we’ve never seen that before,” says Erik, referring to the small 200mm by 130mm panes of glass that form the windows of the building.
“The glass was probably very expensive, and every now and then a bit of timber or whatever might have gone flying through a pane. So I think it was easier to repair just a little piece of glass than to replace a whole pane.”
“They needed all that light because power didn’t come to the building until 1926,” says Dennis. “So for a number of years they would have used just the daylight through the glass – and it would have been lanterns in the early morning.”
Many of the original machines remain in the factory, as well as the overhead line shafts that powered them.
“We’ve got the line shafts all up and running now, which adds a lot of authenticity – the sound really gives people an idea of what it would have been like to work in that environment,” says Erik.
Other original machines include an auto feed planer, a mortiser, saw benches and a pendulum saw fashioned from a Ford Model T chassis.
The Coles factory was officially reopened in September 2023. Following the opening, the factory and its restoration was awarded first place in the Heritage Tourism category and highly commended in the Saved and Restored category at the Hawke’s Bay Heritage Awards. Today the public can view the inside of the building, tools and machinery, and gain access to the nearby museum, for a $5 fee.
Eventually, however, the society hopes the factory will be more than a museum piece.
“We hope to use part of the Coles building for small-scale building activities, for people who want to come in and use the old tools,” says Dennis.
“So people can do woodturning and other hobbies they might want to do,” adds Erik.
Kerryn Pollock, Area Manager Central Region and Senior Heritage Assessment Advisor for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, says the factory has been protected by a heritage covenant since 1988. “It’s a great indication of the long-held esteem the Ongaonga community has for this place, and an important mechanism to ensure its longterm survival.”
The factory has continuing relevance, not just for the people of Ongaonga but also for those further afield, says Erik.
“People might have relatives who worked for Coles or in the milling industry. You often hear that people might live in Hastings or Napier or Havelock North, but they know about the factory and are keen to come and have a look.”
It’s also a striking local landmark. “Now, as you’re driving through the main street, it’s such an eyecatcher,” says Dennis. “I think a lot of people will say, ‘Oh, I want to pull over and go and have a look at that’.”
Finding affordable house insurance is an increasingly daunting challenge for any homeowner. For some owners of heritage properties, however, the task goes beyond Herculean
WORDS: MATT PHILP
In late 2021, Sandra Hansen and her husband bought Maxwell House (Category 2) in Blenheim. The Victorian beauty had a formal dining room and a carved staircase, and a century-old mulberry tree in the garden. At purchase, they took on the same insurance package as the vendors had with Aon, for an annual premium of $4000. But when they went to renew in 2023, the asking price had more than doubled to $9600. With the renewal deadline imminent, they were forced to pay up, but Sandra was determined to find an alternative insurer for the following year. It didn’t go as hoped.
“AA Insurance, Tower, State – every one of them used the terminology ‘this exceeds our risk appetite’ when declining us. None outright said the issue was that it was a heritage house, but that was the feeling I got from them,” she says, adding that two insurers who were prepared to insure their home, First Lane and Gallagher, wanted annual premiums of close to $9000.
Eventually the couple were able to get insurance via their bank for an annual $6600. But they still don’t have peace of mind. Sandra says they won’t be able to keep insuring the house when they retire, which means they will have to pay off the mortgage as quickly as possible, necessitating spending less on maintenance than they’d like.
“It’s a scary prospect, but we will just have to manage the risk.”
At Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, Conservation Advisor Eleanor Cooper has been quietly compiling a list of insurance-related enquiries from heritage owners since July 2023. Some typical entries:
Owner trying to sell property says two offers have fallen through because potential buyers could not get insurance for the building. Wants to de-list property.
Owner seeking advice after premium increased from $12,000 to $37,000 per year.
Owner has experienced dramatic increases in insurance premium due to heritage listing. Has been declined by all insurance companies she’s tried, except for brokers Crombie Lockwood and Aon.
Owner struggling to insure his house and wants to have Category 2 listing removed. He has been denied insurance by three companies, supposedly because of heritage listing.
Christine Whybrew, Director Southern Region for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, says that initially the insurance dilemma seemed particularly contentious for the churches, which were facing a triple whammy of earthquake-prone heritage buildings, dwindling parish numbers and skyrocketing premiums.
“However, we’re hearing increasingly from private owners of historic places who are experiencing the same rising premiums. More troubling, in some instances they’re finding their insurance
policies cancelled because they have listed heritage properties. But we can see no reason why a building entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero should have a greater risk profile than any other similar building of its age and type.
“In fact,” she adds, “generally an older building that’s heritage listed has access to public funding … and can have a greater level of maintenance and structural and fire safety interventions than a building not identified as heritage.”
That message is falling on deaf ears. When Eleanor contacted insurers directly about their approaches to listed heritage buildings, the responses weren’t reassuring. Initio said it declined to insure heritage buildings, as did Tower. AMI pointed to its policy wording, which stated that it only paid to replicate heritage features if the techniques were still commonly used and the building materials are readily available in New Zealand.
