Prison revives for visitor experience

### ODT Online Sat, 29 Apr 2017
Tourism intended for prison
By David Loughrey
Dunedin’s old prison has four new trustees, a new tenant with the tourism market in mind, and is ready to move to a new stage in its evolution. The 121-year-old Victorian-style courtyard facility designed by John Campbell has been returned to its original form. Work to replace decorative architectural elements removed from the front of the building was completed recently. Now the Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust is turning its attention to future uses for the former jail that is one of the city’s more unusual historic buildings. The prison was decommissioned in 2007, and the trust bought the property in 2012. Trust chairman Owen Graham said the physical restoration work was 95% complete — ridge tiles and two 2-metre finials still had to be finished — but it was time to start a new stage of evolution for the building. The new trustees had been appointed for their range of skills and backgrounds, and would help the trust make decisions about what happened next. Those decisions could range from another part-upgrade or “go for a multimillion-dollar effort”. […] Mr Graham said part of the trust’s strategy was to start occupying parts of the prison to sustain its activities and “bring the prison back to life with different activities”. It had been working with a business that wanted to use the prison’s kitchen, which had been identified as “serviceable”.
Read more

The former prison has a Heritage New Zealand category one classification; future development involves discussion with Dunedin City Council and Heritage New Zealand.

█ Dunedin Prison | http://www.dunedinprisontrust.co.nz/

[excerpt from the trust’s website]

Timeline
Showing the many phases of use of the prison:
1896-1915 – new prison opened with cells for 52 men and 20 women
1915-1959 – Police move in to administration block and look after prisoners as well as their own duties
1959-1974 – 34 female prisoners are accommodated, segregated from men
1975-1994 – reopened catering for 59 male inmates
1994-2000 – Police move out to their new premises and prison reverts to original purpose as a men only facility
2007 – prison decommissioned and Corrections operation moved to Milburn
2011 – Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust formed to secure the prison for the nation
2012 – Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust raises $50,000 to allow it to purchase the property from Ngai Tahu Property Ltd
2014 – Conservation Plan completed
2015 – Fund-raising begins to allow us to restore the facades and repair part of the slate roof, estimated at $500,000.

Related Posts and Comments:
17.9.15 Dunedin Prison: Community Trust grant for restoration
16.9.15 DPAG exhibition talk, Sun 20 Sep —Jonathan Howard on Dunedin 1865
7.9.15 Public petition to save Courthouse for courts use
30.8.15 DPAG exhibition | Dunedin 1865: A City Rises…
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 ‘The Open City’ … 29 Aug
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 Shoreline Trail launch
11.7.15 Dunedin Law Courts “an incredible historic building” –Minister
14.5.15 Russell Lund on Ministry closure of Dunedin Law Courts
14.5.15 Justice at Dunedin
2.5.15 Ministry serves INJUSTICE for Dunedin Courthouse #HistoricHeritage
28.2.13 Tour the old prison in March (2013)
20.9.12 Dunedin Prison
6.6.12 Dunedin Prison purchased by trust
18.10.11 Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust
5.10.11 Training, jobs, city regeneration

█ For more, enter the term *heritage* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Images: whatifdunedin sketchbook – Dunedin Prison (former)

Christchurch Cathedral : Marcus Brandt and the People’s Steeple Project

While Bishop Victoria and the Anglican church property trust (CPT) continue to sit on their hands perhaps awaiting devine intervention, who knew, it turns out that a group of stalwart people in New Zealand – with an incredible level of international assistance – are busy planning a very special Cathedral project.

From: Mark Belton
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2017 11:11 PM
To: [Elizabeth Kerr + RCC Mailing List]
Subject: Introducing The People’s Steeple

Dear Cathedral Restoration supporters

Below is a link to a video clip of the People’s Steeple proposal being demonstrated by its creator Marcus Brandt. Marcus has been in CHCH this last week promoting the People’s Steeple Project.

The People’s Steeple is a mind blowing proposal…audacious, visionary, inspiring. Lifting telescoping timber sections of the spire 60 metres into the sky…powered by about 500 trained people working 16 capstan winches placed around Cathedral Square, watched by up to 50,000 people in the Square.

The US based Timber Framers Guild (TFG), a professional organisation of engineers and timber framers has offered to be the lead contractor to build, assemble, and erect the People’s Steeple. The lead NZ engineers would be renowned CHCH timber engineer – Prof Andy Buchanan whose report on the project is attached.

Skilled TFG members from the US and around the world would gift their time, working in the Square preparing and assembling the timbers, and then helping lead the steeple’s erection. Up to 300 TFG members along with locals could be involved working in the Square over a period of about 6 months.

The TFG have successfully undertaken 75 community building projects over the last 25 years in the US and around the world. They are super keen to offer their services to CHCH. The TFG emphasise their projects are about ‘building communities’.

