As was the case with the primary schools, standard post-primary school plans were prepared to meet the great increase in the school population in the period immediately following the Second World War. The first, known as the Naenae type school, was a two-storey building, of reinforced concrete construction up to first floor level and timber frame above, with the teaching rooms in long rows and with access from corridors at both levels. This was the first school fully planned as a complete entity with the incorporation of specialist facilities for the full range of subjects in the modern curriculum. It proved, however, slow and costly in construction for the large buildings programme looming ahead and was replaced by the Henderson type school of similar content but in single storey timber construction.

Intermediate schools are located in the more thickly populated areas to provide specialist facilities for standards 5 and 6 (Forms I and II), by concentrating these forms from several schools in the area into one school. The buildings consist of the standard primary classroom units with the addition of specialist rooms for woodwork, metalwork, homecraft, clothing, art and craft and nature study. An assembly hall is also included in the school complex.

District high schools, which are secondary departments attached to primary schools in country areas, and high schools, have existed in New Zealand from early times of European settlement. Many have grown from modest beginnings into some of the leading schools in New Zealand today. As with the primary schools, they have developed with the increase of population and the changing needs of the education system. From schools where the main curriculum was based on the “three Rs”, with the addition of some science and craft work, generally taught in small overcrowded classrooms, there have now appeared the multi-course post-primary schools of today with the specialist accommodation, teaching aids, equipment and facilities of modern times. Many of the older schools have developed individually, but approximately half of the post-primary schools in existence today have been established as new schools only during the last 20 years.

The development of school buildings is closely allied to the growth and expansion of the education system, and changes in the scope and method of teaching are directly reflected in the type of buildings provided for the purpose.

In the early days of the colonisation of New Zealand, education rested almost entirely in the hands of the churches. Finance was raised by the allocation of a proportion of the proceeds of the sale of land to the new immigrants. From 1853 the responsibility for primary education and the provision of school buildings was vested in the Provincial Governments, which in general administered education through education boards which they established in their respective provinces. With the abolition of the Provincial Governments in 1876, the financial responsibility was taken over by the Central Government, but the administration and the design and provision of primary school buildings remained in the hands of the education boards, provided for in the Education Act of 1877.

Soon after the arrival of the early settlers, schools were established wherever there were sufficient children and a teacher could be found; the accommodation was generally meagre and primitive. Classes were held in private houses or halls until such time as school buildings could be built. These early schools varied considerably in construction from “wattle and daub” to timber or stone buildings, but all were small, overcrowded, and dingy by present-day standards. Many schools consisted of one room of up to 20 ft long by 12 or 14 ft wide, and were considered as being adequate for from 30 to upwards of 50 pupils. The children were often taught in relays in order to accommodate as many as possible in the small space available. The children sat in rows in the classroom and were taught directly by the teacher, in contrast to the present-day methods by which the emphasis is on the children's learning from the teacher and by practical activity. This change in teaching method is reflected in the type of classroom provided in primary schools today. Until well into the present century both classrooms and schools tended to be small, although many comparatively large schools existed in the more heavily populated areas.

In the 1920s new approaches were made to school planning, notably of the Taranaki and Canterbury open air type, with very much larger windows for more light and ventilation. The standard size of classroom recommended at this time was, for all but the smallest schools, 624 sq. ft. (26 ft long by 24 ft wide), and this remains the basic minimum room size today.

During the period immediately following the Second World War, in order to provide buildings more quickly to cope with the increase in the school population and to overcome a shortage of new buildings due to the war years, a standard type of primary school plan, the Dominion Basic Plan, was adopted for the whole country. This plan consisted of a row of classrooms with store-rooms between, and a corridor on the south side with cloak and toilet rooms beyond. Rooms for the teaching staff were provided as links between groups of classrooms or at the end of a group.