According to Robin Byron, Senior Conservation Architect for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, insurers are running scared because of a fundamental misconception.
“They think that if an owner experiences a catastrophic loss they will have to put everything back like for like, but that’s just not the case,” she says.
“We follow the guidance of the ICOMOS Aotearoa New Zealand Charter, which advises that, if reconstructing, the reconstructed elements shouldn’t usually constitute the majority of the place. The idea is that there’s been so much loss of the original building fabric and features that the authenticity and heritage values have diminished.
“Generally speaking, for a minor loss in an isolated area, we’d certainly encourage the owner to put back what was lost, but with a substantial or total loss there’s no expectation, and an owner is under no obligation to reinstate what was lost.”
It’s not as if heritage properties are intrinsically riskier than others, either.
“If you maintain a place well and it’s structurally sound, if you install smoke detectors and you have upgraded and made safe electrical wiring, and if the building is a seismically vulnerable building but you earthquake-strengthen it, it shouldn’t be any more vulnerable than a more modern house.”
Yet premiums keep climbing. Robin gives the example of a body corporate that applied to Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’s National Heritage Preservation Incentive Fund to help pay for conservation work on a group of historic shops on Auckland’s Upper Queen Street (part of the Myers Park Historic Area).
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“They had to withdraw their application, saying they couldn’t go ahead with the work that year because their insurance premiums had increased so much. So you’re getting a knock-on effect of not having funds available for important ongoing conservation work.”
Church organisations face the same trade-offs.
Gavin Holley is General Manager of Church Property Trustees, which administers 240 buildings and other structures held in trust for the various parishes of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch, including 70-odd heritage churches. It is the individual parishes’ responsibility to pay for insurance, he says.
“That has got tougher and tougher, and it has made it difficult for the trusts to have enough money to meet their mission and ministry objectives. There will be parishes that aren’t coping.”
Property in general is a challenge for the diocese, although it’s complicated. The majority of the abovementioned 70 heritage-listed properties are actually in good nick, partly because the Canterbury earthquakes unlocked the funding and resolve to bring them up to scratch. But many still require earthquake strengthening, which Gavin estimates will cost around $15 million. Even the churches that are in good repair require ongoing maintenance.
“The reality is that, apart from some very modest funds that parishes might have, there is no funding,” he says, noting that a recent application by Church Property Trustees to the New Zealand Lotteries Commission for $30,000 for some conservation plans was declined.
The consequence of tight funds and rising premiums is that earthquake-prone churches are insured for indemnity value only. Of the diocese’s portfolio of buildings, “very few have natural disaster cover … because it’s unaffordable”, says Gavin, adding
that the insurance problem was due to be discussed at the diocese’s upcoming synod.
“I don’t know what will happen – that’s for synod to decide – but if insurance costs keep increasing, we won’t be able to keep doing the same thing. It’s going to become increasingly challenging for the parishes and diocese, in the same way that insurance is becoming increasingly challenging for homeowners and owners of commercial property.”
What can owners of heritage properties do?
Christine says Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga encourages people to challenge insurers’ assumptions and to “not accept the premium that they see on their invoice but challenge the reasoning behind it”.
Rising insurance premiums affect more properties than just those on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Insurers often use their own definitions of ‘heritage’ – typically based on age alone – overlooking condition, restoration, or official status. In reality, well-maintained heritage places are often no more at risk than other properties, and insurance assessments and premiums should reflect this with realistic and informed approaches.
“There is scope there to get some answers, and we can always be part of those conversations.”
Christchurch businessman Trevor Lord and his wife Jill own Woodford, a grand 27-room Victorian house on Christchurch’s Papanui Road. They have also restored and strengthened a 1935 substation-plusresidence (Category 2) on Wellington’s Sydney Street, and have mentored other heritage projects over the years. Trevor is the settler trustee for McLean’s Mansion (Category 1) in central Christchurch, where challenging insurance issues have been resolved by the trustees based on an agreed scenario-based plan.
Trevor’s advice is to get a quantity surveyor to run the rule over your property, rather than rely on the capital value, which generally undervalues improvements.
“The quantity surveyor-based discussion is a very important step in getting the right level of cover,” he says, adding that using an insurance broker is also helpful. “Theoretically, brokers shop around and can negotiate and represent your wishes to an insurer.
“Having a quantity surveyor-assessed level of cover and a good broker saved Woodford in the Canterbury earthquakes, with work starting in under a week from the event as a result. The premium for the quantity surveyor-assessed cover was worth every cent!”
Trevor suspects that most owners would like to see their heritage homes reinstated. But if the cost of insuring to that level is too onerous, it may be possible to negotiate a partial replacement and methodology.