Marcus says would take only 2-3 hrs to lift and secure the telescoping sections. Flooring and bells would be assembled the same day and in the evening the bells would ring out…proclaiming to the world – ‘Christchurch is back’….and a Hangi feast would be opened…for a crowd of 50,000! International media would broadcast the event around the world…the whole enterprise being about engaging our community in the most positive way…and it would ignite fund raising for the restoration of the cathedral. It is envisaged the construction of the People’s Steeple would lead restoration of the cathedral and the Square.

It is noted huge pro bono contributions from the Guild’s members are being offered, and Blakely Pacific NZ Ltd, a US based forestry company has offered to provide the timbers at no cost from giant 125-year-old Port Orford Cedar from its Pioneer Forest in South Canterbury.

The Restore Christchurch Cathedral Group is strongly supportive of the People’s Steeple.

We hope this inspiring project will help engage and enthuse Christchurch people with recovery of the cathedral, and help get the cathedral restoration programme underway.

Warm regards

Mark Belton
Co-Chair, Restore Christchurch Cathedral

Mark Belton
Managing Director
Permanent Forests NZ Limited
PO Box 34, Lyttelton 8841, New Zealand

See attached reports by Marcus Brandt, Andy Buchanan, and the TFG.
● TFG People’s Steeple Project approach notes-10-2-16
● Steeple 16-8-12
● M Belton report on Timber Framers Guild conf and People’s Steeple 23-9-16
● Engineering the People’s Steeple v9

The People’s Steeple | Whare Films Published on Feb 23, 2017

The People’s Steeple
Rebuilding the Bell Tower at Christchurch Cathedral
Marcus Brandt: An Introduction

For the last thirty years or so, I’ve been restoring historic stone and timber buildings, mostly in Southeastern Pennsylvania. I’m a working master carpenter and stone mason. Most of the historic buildings I am called to work on are 150 to 300 years old. Solid and well crafted, these old buildings tend to age well, but neglect and damage can take a toll. Much of my effort is spent in repairing and strengthening the timber frames of barns, bridges, houses, gristmills and churches. I’ve had several commissions to build new structures in the old style. I have organized and led many barn raisings, in which hundreds of volunteers gather to raise a barn’s frame in a day. A good crew will have the sides and roof on too.
Straightening, plumbing and repairing damaged stone walls is often called for. It is not uncommon to straighten a wall 10 meters high that is out of plumb by 400 or 500 mm. Having studied and worked with several Scots masons, I’m a strong believer in lime based mortars and good masonry practice. The interface between stone and timber is of particular interest to me.
Since 1989, I’ve been a professional member of the Timber Framers Guild (TFG) and a member of the Traditional Timberframe Research and Advisory Group (TTRAG). That part of the Guild focuses on understanding the past practice of the craft with a view that the past might help inform future practice. I have advised many historical and preservation societies and sat on many review boards.
As a result of my participation in Guild efforts and projects, I was invited to go to both Scotland and China to investigate “lost” technologies for the Public Broadcast Service series NOVA. We built working siege weapons in Scotland and in China we built a bridge design that hadn’t been built since the Mongol invasion.
I teach Traditional building skills at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. I’m particularly interested in ways that the pre-industrial past practice can inform building in the greener, sustainable post-industrial world of the future.
I serve as a sailor, boson and ship’s carpenter aboard the tall ship Gazela (www.Gazela.org). That experience has taught me much about rigging and raising heavy loads in confined spaces. It’s taught me about erecting tall, secure, flexible, stable structures that get tossed about and shaken mercilessly. A sea captain in her own right, my wife serves as First Mate aboard Gazela. She out-ranks me, and helps keep me humble.
Since 22 February, I have been working as much as possible to develop a method to rebuild the Bell tower at Christchurch. With the help of friends and students, and the forbearance of my wife, I developed a plan that is beautiful, solid, strong, flexible, earthquake resistant, buildable, durable, and familiar. But more than anything, I want to use the rebuilding of the steeple as a vehicle for rebuilding and strengthening the community. And, once built, serve as an outward witness to the inward love we have for each other as fellow humans.
I look forward to doing this project with the able help of my best friends in the world…many of whom I haven’t yet met.

█ More information about the People’s Steeple Project and participants at http://thepeoplessteeple.org/

Related Posts and Comments:
23.12.15 Christ Church Cathedral: practical news from govt mediator…
14.7.12 Rival newspaper on historic heritage #cathedral
2.3.12 Christ Church, Cathedral Square

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Images: Christchurch Cathedral – (from top) colour render by whatifdunedin [photo source: Country Farm Garden Photos at cfgphoto.com]; black white render by whatifdunedin [photo source: Tony H Photography at tonyhphotography.co.nz]; colour photo of steeple detail [mygola.com]; cathedral with chalice by Sisson Photography [via photoshelter.com]; black white photo by Mudbird Ceramics [mudbirdceramics.blogspot.co.nz]; colour photo by Cindy taken on 5 Aug 2003 [via staticflickr.com]

ODT feature : Streets of gold #Dunedin

In case you missed the ODT four-part series on Dunedin’s residential heritage in late December….. here it is, via Dave Cannan’s The Wash (Facebook).