In 1954 each education board developed its own standard type of school plan to suit the special needs of its area. All were based on the same premise that, as primary classes remained in their own classrooms for practically the whole day, corridors were redundant. Furthermore, because the new methods encouraged practical activities which required more space for teaching purposes, the areas of classroom, store-room and adjacent corridor were combined to form the present size classroom of 768 sq. ft. (32 ft by 24 ft). In 1956 the “white lines policy” was introduced, under which the freedom of responsibility for planning new school buildings within the two “white lines” of minimum standards of accommodation and maximum cost for each pupil to be accommodated was accepted by the education boards. The minimum area to be provided for each class was 760 sq. ft., with a minimum room size of 624 sq. ft.; many classrooms have been built with areas in excess of 800 sq. ft. within the cost laid down.

At the present time there are many further changes impending. The architecture of public buildings since the last war has been subject sometimes to cliches or to obvious solutions–that is, that of glass wall with side contrasts, or blank wall. This type of building can look sterile, and seems to be at one with the anonymous architecture of New York, London, Tokyo, Wellington, Brasilia, or Copenhagen. Actually it is not as sterile as it looks. Under the skin is a complex tangle of services such as air conditioning and electrical wiring; the interior may carry decorative design work of distinction. It is, however, a swing of the pendulum, giving an austerity that needs some humanising.

The changes impending, therefore, may well be more exciting, a swing towards the flexible, shell, concrete forms or to those revolutionary designs as typified in the Sydney Opera House. In this regard the young New Zealand architect has opportunities that were denied his predecessors. Today there is available a magnificent portrayal of world architecture in the various journals that come from England, Italy, Europe, America, and Japan. For those designers who have not travelled, but who have the ability to see into the spirit of the law of architecture, rather than its letter, there is the chance to analyse the superb designs to be seen in Domus, the Architectural Forum, or L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui.

At the present time, therefore, there are many valid approaches to designs, and very many good solutions of one problem are possible. The New Zealand architects and engineers, however, face two disciplines that restrict their freedom, namely, the need for safe structure to meet earthquake shocks, and the more severe discipline of limited finance. It is to their credit that they have successfully surmounted these difficulties.

by Paul Pascoe, A.R.I.B.A., Architect, Christchurch.

After the turn of the century, architecture changed but was still conservative. Some of the architects of this period were really gifted, such as F. W. Petre who designed a great number of Roman Catholic works, very classical, in the South Island. Samuel Hurst Seager was another; he developed a “cottage” style for houses and did special research into art gallery lighting. In England at this time there was a strong movement towards art nouveau and neo-classicism, though prior to the First World War only the glimmerings of the modern movement were to be seen. Understandably, there was little impact on New Zealand. Travel facilities were limited and few architects could afford to travel abroad for study before they finally commenced practice in the land of their birth. But, with the return of peace, many students and architects who had been in the forces, stayed on in England for further study, and thus they brought back with them new ideas which slowly influenced contemporary architecture. In the interim period between the two World Wars, many well designed buildings were created. Men like W. H. Gummer, Horace Massey, Cecil Wood, and Gray Young brought work to a new level. Buildings and works such as the Bridge of Remembrance, Christchurch (Gummer), the Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial at the Petone (Massey), the Public Trust Office, Christchurch (Cecil Wood), and the Wellington Railway Station (Gray Young), were examples of the scholarship and skill that could produce such designs. Although the critic of later periods may point the finger of scorn at some of these, we must consider such works as milestones of progress and, further, that they laid a foundation of respect for public architecture. It is upon this foundation that the architects of the contemporary “modern” movement began to build. Some such examples were planned before the Second World War, but it was with the peace that the real opportunity came. One of the major architects of the late forties and fifties was Gordon Wilson, who after being a partner in Gummer and Ford of Auckland, became the architect for State housing and, finally, Government Architect. In this position he had more influence upon the design of public buildings of the period than any other single person. He swept away the cobwebs from the Ministry of Works architectural division, and showed sound judgment in his approach. Under his influence, together with that of a group of the less powerful (because of less opportunity), New Zealand public buildings could be compared favourably with many abroad. Examples of the work of Wilson's office are Government Buildings in Auckland, the School of Engineering, Christchurch, and the Departmental Buildings, Wellington.