“You might say that the facade, inner staircase and drawing room are particularly important heritagewise, but the back quarters aren’t, so in the event of a fire you’d repair the front but rebuild the back less ambitiously,” he suggests.
“You can debate a bit, but be sensible and realistic. You need to reassure your insurer how it would be handled, because when insurers are nervous or under-informed they always charge more.
“My advice is, while insurance may not be cheap, it is worth the effort to insure as well as one can.”
Robin’s advice? As always, read the fine print.
“Often a policy will mention ‘industry standards’, which means that if you go to reinstate features after a major loss, the expectation of the insurance company may be, for example, to reinstate using standard skirtings, whereas a heritage building might have very deep-profiled original skirtings,” she says, adding that you should make your expectations clear.
“It can be a rude shock to find that your insurance policy doesn’t cover features that embody the materials, craft and character that you had in your heritage place that you want to recoup.”
1. Trevor and Jill Lord in the Woodford sitting room.
2. Built in 1887, Woodford was originally surrounded by 1.6 hectares of land.
3. The Woodford billiard room.
4. The first-floor master bedroom. Imagery: Nicole Gourley
The forestry industry is undergoing a transformation, becoming a vehicle for greater recognition of ancestral footprints and the protection of the heritage sites situated below large swathes of afforestation across the country
In Northland’s Waipoua River valley, not far from the mighty kauri tree Tāne Mahuta, there lies a network of stone heaps, terraces and walls that were once part of a significant Māori settlement.
In a 2017 documentary, Wāhi Tapu, former New Zealand Forest Service archaeologist Ian Lawlor, who helped document the site, described it as “on a par with Stonehenge”.
“When you think of any World Heritage Site, these places are on that same level,” said Ian.
Yet, beginning in the 1920s, the state-run Forest Service began a trial to plant a variety of pine species in this archaeological landscape.
Archaeologist Michael Taylor has directed the archaeological work in Waipoua since the 1980s, and says it was only in the 1970s that the area’s historical significance – and the impacts that production forestry were having on it –began to be recognised.
Archaeological surveys commissioned by the Forest Service detailed pā, cultivation terraces, storage areas and whare in the valley, often in areas where rocks had been cleared from the land for gardens.
“The river valley is just full of sites of Māori origin,” says Michael.
In 1985 Lynda Walter was a master’s student at the University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau when she obtained her first archaeology job as a Forest Service archaeologist, helping to survey the Waipoua sites. While it seems incredible now
that a site of such significance could be covered in pines, she says it was something that was all too common at that time, and there was usually little regard for the potential impacts that these forests might have on archaeological sites.
“What happened at Waipoua was perfectly normal for the time,” she says. “By 1960 you might occasionally find large pā that weren’t planted, but the vast majority of archaeological sites on forestry land were.”
New Zealand’s first heritage legislation was passed in 1954, but Lynda says there was no formal protection of archaeological sites, or penalties for their destruction, until amendments were made in 1975 and 1980. By that stage, more than 800,000 hectares of New Zealand were in planted production forest – today that’s increased to just over 1.8 million hectares.
At Waipoua, Lynda helped to document what she calls a “regionally, if not nationally significant” site. “It was pretty much a complete, self-contained cultural landscape, of which the vast majority was being modified by forestry.”
In 2008 ownership of Waipoua Forest passed back to Te Roroa iwi in a Treaty settlement. Snow Tane, General Manager at Te Roroa Development Company, says the iwi then had the delicate task of harvesting the aging pines while trying to preserve the wāhi tapu below them.
“You had very large, 50-year-old trees in quite bad shape over a highly significant historical site,” says Snow, who worked for the Forest Service from 1977 to 1987 and was part of some of the earliest activities to clean up sites in Waipoua. “Parts of the forest were also badly impacted by weed burden.”
Similar issues occurred in the South Island.
Chris Jennings, Senior Archaeologist for Southern Pacific Archaeological Research, a consultancy run out of the University of Otago
Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, is also the president of the New Zealand Archaeological Association.
He says many archaeological sites in Otago were planted in pine during the Forest Service era, often on sites linked to the gold rush era.
One of Otago’s most significant gold rush sites is Gabriel’s Gully, near Lawrence, where gold was first found in 1861, kickstarting the gold rush that transformed the region.
The Forest Service covered the surrounding hillsides in plantation forest from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, planting over archaeological sites, including historic reservoirs and water races.
“Many sites are now in poor condition because when the forests were established [the industry] wasn’t regulated like it is now,” says Chris. “Much damage was done by bulldozing through tracks during planting and harvesting. Then once the forests grew, pigs moved in and did a lot of damage as well.”
However, both Chris and Lynda say the situation is vastly different now, as foresters are far more aware of their responsibilities under the law.
The Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 protects all archaeological sites, defined as any places “associated with pre-1900 human
“We have really good relationships with forestry companies, and on the whole they want to do the right thing and have good processes in place”
activity that, through investigation by archaeological methods, can provide evidence on the history of Aotearoa New Zealand”. Under the Act, no one is allowed to modify or destroy such sites without first gaining an archaeological authority – a consent to carry out the work, with conditions to mitigate or avoid damage to sites protected by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
Importantly, this requirement applies not just to recorded archaeological sites, but also to suspected archaeological sites.
If someone modifies or destroys a site without first gaining approval, they can be criminally convicted and face substantial fines. However, Rachel Darmody, Senior Archaeologist Lower Northern for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, says the organisation prefers to work with the industry to protect sites, and no forestry company has ever been prosecuted.
“Prosecution is a really blunt instrument,” says Rachel. “Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga works with people through training and education to ensure they understand the conditions and what’s required of them. We have really good relationships with forestry companies, and on the whole they want to do the right thing and have good processes in place.”
Now based in Whakatāne, Lynda runs a consultancy, InSitu Archaeological Heritage, covering an area filled with both forestry
1. A stone heap in Waipoua Forest.
2. A stone wall in Waipoua Forest with a large pine felled naturally by the wind.
3. Dr James Robinson, Northland Regional Archaeologist for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, looking at a wind-thrown pine stump on a stonework site. Imagery: Michael Taylor, Archaeology North Ltd
and Māori heritage. Much of her work involves working with forestry companies, surveying and demarcating protected sites and ensuring forestry crews have processes in place to avoid archaeological sites during planting and harvesting.
When protected sites have been planted during previous rotations, the work is far more challenging, as trees have to be felled to waste or carefully removed without heavy machinery where possible. “It’s a technical challenge that the crews are happy to rise to,” she says.
It’s not just the harvesting that can affect sites, however. Sometimes harvesters choose to leave trees on archaeological sites, or poison or ringbark them, which doesn’t require an archaeological authority. This can still put sites at risk, as trees become exposed to windthrow and roots rip through archaeological features when trees topple, and is a particular concern given that climate change is leading to more severe storms.
However, Lynda says most forestry companies she works with do their best to fell or remove trees to minimise these potential impacts, even when it isn’t strictly required by law.
Forestry companies also face reputational risks if they damage archaeological sites, she says, and often the forests are on Māori land with owners who are eager to protect heritage sites.
“The majority of my clients are ethical and operate to really high standards.”
Greater compliance isn’t just about protecting known sites, it’s also leading to the discovery of new ones.
Lynda recently worked in Rotoehu Forest, north of Lake Rotoiti in the Bay of Plenty, helping to manage 40 recorded archaeological sites during harvest. She says the land was first planted by the Forest Service in the 1930s and had been through several harvest rotations, much like Waipoua. However, it had long been believed there were many unrecorded sites on the 8875-hectare block.
To help identify these, forest manager Timberlands was able to provide LiDAR images, which revealed the topography below the forest canopy.
1. A 3D printer image derived from LiDAR modelling of pā within the Pāpāmoa Hills Cultural Heritage Regional Park.
2. & 3. Much of Lynda Walter’s archaeology work involves protecting sites on forestry land. Imagery: Brennan Thomas
“After doing this job for 40 years, I’ve still got that sense of discovery about finding new sites – it’s exciting”
4.
5. The canopy can be ‘removed’, revealing archaeological features in the landscape below.
Imagery: InSitu Archaeological Heritage
This found 191 potential sites, of which 69 were later confirmed through fieldwork, and surveying is ongoing. These sites included large kūmara pits and terraces related to whare and gardening.
“It was a real education. Just because there aren’t dots on the map [indicating known archaeological sites], that doesn’t mean there aren’t sites there,” says Lynda.
“After doing this job for 40 years, I’ve still got that sense of discovery about finding new sites –it’s exciting.”
Elise Hayes, Environmental Planner for Timberlands, manages the archaeological sites on the company’s estate. She says the forestry crew also found a kūmara pit that had not previously been identified on the block.
She says it’s common practice for local iwi to attend site briefings to bless the land before harvesting, and this helps inform forestry crews about the history and significance of the area.
“That way our crews have an appreciation of the importance of the land to the iwi and why we want to preserve the historical significance of what’s there,” says Elise.
Reuben Hawtree manages the forestry archaeological sites for Manulife Investment Management and says the company recently discovered a large, unrecorded pā site at Stanley Forest near Whakatāne, on the edge of a forestry plantation.
A track had been bulldozed through the pā many decades ago, damaging part of the site, but the company arranged to have it documented to ensure future protection.
“This thing was massive, with trenches and pits and a large midden,” Reuben says. “It was surprising no one had picked it up in the past.”
Back in Waipoua, the forest today looks very different from the way it was in 2008, although challenges remain.
“Pine trees have been removed from nearly all cultural sites in the river valley, and native bush has been allowed to regenerate,” says archaeologist Michael Taylor.