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█ The four parts, abridged for quick reference and linked here below, had an excellent (research) information follow-up by Kim Dungey.

Some very approximate dates have been added care of Quality Value (QV), these are based on (limited) property records held by councils; as well as year dates for historical architects, where known.

Streets of Gold, a Summer Times series celebrating Dunedin’s rich architectural heritage. In collaboration with Heritage New Zealand researchers Heather Bauchop and Susan Irvine, with additional research by David Murray, archivist, Hocken Collections; and Alison Breese, archivist, Dunedin City Council.

### ODT Online Tue, 27 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: High St
High Street has an association with the medical profession dating back to the 1880s, when the Mornington cable car started running and some impressive new houses were built along its route.

CAVENDISH CHAMBERS, 211 High St.
The company behind the venture, Medical Buildings Ltd, was incorporated on March 1, 1926, and the shareholders all took professional rooms in the new property. The building was completed in 1927. Architect: Eric Miller (1896-1948).

236 HIGH ST
This prominent residence (QV: c.1900?) with a turret and projecting windows was designed in 1888 for Scottish-born Dr Frank Ogston. Ogston gained his medical degree in Aberdeen and emigrated to Dunedin in 1886 to take up a position as a lecturer in medical jurisprudence and hygiene at the University of Otago. Architect: Henry Hardy (1830-1908), and builder-developer.

238 HIGH ST
An Arts and Crafts-style design, the house (QV: c.1909?) is finished in roughcast with brick exposed on the ground floor sills. It was built for Dr D.E. Williams and his family as a private residence and doctor’s surgery and was home to the Williams family until the 1960s. Architect: Basil Hooper (1876-1960).

296 HIGH ST
Built in 1904, the Chalet Hospital (a private facility) was described as being “finished in coloured and tuck-pointed brickwork … the whole of the relief and ornament is carried out in bold cornices over the windows”. Architect: John Louis Salmond (1868-1950).

Read more + Photos

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### ODT Online Tue, 27 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: York Pl
York Place features two large homes once owned by members of the Speight family.

LARBERT VILLA – 371 York Pl
It is unclear exactly when the villa was built. Coppersmith Alexander Burt, of A and T Burt, married Janet Crawford in 1866 (they had a family of six sons and three daughters) and the couple were living in York Pl by July 1868 when Janet gave birth to a son at the house.

FORMER SPEIGHT RESIDENCE – 362 York Pl
Built for Jessie and Charles Speight after their marriage in 1898, the residence appears in the Dunedin City Council rates records in the 1899-1900 year. Architect: J.L. Salmond.

HAEATA – 273 York Pl
The residence of Charles and Jessie Speight from the time it was built in 1915, it remained in the Speight family until 1960. Bearing a strong resemblance to the Theomin family’s Olveston (built 1907, designed by Sir Ernest George). Architect: John Brown (1875-1923), a neighbour.

MRS TURNBULL’S GROCERY STORE – 324 York Pl
Known more than a century ago as Mrs Turnbull’s Grocery Store, this unusual wedge-shaped building began life as a home, stables and shop built for John and Janet Turnbull in 1875. In January 1875 tenders were invited for a two-storey dwelling and shop to be constructed of wood. Architect and Surveyor: E.J. Sanders [aka Saunders].

Read more + Photos

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### ODT Online Wed, 28 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: Highgate
Highgate has a fascinating and storied collection of prominent dwellings.

RENFREW HOUSE – 111 Highgate
Thought to have originated as a single-storey bluestone house with a central front door and double hung windows on each side. A second storey was later added. The exterior walls were built of double stone – more than 70cm thick – and the interior walls of double brick. With its wrought iron lacework, it has been described as one of the “finest examples of classic Victorian architecture in Dunedin”. Home of businessman Andrew McFarlane (1842-1904) and his wife Jane Wilson (1847-1920). By the 1890s, the family referred to their home as “Renfrew House”. Architect: credited to Nathaniel Wales (1832-1903), a neighbour.
 
KAWARAU – 204 Highgate
Designed in 1900 for dredging tycoon Alexander McGeorge, this grand residence reflects the fortunes made in Otago’s gold dredging boom of the late 1890s and early 20th century. Trained at Dunedin firm Cossens and Black, McGeorge (1868-1953) held a variety of significant engineering posts. The two-storeyed house is built of brick, has a slate roof, ornate decorative detailing, and features Tudor influences in the half timbering and veranda details. Architect: J.L. Salmond.

FORMER HUXTABLE RESIDENCE – 233 Highgate
This 1907 brick and tile residence designed for Anna and Alexander Huxtable, is a beautifully detailed example of an Edwardian villa, one with historic and architectural significance. Anna Huxtable was granted the land in 1907; a survey on May 15, 1907, indicates the foundations for the new dwelling were already in place at that date. (QV: c.1910?). Alexander Murray Huxtable described himself as both a commercial agent and patent medicine manufacturer. Architect: Edward Walden (1870-1944).