In other branches of the Civil Service good work was also going on notably in hydro-electric architecture under F. H. Newman who brought from Europe a welcome addition to the New Zealand tradition. E. A. Plischke, another continental, who with Cedric Firth was responsible for the Massey House offices in Wellington, was another innovator. In later years, the school of architecture at Auckland, under Professor C. R. Knight, developed into a fine teaching centre, and many Auckland graduates, after experience abroad, became powerful designers in the new tradition. Among these may be listed Professor Toy, Ian Reynolds, E. J. McCoy, and Miles Warren, who designed respectively the Ponsonby Church in Auckland, the Victoria University Library in Wellington, Aquinas Hall, Dunedin, and the Dental School at Christchurch. Apart from the accepted requirements of public buildings, that is, those of hospitals, schools, offices, and the like, there are new demands such as those set by the air age for the creation of transport terminal facilities. The Air Terminal at the Christchurch International Airport, and the Momona Airport, Dunedin, come within this classification, and each in its way sets a high standard for overseas and internal air travel.

The early public buildings of New Zealand were of necessity small in scale, for their creators were limited in financial resources and materials. Yet these pioneer achievements should not be overlooked, for the more primitive buildings had a natural simplicity quite akin to our own work today. This was because the form followed the function closely; there was little opportunity for much fuss or ostentation. Later on, at the time of the gold rushes of the sixties, some of the banks and shops of the mushroom townships sheltered self-consciously behind a facade of sorts. This was only a few inches thick and acted as a mask to what was little more than a shed behind. Such facades are reminiscent of western (cowboy) film sets as seen in American films, and the mask implied a grandeur that was not really there. From the front, the building would seem important; from the side, far less so.

Early public buildings which did not come within this category were some of the schools, built in cob and timber, and hotels and hospitals that had the charm and austerity of the pioneer colonial houses. Some hotels, however, were not above erecting a false facade to suggest importance.

After these early public buildings of small size and makeshift character came the larger ones. These followed on surprisingly quickly after the initial settlements, although progress varied greatly according to the locality. In some instances progress was slow, especially in those districts affected by the Maori Wars. But in the provinces where gold was discovered, money was plentiful for development, and architects such as R. A. Lawson came to New Zealand and made the most of the opportunities available. With the passing of time, and more ambitious plans, came the vogue for “applied” architecture, a good thing when well done but poor when it lapsed into the ornate. Such architectural influences as Classic, Gothic, Renaissance, and other features came into play and were clearly visible. At this period, architectural standards throughout the western world were often confused, and New Zealand did not escape.

Nevertheless, the best examples of the period, as we have them in this country, are worthy of respect, and attention should be paid to their preservation. They portray an epoch quite different from our own today and increasingly different from the future. They truly represent part of the social fabric of the past. Whether the stone intricacies of the Gothic of Lawson's First Church Dunedin (1874), or the wooden interpretation of classical detail used in the original Government Buildings in Wellington (1877), they give some clue to the scholarly nature of their time, and of the designers' respect for the antiquities. Earlier examples of the sixties, such as the old Provincial Council buildings of Canterbury, or later ones at the close of the century, scattered all over New Zealand, give faithful examples of the design influences of the tree of architecture.

The New Zealand setting has always been a good one for public buildings. Whether it is the Auckland vista of a spacious harbour, the Wellington hills and their unsophisticated bush, the Christchurch flatness with the Alps beyond, or the Dunedin variation of skyline, our main centres have good backdrops for their building sites. Smaller towns can provide more dramatic ones, as witness New Plymouth and Kaikoura.

Every new country presents the architect with special problems, though the solution of some would seem obvious. It is hard to believe, for instance, that architects were slow to realise that in the southern hemisphere the sun lay to the north. Yet the Normal School in Christchurch, which had been designed in England, was built facing the south, exactly the wrong way round, and it has stayed that way ever since. Gradually, however, designers of buildings began to take new factors into account, such as earthquakes and strong winds. One church in an early settlement was demolished after threatened structural failure–it rocked in the wind, and wisdom regarding earthquakes came with learning the “hard” facts the hard way.