Michael works closely with tangata whenua, including archaeology assistants Dawn Birch and Laurie Joseph, who have become highly experienced in managing the sites. “We lightly manage any new regrowth,” he adds.
“We don’t allow large trees to start growing on major sites, but we leave existing ones alone.”
Michael says that sites within commercial pine parts of the forest have been mapped and identified using GPS.
“We work with [forestry company] Northland Forest Managers to preserve these – they log up to the GPS boundaries and leave the sites alone.”
In February a fire burned through nearly 100 hectares on the southern slopes of Waipoua River Valley. The fact that no sites were damaged is testament to the collaboration between the fire service and skilled tangata whenua.
“Bulldozers were used to cut firebreaks, and tangata whenua used their knowledge and experience to lead the machinery around and between the sites,” says Michael.
“It was nothing short of amazing. The fire was a disaster, but the lack of damage to the sites was definitely a positive outcome.”
kūmara: sweet potato pā: fortified place/ settlement tangata whenua: people of the land wāhi tapu: sacred place whare: houses
WORDS: LYDIA MONIN
What can one of Europe’s best-preserved medical establishments teach us about restoring New Zealand’s old hospitals?
There is constant, chaotic noise: consumptive coughing, barking dogs and screeching cats. Patients hear other patients being operated on; they observe Mass from their sickbeds. This is life and death in a medieval hospital at Museum Sint-Janshospitaal (St John’s Hospital Museum) in Bruges, captured in a sound installation.
Nearby is the quieter Whisper Sofa, upholstered with clothing belonging to deceased loved ones that was donated to the museum by Bruges residents. This sofa, installed in 2023, is a place for visitors to rest and reflect while listening to recorded memories and stories of parting and mourning.
“Today we tend to shy away from the issue of death, even though it’s inevitable. Back in the olden days, people were more in tune with this fact, and they were preparing for it,” says Geert Souvereyns, Curator Social History at Musea Brugge, the umbrella organisation of the city’s major museums.
The hospital is as old as the famous winding medieval canals that grew around it. In the 12th century it stood near one of the city gates, welcoming pilgrims, travellers, the poor and the sick, even if they just needed somewhere to sleep for the night.
Most of the remaining building is from the 13th century. That it’s still standing at all is thanks largely to the English. In the 1860s plans were drawn up for a new hospital on the same site, but the Gothic Revival movement had arrived in town.
“A lot of English people were living in Bruges at the time. They had considerable interest in old medieval buildings and they wanted to preserve them,” says Geert. “It was also the beginning of tourism in Bruges. People were coming to visit the city because it was so beautifully preserved.” So a new building with 16 wards was built alongside the old hospital instead.
Back in New Zealand, a much-loved hospital built in the 1860s in Invercargill has yet to begin its restoration
journey. The Troopers Memorial Corner Charitable Trust, a group of volunteers who rescue and restore heritage buildings, recently bought the Dee Street Hospital (Category 1) from the Crown. While most of the original hospital buildings were demolished in 1985, the surviving Central Block, South Wing and Porter’s Lodge were key structures within the complex.
The Troopers Memorial Corner Charitable Trust restored and sold Invercargill’s former Bank of New South Wales building (Category 1) before restoring Yule House (Category 2). Trust Secretary Joan Scarlet says work can only begin on Dee Street once Yule House has been sold. The trust hopes to renovate the exterior first, giving the buildings time to dry out.
By the mid-20th century, Dee Street was primarily a maternity hospital.
“A lot of people we talk to say, ‘Oh yes I was born there’, or ‘I had my children there’, so it’s a property that has that community connection,” says Joan. “I would like to see it used as a community centre … once we start the project, things will come out of the woodwork and people will be able to see that, yes, it can be used for this or whatever.”
“It asks whether there are limits to hospitality. To whom can we open our hearts? For creatures or people who are very different from us?”
Last year Joan invited more than 40 former nurses to look through the buildings during International Nurses Day and she says they “absolutely loved it”.
The essence of the Sint-Janshospitaal Museum in Bruges lives on a bench in the middle of the room, where a smartly dressed woman comforts a part human, part pig-like creature. For a split second you think it might be real. And then you remember you’re in a Belgian hospital museum with a new – and very thought-provoking – exhibition inspired by its origins as a Christian place of empathy and hospitality.
“It asks whether there are limits to hospitality. To whom can we open our hearts? For creatures or people who are very different from us?” asks Geert.
He says The Bridge, a hyperrealistic sculpture of the woman on the bench supporting a part-animal, part-human creature by Australian artist Patricia Piccinini, has a “direct dialogue” with a painting in the exhibition of the Good Samaritan, who was looked down upon in the time of Jesus.
Grand paintings, old wooden cabinets, potion bottles and scary-looking syringes are on display, but so are artificial intelligence images of people and animals. Visitors are asked to decide with whom or what they can empathise.