MELROSE – 384 Highgate
Likely designed for lawyer Arthur Nation (1852-1927) around 1876. In October that year, tenders were called for the construction of a “brick cottage” in the suburb of Melrose (a private subdivision in what is now known as Roslyn). However, Nation appears to have built more than a cottage: when his property was offered for sale in 1879 it was described as “a substantially-built and well-finished brick house”, its original features including hand-painted ceilings, timber joinery and stained glass. Architect: credited to John McGregor (1838-1911), and harbour engineer.

Read more + Photos

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### ODT Online Thu, 29 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: Royal Tce
Royal Terrace has a fascinating and storied collection of prominent dwellings.

DAISY BANK – 12 Royal Tce
Associated with the prominent Hudson family. An Italianate, two-storeyed symmetrical house with a large basement, “Daisy Bank” was built of concrete and wood, circa 1897. Architect: J.A. Burnside (1856-1920).

LINDEN – 22 Royal Tce
Built in the 1870s, a two-storied, two-bay Victorian residence of more than 15 rooms, with an exterior comprising plastered triple brick with quoins, foundations of Leith Valley andesite and a slate roof. Associated with the prominent Isaacs and Hudson families. Architect: Mason and Wales (likely Nathaniel Wales).

CLAVERTON – 30 Royal Tce
Associated with prominent local politician and businessman Richard H. Leary and one of New Zealand’s most prominent artistic families, the Hodgkins. Claverton was most likely built in 1877 by local politician and businessman Richard H. Leary (1840-95). Architect: likely Maxwell Bury (1825-1912).

ALYTH – 34 Royal Tce
Built in the 1870s by prominent businessman, community leader and one-time Dunedin mayor Keith Ramsay (1844-1906). Named Alyth after Ramsay’s birth place, the house was completed, at the latest, by March 1875. Architect: Robert Arthur Lawson (1833-1902).

Read more + Photos

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It doesn’t have to be a mansion located on the high streets….

Crabapple Cottage, Otago Peninsula [thecuriouskiwi.co.nz]

Lastly, a THOROUGHLY USEFUL guide for those unfamiliar with historic heritage archives, technical sources and search methods.

### ODT Online Fri, 30 Dec 2016
What is your house hiding?
By Kim Dungey
Enjoyed this week’s Streets of Gold series, in which we have profiled various Dunedin houses of historic significance? Fancy playing detective and tracing the history of your home? … In recent years, Heritage New Zealand has run “how to research your home” workshops in Dunedin, Invercargill, Oamaru and Central Otago. The popular seminars have drawn together the sources it uses every day to tell the story of historic places. Archivists say some people want to restore their homes to their original states, are curious about former owners or simply want to know the age of their houses for insurance purposes. Others require archaeological assessments of pre-1901 properties or have reported seeing ghosts in their homes and wanted to work out who they might be. Interested homeowners have a wealth of resources at their fingertips….
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Aramoana Pilot Wharf Restoration

[Aramoana League]

John Davis, secretary, Aramoana League Inc.
Excerpt from letter dated 25 July 2012:
(To Whom It May Concern)

“….The current Pilot’s Wharf, built around 1900, was first recorded as a landing stage in the early 1800s. It played a part in the construction of the Aramoana Mole which started in 1884. The wharf has been allowed to become run down over the years as various authorities involved have shuffled their responsibilities and failed to provide the routine maintenance required.

Since 1989, when the Otago Harbour Board was abolished, as part of local authority reform, recreational and non-commercial wharf structures were passed to the DCC. The DCC state they were unaware they owned the Pilot’s Wharf; hence it has not been maintained since that date – 23 years of neglect. Having now determined they are the owners they want to demolish it!”

█ For more information and the full letter, go to DCC report:
The Aramoana League’s Draft Proposal to Restore the Former Aramoana Pilots Wharf (13 October 2014).

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Aramoana and Pilots Wharf Location
(also known as Spit Wharf, Spit Jetty and Aramoana Wharf)

[click to enlarge]
DCC Webmaps – Aramoana township and Pilots Wharf JanFeb 2016

[Aramoana League]

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### ODT Online Sat, 17 Dec 2016
Tow-boat turned back
Contact: Shawn McAvinue, ODT
A Dunedin City Council contractor has been replaced after a botched attempt to get a digger to Aramoana wharf. Maritime NZ Southern compliance manager Michael Vredenburg said concerns were raised when an uncertified vessel was used in an attempt to tow a barge carrying a digger to Aramoana wharf on Thursday. […] DCC staff are working with alternative contractors that have the appropriate Maritime New Zealand certification.
Read more

Channel 39 Published on Dec 15, 2016
Wharf demolition delayed
The restoration of the Aramoana Pilot Wharf was delayed yesterday after a barge ran aground in Waipuna bay.