For the purpose of this article, the term “public buildings” includes the following: Government and municipal, commercial, educational, institutional, and hospital.

Before the white man came to New Zealand, there was already a form of public building, that is, the tribal meeting house of the Maori, the whare runanga. This was a focal point of tribal activity and, as such, was adorned by their craftsmen both by carving and by painting.

The European naturally brought with him his own familiar expressions of architecture, and it is well to consider the main stem of architectural history from which they sprang. If a tree of architecture could be drawn as a diagram, its roots would be shown running back into dim antiquity nourished by the influences of geographical, geological, climatic, religious, social, and historical surroundings. Its main trunk would branch into the more easily found examples of Egyptian and Babylonian architecture, and the eastern work of China and Japan. Further up the main tree would flourish the Grecian and Roman styles leading on to the central feature of Romanesque, with a side branch of Byzantine. From this would spring both Gothic and Renaissance architecture, branching in turn to later revivals and culminating in contemporary modern architecture.

The emphasis in this essay has been given to the district where the earliest European settlements took place not only because the earliest buildings of historic interest were erected there, but also for their association with events of great importance to the nation's foundation. The interest of local people in the preservation of these buildings is not unexpected, but it is abundantly clear at the present time that New Zealanders everywhere, whether living in the largest cities or the smallest towns, are not unappreciative of the educational value of preserving early buildings of historic interest.

by Cyril Roy Knight, M.A., B.ARCH. (LIVERPOOL), F.R.I.B.A., F.R.S.A., F.N.Z.I.A., Professor Emeritus, University of Auckland.

• A History of New Zealand. Sinclair, K. (1959)
• 1840 and After. University of Auckland (1939);
• Historic Bay of Islands. Reed, A. H. (1960)
• Hone Heke's Rebellion. Rutherford, J. (1947)
• Making New Zealand, Vol. 2. N.Z. Department of Internal Affairs (1940).

The older districts in other parts of the Dominion also have early buildings of historic interest, but unlike the Bay of Islands, are unable to present a comprehensive picture of early history due to their steady and progressive development, and their preoccupation with local progress. This is most marked in the larger cities which can rarely retain many old buildings on their original sites in the face of commercial and industrial expansion. A graphic example is Sir John Logan Campbell's cottage, which was removed from its original site in Shortland Street, Auckland, to One Tree Hill Domain, where it stands today looking rather lonely and forlorn.

Some buildings, more pretentious and important socially than the cottages of artisans, can continue to serve their original or related functions, notwithstanding changes in the city pattern. Public buildings, and particularly churches often survive for many years, because their purpose remains constant. But even in this case, their usefulness declines as places of worship when congregations move away, or are otherwise provided for. In Wellington, the beautiful and historic Cathedral Church of St. Paul was threatened with demolition on the completion of the new Cathedral. Nevertheless, when public opinion is stirred by fine architecture associated with historic events, protection and use can usually be achieved.

Most of the Dominion's public buildings of a permanent character belong to a later period of its history than that covered by this essay, but mention may be made of the old Provincial Council Chambers in Christchurch as an example of a building preserved for its architectural and historic interest long after its original function has ceased to exist; and in Auckland the lovely Bishop's Court, built by Bishop Selwyn, is protected as an “historic place” although it no longer serves its original purpose. In the smaller centres, such as New Plymouth, Wanganui, and Nelson, there are early buildings, mostly of local significance, and in the Otago province the preservation of Arrowtown illustrates the gold mining period which has national as well as local historic importance.

At Tauranga another mission building has been preserved by the descendants of its founder, Archdeacon Brown. Built in 1847, the house is another good example of early colonial architecture, particularly the main front with its tall french windows. Inside there is a lovely curved staircase which, unfortunately, has no architectural justification as it leads only to a roof storage space. Still standing are some of the ancillary buildings–the outside kitchen and storerooms, and the famous little library built in 1844. The building is an integral part of the history of the Church Mission Society , but it has political interest too, because of its association with the Maori Wars of the eighteen sixties, especially the battle of Gate Pa.