In the 15th century, Bruges was home to painter Hans Memling. Four of his works, including
After lying abandoned for more than two decades, a New Zealand hospital for traumatised soldiers returning from World War I has just been restored and reopened as a community centre. Famed for the healing properties of its natural thermal waters, Hanmer Springs became the site of the Queen Mary Hospital for Sick and Wounded Soldiers in 1916.
Now known as Soldiers’ Block, its three buildings are part of the former Queen Mary Hospital (Category 1) and were designed with octagonal wards to give patients as much fresh air and sunshine as possible. After the war it became a specialist centre for nervous disorders and later a drug and alcohol treatment centre, before closing its doors in 2003.
Thanks to a decade of fundraising by the Hurunui District Council, Soldiers’ Block has been restored and reopened as a community centre with original features such as rimu match lining and jarrah floorboards. Fundraising will begin again to enable the installation of an interactive and immersive experience by Weta Workshop in the old wards that will allow visitors to explore the site’s history. n
Shrine of St Ursula, were commissioned by the hospital. Antibiotics they were not, but religious paintings offered some comfort to the patients.
Monks ran the hospital and nuns looked after visitors and patients. Before a convent was built in 1539, nuns slept in an area of the hospital attic adjacent to a larger space used for storage, under what is now one of the oldest oak trusses in Europe; the trees were felled around 1230.
The larger area of the attic is now the Closer to Memling Experience. Using touch tables, visitors can choose aspects of Memling’s paintings and send their contributions to one big composition on a massive screen, creating a group artwork.
“We didn’t want to make it too heavy or too educational because there was already an entire museum visit below,” says Joyce Klein Koerkamp, Expert Technical Imaging, Musea Brugge. “This is why you also have the relaxation zone [including models of sheep from Memling’s landscapes] between the touch tables and the big screen.”
Next door is a 13th-century monastery that became a 17th-century pharmacy and herb garden managed by the nuns. Its shelves are lined with the jars and bottles the sisters filled with medicinal herbal mixtures sourced from Bruges or made on site.
That’s the real charm and value of Sint-Janshospitaal, a tribute to an age of healthcare in which there was great pain and suffering, and treatments that were brutal by today’s standards – but also great empathy and kindness. Therein lies the heritage value in preserving buildings that still stand as reminders of society’s obligation to the sick and infirm down the ages.
Designed in the stripped classical style, New Zealand’s Maniototo Hospital (Category 2) was declared ‘a beautiful place’ when it opened in 1930, but it was recently replaced by a new community hospital. The Otago/Southland office for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga advocated for the old building to be used for something else, but there wasn’t enough local support to save it from demolition.
Empathy was in very short supply when an infectious diseases hospital that treated patients with the likes of scarlet fever opened in Pelichet Bay in Dunedin in 1908. Local residents had argued it was
‘undesirable’ and could affect property values. The roads would be too bad to transport patients and noise from the nearby rifle range and quarry-blasting would surely kill off anyone in ‘a delicate state of health’. After reviewing their objections, the Hospital Board chair replied, “If the proposed site were on the moon, there would be someone who would object to it.”
The Pelichet Bay Infectious Diseases Hospital (Category 1) was designed by Dunedin architect Patrick Young Wales, whose father founded New Zealand’s oldest surviving architectural firm, Mason & Wales. He followed the international ‘pavilion plan’ for hospitals, with separate wards, ventilation, drainage, light and water supply. The Pelichet Bay hospital closed in 1952 and was later turned into a complex of student flats.
There’s a tradition in Dunedin of naming student flats: the old hospital is now ‘Lakehouse’. It overlooks Logan Park, which lies on reclaimed land from Lake Logan, previously Pelichet Bay.
Lakehouse is known for its “absolutely gargantuan” parties, says Sarah Gallagher, Area Manager Otago/ Southland for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
On St Patrick’s Day 2020, partygoers flooded the site just 200 metres from a high school that had closed because a student tested positive for Covid-19. Sarah notes this was “deeply ironic” given the building’s original purpose.
So how successful does Sarah think the repurposing of the old and much-maligned hospital has been? It’s a cautious answer. She says she doesn’t know what state it’s in because she hasn’t had the opportunity to do a site visit. “But by all means it is successful in that it’s tenanted.”
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2. Soldiers’ Block in Hanmer Springs. Image: Great Scott
3. Dunedin’s former Pelichet Bay Infectious Diseases Hospital is now known for its “gargantuan” parties. Image: Mike Heydon
4. The gates of the former Dee Street Hospital, and Porter’s Lodge beyond them.
5. Dee Street still has a strong community connection. Imagery: Nanette Monin
Monty Soutar
RRP $39.95
Bateman
Tree of Nourishment is the second instalment in the Kāwai series authored by esteemed historian Dr Monty Soutar ONZM. The first novel was reviewed in the Hōtoke/Winter 2023 issue of this magazine, and that reviewer’s observations resonate again here with the historian’s effort to embrace the role as storyteller.