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“It’s been a long battle but the trust is committed to the goal of seeing it fully restored for future generations.” –Tracey Densem

### ODT Online Fri, 16 Dec 2016
Wharf demolition delayed
By Shawn McAvinue
Nature granted the Aramoana wharf a day’s reprieve from demolition. Dunedin City Council parks and recreation acting group manager Tom Dyer said demolition work on the wharf was put off yesterday and contractors hoped to start today. “High winds prevented the barge, which is needed as a base for the removal operation, from being installed alongside the wharf.”
Read more

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UNFORGIVEABLE DCC

At a council meeting on Monday, council staff agreed to work with the trust on the wharf restoration. The “hasty” council staff told the trust members about the planned demolition on Tuesday.

### ODT Online Thu, 15 Dec 2016
Trust disappointed over wharf demolition
By Shawn McAvinue
The demolition of the Aramoana wharf starts today to the “disappointment and surprise” of the trust aiming to restore it. Dunedin City Council recreation planning and facilities manager Jendi Paterson said the first part of the work involved separating the main portion of the wharf structure and walkway from the beach. “We are doing this to ensure there is every chance the walkway can be salvaged as per the wishes of the [Aramoana Pilot Wharf Restoration Charitable Trust].”
Read more

Trust member Tracey Densem said the wharf demolition was “devastating”. The wharf had heritage value and should be repaired in its present location, she said. […] “It’s an unrealistic timeline for the trust to work to – it’s hardly an example of a positive council-community partnership.”

█ DCC Report: Aramoana Wharf Removal (12.12.16)
Department: Parks and Recreation
● Structural condition and risk assessment : MWH
● Photographic assessment : MWH

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### channel39.co.nz June 9, 2015 – 6:43pm
Historic wharf to be restored
A forgotten civic asset is due to be restored, thanks to the gumption of a local community group. The Aramoana League has support from the city council to revive a recreational wharf. And that’ll ensure a historic link is maintained. 
█ Video

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### channel39.co.nz October 14, 2014 – 7:00pm
Aramoana wharf restoration gets a vote of support
It’s good news for the Aramoana League, which has long fought for the restoration of the Aramoana wharf. The Dunedin City Council’s community and environment committee has voted to support the project. That means the council will likely spend several thousand dollars on wharf assessments, and take over its future maintenance.
█ Video

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Calvin Oaten
October 14, 2014 at 3:22 pm
Just a few dollars for the archaeological assessment says Dave Cull and 13 of his councillors. This so the project can move on to the next stage. That, I believe will be the raising of the $100,000 expected to cost for the reinstatement of the Aramoana wharf. What? That is not a wharf, it is a jetty, which has no practical use ever since the days when it served as an embarkation point for harbour pilots to meet incoming ships, and to service the light at the end of the spit. I venture to suggest that 98% of our population are unaware of its existence. The fundraising will founder, the DCC money spent will be wasted, lest it comes up with the shortfall and completes the job. Then what? Nobody will use it except the very odd curious ‘boatie’. Another dopey waste of money which the council doesn’t have. Dave Cull just doesn’t get it, the town is broke. The thirteen are no better, only Cr Vandervis has the sense to know a ‘purple pig’ when he sees it.

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### ODT Online Tue, 14 Oct 2014
DCC backs restoring Aramoana wharf
By Debbie Porteous
The Dunedin City Council has indicated its support for a community project to restore the Aramoana wharf. It has also agreed to pay for an archaeological assessment of the wharf so the project can move on to the next stage, and a heritage impact assessment, if necessary, after that.
Read more

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### ODT Online Mon, 13 Oct 2014
Vision to recycle wharf
By Debbie Porteous
….Efforts by the Aramoana League to restore the 105-year-old 22m-long wharf continue on a new track after it acknowledged little of the structure could be retained, given its state of deterioration. The league is now working on a project to build a 10m wharf, using as much of the existing material as possible.
Read more

To be tabled at the DCC Community and Environment Committee meeting today:

Report – CEC – 13/10/2014 (PDF, 4.5 MB)
The Aramoana League’s Draft Proposal to Restore the Former Aramoana Pilots Wharf

[ends]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Roy Miller, NZ stained glass artist #biography #inspiration

*All images and accompanying texts by Brian Miller [promotion]

“St John’s church in the attractive little town of Pleasant Point, South Canterbury, has a window of a man sowing seed beneath Mt Cook. Designed by K Bunton, executed by Roy Miller.”

“In a valley near Geraldine at Raincliff, New Zealand, is a tiny church with a beautiful abstract window of native NZ flowers. Designed by Kenneth Bunton, and executed by Roy Miller.”

“Naseby is a sleepy little Gold mine town nestled in a forest in Otago, New Zealand. There you will find St Georges Church with beautiful stained glass inside. It contains a pair of windows designed by Kenneth Bunton and executed by Roy Miller – with one of the best sheep I have seen in my travels.”