The historical events associated with the establishment of British sovereignty in New Zealand occurred in the Bay of Islands and its adjacent districts. Captain Cook landed there in 1769; it was the site of the first mission stations, the first civil town, and the first national capital and administrative centre. Fortunately, from a historical point of view, many of the buildings associated with these events still survive, and selected examples are being preserved as part of the national record. Their survival is due to the early movement of the centre of government to the south, where other settlements were being established in areas now occupied by the country's largest cities. For 100 years or more, the Bay of Islands area remained remote, almost forgotten by districts engrossed in commercial and industrial expansion. Consequently the Bay of Islands escaped the inevitable destruction of early historic buildings which occurred in rapidly developing city areas. But today the district is changing rapidly. In recent years communications have been greatly improved and large areas of rural land have been brought into production. The sporting and holiday attractions have increased in popularity and the towns together with their associated industries are growing larger.

It is fortunate that the local residents are keenly interested in preserving their early buildings of historic interest. At Kerikeri, New Zealand's oldest extant house is still occupied and zealously preserved by descendants of James Kemp who accompanied Samuel Marsden in 1819 to found the mission station of which the house is a part. Close by is the “Stone Store” erected in 1833 for the mission: it was built of Sydney sandstone to withstand fire and hostile attack. In the troubled days of the 1840s, Bishop Selwyn kept his library in an upstairs room for safety and quite cheerfully walked the 10 miles from his Waimate residence to consult it.

Lord Bledisloe's gift of the Waitangi estate, already referred to, is probably the most important historic place in New Zealand because it is the site of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi–an agreement which established the basis of the understanding and mutual respect between Maoris and Europeans which this country now enjoys.

In the township of Russell the Government bought and restored “Pompallier House”, built in 1842 by the first Roman Catholic Bishop and used as a rest home for priests. It played an important part in the exciting events of the forties when Hone Heke cut down the flagstaff and burnt most of the town. At Waimate North the National Historic Places Trust has purchased the “Mission House” which was built in 1834 as part of the first inland mission station founded by Samuel Marsden in 1830. From 1842 to 1844 it was the home of George Selwyn, the first Anglican Bishop, and, in association with the adjacent church, it formed the first Anglican Cathedral centre. It was here the famous Bishop founded St. John's College, now located in Auckland It had political importance, too, because it was visited by many famous people and was used as the venue of political and ecclesiastical conferences. Both Pompallier House and the Waimate Mission House are excellent examples of early colonial architecture but they differ fundamentally in construction. The former was built of rammed earth technically known as “pise de terre”, a variation of the cob construction used in Canterbury and Otago. The latter followed the more usual timber construction planned symmetrically about a central stairhall. Both were surrounded by lovely trees and gardens which have in large measure been preserved.

The township of Russell has many relics of its early history. Originally called Kororareka, it adopted the name of New Zealand's first capital city when the site for it at nearby Okiato was abandoned. Kororareka was founded many years before official colonisation began, and in those days was a wild undisciplined centre for whaling and island trading. New Zealand's first bank building still stands on the waterfront but must soon disappear as the town develops. More enduring is Christ Church, the oldest church in the Dominion. Governor Hobson read his proclamation of appointment in this church in 1840. It was unmolested during the Maori war except for some accidental bullet holes which are still to be seen. Throughout the countryside, many private houses associated with early history still exist. At Pakaraka the residence of the Rev. Henry Williams still stands; at a rather inaccessible place by the Hokianga harbour, Judge Maning's home is still occupied, and near Opononi the house of Captain Martin, the first harbour master of Hokianga harbour, is inhabited and preserved by one of his descendants.

The Bay of Islands and its environs is today a unique repository of early buildings of historic interest; many of them must disappear in the course of time, but it is gratifying to record the national and local interest in preserving outstanding examples.