Despite this, Soutar’s deep understanding and depiction of early Aotearoa New Zealand provide readers with valuable insights. For individuals like me, whose education (sadly) lacked in-depth coverage of this country’s history and heritage, the Kāwai series serves as an engaging and authentic medium for learning about the past.
Soutar’s intention to shed light on the profound impacts of colonisation on Māori communities, particularly the significant population decline by 1840, is commendable. The narrative of Tree of Nourishment
shifts the focus to Hine-aute, the granddaughter of the protagonist from the previous novel, Kaitanga.
Hine is a compelling character, offering a lens through which readers witness her relationships, struggles and experiences amidst the upheaval caused by increasing numbers of Pākehā, and the devastation brought by muskets, disease and the clash of cultures and religions.
As the story progresses, the confident and persuasive Hine’s efforts to navigate the changing world and preserve Māori traditions face challenges, portrayed through her reducing influence on her sons and her community with its growing disillusionment with the old ways. It reflects the broader societal shifts occurring during that time.
Soutar’s novel effectively captures the complexities of this, prompting readers to contemplate the impacts of cultural change and adaptation. Tree of Nourishment stands as a poignant and educational exploration of New Zealand’s past, adeptly blending history with storytelling to create a captivating narrative. Review by Lesley Brice
Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown, Geoff Spearpoint
RRP $79.99
Potton & Burton
Shelter from the Storm offers an in-depth and fascinating history of one of the defining features of the New Zealand outdoors: the backcountry hut. Indeed, the fact that there is a 380-page book dedicated to the topic is testament to the connection – some might even say obsession – that New Zealanders have with our unique hut network.
A revised edition of the original 2012 publication, this version is updated with new huts and information, and a section dedicated to ‘the mahi of the volunteer community’ – recognition of the change in the way these huts are now managed and maintained. The new edition could also have benefitted from more discussion on the Māori cultural influence – or lack of – on the hut network;
as it is, this is limited to just a few paragraphs.
The main focus of the book is the huts themselves, and the authors – three leading outdoor photographers and writers – had the unenviable task of choosing just 90 of New Zealand’s more than 1400 backcountry huts to profile. They have done so by grouping them into 10 categories: pastoral huts; mining huts; club huts; Department of Conservation huts, and so on.
A clear effort has been made to illustrate the diversity of the huts, which stretch the length and breadth of the country: there’s the new $3.4 million Mintaro Hut, reached on the second day of the Milford Track; Field Hut in the Tararua Ranges, the country’s oldest surviving purposebuilt tramping hut (see ‘Built to Last’, page 10); Beech Hut in Eyre Mountains/Taka Rā Haka Conservation Park in Southland, which, with its earth floor, is ‘about as basic as they come’; and the West Coast’s two-bunk bivouacs –not so much huts, more like permanent tents.
From coast to mountain to forest, the evolution story of each hut is told through beautiful historic photographs and meticulous research. It’s a fitting tribute to what is probably the most remarkable hut network in the world.
Review by Anna Dunlop
whānau: family kuia: grandmother
kōrero: talk, conversation koro: grandfather
Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku
RRP $39.99
Harper Collins
A few years ago I had a wonderful email exchange with the multi-trailblazing Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku. I was writing a narrative for the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Korero entry on the Queen Victoria Statue (Category 1) in Auckland’s Albert Park. This is an uber-colonial statue with a fascinating history as a site of protest. Ngāhuia led the country’s first gay liberation movement protest there in 1971 and generously shared her vivid memories.
Ngahuia’s autobiography traverses the journey to this status. Hine Toa (Girl Warrior) is an apt title for a life story that focuses on the early years, from birth to teens to early twenties. Her approach to autobiography is interesting – the level of descriptive detail and regular use of dialogue give the book a strong story-telling air. It is very reminiscent of her short story collection Tahuri (1989), itself
strongly autobiographical.
The chapters on life in Ōhinemutu evoke the complexity of a young life that is rich in love but also suffering abuse. We learn that Huia, as she was known to whānau, was left with her abusive father when her mother left the family home, which is hard to fathom. Her sharp intellect is lauded by some whānau but derided by others. We also share her beautiful connection with her kuia and koro, and her mature understanding of her mother’s predicament. These chapters chart the complexity of life sensitively and show us how a strong girl, a determined hine toa, made her way in a world that wasn’t always kind.
Part two begins in 1967, when Ngāhuia moves to Tāmaki Makaurau for university. She ensures readers do not underestimate how unusual this was for a Māori girl at this time.
The book becomes more episodic in this part, which can be frustrating when one is hoping for a linear narrative, but stepping back, it is clear this approach reflects the chaos of Ngāhuia’s life at this time and the myriad causes with which she was involved: anti-Vietnam war protests; second-wave feminism; gay liberation; and Māori activism with Ngā Tamatoa.