“There is a tiny church at Manutahi on the edge of Mt Taranaki which only has one service a year – but inside is the most beautiful window of the mountain – took my breath away when I saw it.”

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A new book aims to shine a light on Dunedin stained-glass maestro Roy Miller. He came from a family boasting a history of artists and artisans. Roy’s (and Ralph’s) grandfather, Henry Miller, was a master coachbuilder whose hansom cabs won several championship awards at the Melbourne Exhibition. Their father, Oswell, established Dunedin signwriting firm O. G. Miller in 1913; it became Miller Studios in 1958, then in 2016 was rebranded Miller Creative Group. –ODT

### ODT Online Mon, 31 Oct 2016
Colour and light
By Shane Gilchrist
Amid the various refractions of memory, as shards of one scene are overlaid on another, Brian Miller recalls a childhood image of a stained-glass kiln out the back of Dunedin signwriting firm Miller Studios. He also pictures his Uncle Roy holding pieces of glass up against the light before cutting curves with the confidence of a master. Thankfully, Roy Miller’s work is a tangible thing. New Zealand’s leading stained glass artist from the 1950s until his death in 1981, Miller produced more than 330 windows, in about 100 churches around New Zealand. Brian details Miller’s legacy in Capturing Light: Roy Miller – New Zealand Stained Glass Artist, which offers an insight not only into the life and work of his uncle but also provides a history of the art of stained glass, both in New Zealand and internationally, as well as an overview of early Dunedin stained-glass artists. In short, it’s a celebration of artistic inspiration and the artisan skills required to, as the title says, capture light. The book also contains plenty of information on techniques for conserving historic stained glass artworks, all of which provides an inherent warning: that many such works are in danger of degradation.
Read more

● ODT: Looking at a stained glass window …

THE BOOK
Capturing Light: Roy Miller – New Zealand Stained Glass Artist
Published by Lifelogs Ltd ($69.99)
More information about Roy Miller and the history of stained glass:
Website https://roymiller.co.nz | Facebook Capturing Light

The publishers Brian and Diane Miller have an extensive background in bookselling, writing, publishing and photography. They operated Tapui Children’s Books for over twenty years before venturing into their own publishing business Lifelogs Ltd.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

WHO says ‘heritage rules are too restrictive’ —What’s their agenda in the Heritage City

FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS

St Joseph’s and the Dominican Priory, Smith St [cardcow.com]

‘A new roof for Dunedin’s Dominican Priory, considered one of New Zealand’s most important and at-risk historic buildings, is a big step closer following a $100,000 grant. [The] Dunedin Heritage Fund had committed the money from its 2016-17 budget. The 139-year old priory was built to house the city’s Dominican nuns and provide teaching space for girls. Despite its vast scale and elaborate construction – its floating concrete staircase and double-glazed music room were cutting edge designs in their day – the building received little maintenance over its working life.’ –Gerald Scanlan, Catholic Diocese of Dunedin (ODT)

19.2.16 ODT: Boost for restoration of priory (+ video)
12.5.16 ODT: DCC commits $100,000 to priory restoration
27.6.16 ODT: Priory future gets clean slate

*The Dunedin Heritage Fund is administered by representatives of Dunedin City Council and Heritage New Zealand.

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MORE GOOD NEWS

Dunedin Prison “big-picture project” [dunedinprisontrust.co.nz]

‘The Dunedin Prison Trust has raised about $500,000 to start the first stage of its development programme to return the [old prison] building to its original appearance. […] Last year, the trust lodged a planning application with the Dunedin City Council detailing about $250,000 of restorative work which would return the prison’s exterior to its original 1896 condition. The application included work on the building’s roof and walls, as well as seismic strengthening, work expected to cost another $250,000.’ (ODT)

24.8.16 ODT: Restoration begins on historic prison
2.9.16 ODT: Captive audience for prison project
17.9.16 ODT: Old prison roof being restored

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GOOD NEWS CONTINUES

Dunedin Courthouse [panoramio.com]

‘Refurbishing and strengthening Dunedin’s historic courthouse is expected to cost more than $18 million, according to a building consent approved by the Dunedin City Council. The consent includes detailed designs that council building services manager Neil McLeod says involve some of the most extensive earthquake-strengthening ever undertaken in the city. The plans also show the extent to which the Ministry of Justice plans on returning the building to its former glory.’ (ODT)

10.9.16 ODT: $18m to be spent on court upgrade
29.9.16 ODT: Courthouse restoration set to begin
30.9.16 ODT: Dunedin firm wins courthouse contract

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BAD NEWS

‘The Physio Pool is one of the largest warm water swimming pools in New Zealand and Dunedin’s only therapeutic swimming pool. The temperature is always kept around 35 degrees. We feature wheelchair accessibility, hoist and private changing rooms. The benefits of warm water exercise are tremendous and have an extremely positive impact on the quality of life for all ages. We are open to the public and offer a non-threatening environment for swimming, aqua jogging, individual exercise programmes, or warm water relaxation.’ —physiopool.org.nz