The story Ngāhuia recounts in Hine Toa is relevant to heritage because, looking back from the present, it is an example of an activation of our heritage places. As another example, the Queen Victoria statue, a peak symbol of imperialism, may be viewed differently when we know how it was used by activists in some of the late 20th century’s leading progressive causes. Review by Kerryn Pollock
Pūrākau: Legendary Māori Tales
AW Reed
RRP $29.99 (Upstart Press)
The retelling of pūrākau (myths) by contemporary Māori writers
Debra Oswald
RRP $37.99 (Allen & Unwin)
One woman’s story of living through a century of change.
Groundwork: The Art and Writing of Emily Cumming
Harris
Michele Leggott and Catherine Field-Dodgson
RRP $60 HB (Te Papa Press)
A tribute to one of New Zealand’s most significant botanical artists.
Atlas of the New Zealand Wars: Volume One 1834–1864, Early Engagements to the Second Taranaki War
Derek Leask
RRP $89.99 HB (Auckland University Press)
Maps and plans provide insights into New Zealand’s 19th-century wars.
Preachers, Pastors and Prophets: The Dominican Friars of Aotearoa New Zealand
Susannah Grant
RRP $60 (Otago University Press)
The story of New Zealand’s Dominican friars, told through archival material and oral interviews.
Central Otago Couture: The Eden Hore Collection
Jane Malthus and Claire Regnault
RRP $70 HB (Te Papa Press)
A record of Maniototo farmer Eden Hore’s high-end fashion garments collection.
Books of Mana: 180 Māori-authored Books of Significance
Jacinta Ruru, Angela Wanhalla, Jeanette Wikaira
RRP $64.99 HB (Otago University Press)
This book celebrates the rich tradition of Māori authorship in Aotearoa New Zealand. n
We have one copy of Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery to give away. To enter the draw, send your name and address on the back of an envelope to Book Giveaways, Heritage New Zealand, PO Box 2629, Wellington 6140, before 30 June 2025. The winner of last issue’s book giveaway (Woolsheds: The Historic Shearing Sheds of Aotearoa New Zealand) was Lynne Hill of Mosgiel.
AS
The Scarborough Clock Tower has been a landmark in Sumner since 1934 and was a favourite family destination when I was young. On hot nor’westerly days, my father, mother, brother and I drove there in our green Morris Minor to play in the Scarborough paddling pool. Years later, my partner Chris and I have taken our daughter boogie boarding opposite the clock tower. Since 2023, the Scarborough Clock Tower has been the terminus for the Christchurch Coastal Pathway, which stretches from Ferrymead to Scarborough, running parallel to the edge of the estuary and then the sea.
The clock tower is one of many Gothic Revival buildings in central Christchurch, such
as The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora and the semi-extant Christ Church Cathedral. It was built via a donation from wealthy Christchurch builder Richard Green, who wanted to commemorate his father Edmund Green, the founder of the first telegraph service in New Zealand.
Richard gifted three memorials, the other two being the New Brighton Clock Tower and the James Edward Fitzgerald Statue. The construction of these monuments was controversial and the laying of the foundation stones at Sumner and New Brighton required bodyguards as there had been bomb threats. It seems Richard’s family was deeply unhappy that he was spending his inheritance on monuments,
rather than handing it down for future generations.
My first few triathlons started at the clock tower – a scenic place from which to swim, cycle and run triathlon distances. I competed in several triathlons with my friends Terri and Lisa. Sadly, Lisa was one of the 185 people who died in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
During the earthquake, I was living in Sumner and the damage to the Scarborough Clock Tower was a constant visual reminder of the damage throughout the city. At least the clock tower survived, unlike a number of buildings in central Sumner.
A particularly poignant part of the clock tower’s reconstruction was the removal of the clock faces –there’s something disturbing
about a clock tower without them. It took a while after the repair for the clock to become an accurate timekeeper again – elderly clocks don’t cope well with disturbances.
Given its significance to me and the suburb, the Scarborough Clock Tower is a waypoint in my recent novel, Threads of Connection. In this book, a boundary-pushing group uses the clock tower as a meeting point; their end goal is to bomb a coal ship in Lyttelton Harbour as a climate change protest.
Owning a house in Sumner means I’m constantly aware of the risks to the area of flooding and saltwater incursion. We need action to ensure the Scarborough Clock Tower will last another 90 years.
Established in 1854 the School has a colourful history. View student records, Collegians, old boys’ war medals and letters, photos, uniforms, cups and trophies, newsletters and programmes.
GROUP TOURS Up to 10 people. Can be arranged by contacting Richard Bourne 0274 812 324 or email museum@ collegiate.school.nz
Email museum@collegiate.school.nz Visit us at ehive.com/collections/3324 Whanganui Collegiate School, Liverpool St, Whanganui
Your itinerary to history where it happened