### ODT Online Sat, 1 Oct 2016
Pool heritage status opposed
By Vaughan Elder
The Southern District Health Board is fighting a proposal to classify  Dunedin’s already endangered physio pool site as a heritage building, saying it may have to be demolished as part of a hospital redevelopment. This comes as the Property Council and the University of Otago are set to argue at next week’s  Second Generation Dunedin City District Plan (2GP) hearings that proposed rules aimed at protecting the city’s heritage buildings are too restrictive.
Read more

█ Heritage New Zealand | Otago Therapeutic Pool List No. 7581
Historical information and Heritage significance at http://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details?id=7581

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FURTHER BAD NEWS AND PILLOCKS

Criticism of the [second generation district] plan comes after praise in recent times for the council for its proactive approach towards saving the city’s heritage buildings.

### ODT Online Sun, 2 Oct 2016
Heritage rules deemed too restrictive
By Vaughan Elder
The Dunedin City Council’s proposed new heritage rules are too restrictive and property owners should have more freedom to demolish uneconomic heritage buildings, the Property Council says. This comes as Second Generation Dunedin City District Plan (2GP) commissioners are set to hear arguments next week about a new set of rules aimed at protecting the city’s heritage buildings. The University of Otago is also among submitters to have expressed concern about rules,  planner and policy adviser Murray Brass saying they had the potential to  reduce protection by making it more difficult to maintain and use heritage buildings.
A summary on the 2GP website said the changes included addressing the threat of “demolition by neglect” by making it easier to put old buildings to new uses and requiring resource consent for most changes to identified heritage buildings and “character-contributing” buildings within defined heritage precincts.
The new rules have prompted a strong response.
Read more

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FOR HISTORIC HERITAGE

Second Generation District Plan (2GP) – Heritage
Read all Heritage topic documents including reports, evidence and submissions to date at: https://2gp.dunedin.govt.nz/2gp/hearings-schedule/heritage.html

Documents
● Notice of Hearing
● Agenda
● Speaking Schedule – updated 29 September

Council Evidence
● Section 42A report
● Section 42A report addendum

DCC expert evidence
● Statement of evidence of Glen Hazelton [Policy planner – heritage]

█ Download: s42a Heritage Report with appendices (PDF, 5 MB)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Carisbrook turnstile building, Neville St | HNZ Category 1 historic place
[filmcameraworkshop.com]

Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust —Update, July 2016

PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday, 28 July 2016 at 7pm
South Dunedin Presbyterian Hall (at back)
The Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust will hold a public meeting to update the community on its progress and announce the formation of the High Street Cable Car Society Inc, which will take over much of the work of the trust.

Mornington Trailer No. 111 [ODT files]

ODT Online Thu, 7 Jul 2016
Cable car group seeks funds to build
By Timothy Brown
The group behind a bid to re-establish High St’s cable car route hopes to open its temporary display museum by Christmas. The Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust is applying for funding and building consent for its temporary 72sq m display museum after securing a lease in Mornington Park from the Dunedin City Council last month. The museum would house a trailer and two grip cars in a bid to raise funds for a proposed $2.5million future facility, trust member Neville Jemmett said. “This is what we are calling our elephant step, because it’s the first time we have got a foot on the ground. Everything has been in folders and papers before now,” he said. The museum would comprise a three-door steel garage with a track for Mornington trailer No111 to be rolled in and out to allow for access and to display it. “It’s only temporary, that’s why it’s not a fancy building. It’s to basically show people that we mean business.”
Read more

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Mon, 11 July 2016 at 12:27 p.m.
Received from Neville Jemmett, Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust
█ July 2016 DHLRT Heritage newsletter (PDF, 8.17 MB)

[cover page]

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Related Posts and Comments:
27.5.15 Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust Newsletters 2015
4.11.14 Phillip George (Phil) Cole, RIP
5.6.14 DCC Transport Strategy and Riccarton Road
28.7.13 Dunedin Cable Car Trust – Public Meetings Sunday 28 July
14.2.13 Phil Cole on the High Street Cable Car
15.1.13 Return of High Street cable car
23.12.11 High Street cable car update
29.11.10 Phillip Cole on Dunedin buses
16.9.10 Pre-election opinions on public transport and the stadium
26.11.09 The Chronicles of Yarnia
19.10.09 Cable Car Meeting @Dunedin
27.8.10 Invitation to ALL #High St Cable Car
23.11.09 High Street Cable Car a possibility
9.7.09 Designing public transport for repeat use

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Christ Church Cathedral: practical news from govt mediator Miriam Dean QC

Updated post
Sat, 26 Dec 2015 at 3:25 a.m.

### beehive.govt.nz 23 December, 2015
Gerry Brownlee Media Release
Report confirms ChristChurch Cathedral can be reinstated

Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee says the decision by the Anglican Church to progress investigations into reinstating the ChristChurch Cathedral will be greatly appreciated by the wider community.
The Church Property Trust, which owns the Anglican Cathedral in Cathedral Square, has received an independent report from a Government-appointed consultant, who has reviewed the engineering options for the iconic city building.
“All of the parties’ engineers agree that the reinstatement of the Cathedral would require a combination of repair, restoration and reconstruction,” Mr Brownlee says. “The issue then comes back to cost and that is something the Church Property Trust will need absolute certainty of before it can commit to any work going ahead.”
Mr Brownlee says CPT is keen to enter further discussions with the Government in regard to progressing towards a reinstatement plan for the ChristChurch Cathedral, and that will happen in the New Year.
“And that is why we need to gain certainty about the affordability of this project and be able to work through the options. The positive outcome here is that there are now options to work through and that CPT is willing to do so.”
Link

███ Report on facilitated discussions with engineers on engineering options for repair, restoration or replacement of ChristChurch Cathedral. (PDF, 11.22 MB)

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Photos: Don Scott – The Press

Most of the building is intact – the scaremongering re the safety and cost of a rebuild is just that.

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The Anglican Church has agreed to consider “reinstating” the Christ Church Cathedral at a press conference today.

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 18:14, December 23 2015
The Press
Anglican Church to consider reinstating Christ Church Cathedral video
By Michael Wright
[…] A report by Government-appointed mediator Miriam Dean QC found the cathedral could be either reconstructed to be “indistinguishable” from its pre-quake self or replaced.
[…] Restoration campaigner Philip Burdon, co-chair of the Great Christchurch Buildings Trust, said he was “delighted and relieved” to learn the cathedral could be repaired, and was certain the necessary funds could be raised. “It had been the argument of the church that the building was unrepairable. The question of whether restoration was possible or not has been answered – I think that will be a considerable relief to the community.”
Read more

Yes, the Bishop is dragging her heels but MONEY might change her mind. Watch the Press video for her public statement and body language.

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Earlier documents commissioned by Great Christchurch Building Trust (GCBT), documents received 10 July 2012 via Mark Belton at Restore Christchurch Cathedral:

█ Christchurch Cathedral Structural engineering Review Final 27June2012
(PDF, 94.8 KB)

█ Christchurch Cathedral MRO prelim sketches (F)
(PDF, 3.9 MB)

Related Posts and Comments:
14.7.12 Rival newspaper on historic heritage #cathedral
2.3.12 Christ Church, Cathedral Square

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Courthouse —Cabinet backs #restoration for courts use

A considerable weight lifted….

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:44, December 7 2015
Dunedin’s historic courthouse to be saved
Dunedin’s historic courthouse will be strengthened and restored at a cost of $15 million […] Strengthening work was expected to take two years, and the city’s temporary court in High St would continue to be used in the interim. It was hoped a main contractor would be appointed later in 2016, following a tendering process, [Ms] Adams said.
Read more

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“The Dunedin courthouse is one of New Zealand’s most notable historic buildings and Cabinet’s decision reflects its significance, both as a part of the city’s rich cultural heritage and its importance to the region’s legal fraternity.” –Minister Amy Adams

### ODT Online Mon, 7 Dec 2015
Full restoration for Dunedin courthouse
By Craig Borley
Dunedin’s historic courthouse will be saved, strengthened, restored and have all its court service returned to it. The decision was made in today’s final Cabinet meeting of the year. Justice and Courts Minister Amy Adams announced the outcome just after 4pm. […] The decision means a “more than $15 million” overhaul of the Stuart St complex, bringing it up to between 60% and 70% of new building standard, as well as “provision the buildings to operate as modern court facilities”.
Read more

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Full Statement —Minister

Amy Adams

7 December, 2015

Dunedin’s historic courthouse to be restored

Courts Minister Amy Adams today announced that Cabinet has agreed to the strengthening and restoration of Dunedin’s historic courthouse.

“The Dunedin courthouse is one of New Zealand’s most notable historic buildings and Cabinet’s decision reflects its significance, both as a part of the city’s rich cultural heritage and its importance to the region’s legal fraternity,” Ms Adams says.

“From the beginning, I’ve maintained that it’s been my intention, expectation and desire to see court services returned to Dunedin’s historic courthouse and this decision delivers on that commitment.”

The project includes earthquake strengthening and restoration, as well as the cost of provision the buildings to operate as modern court facilities. The project is estimated to cost more than $15 million and this will include seeing the building strengthened to between 60 and 70 per cent of the National Building Standard.

“The strengthening project is anticipated to take two years to complete and the Ministry of Justice will continue to deliver quality services from the temporary court in High St in the interim,” Ms Adams says.

Ministry of Justice will call for tenders in the first half of next year and it was hoped a main contractor would be appointed later in 2016.

Ms Adams says the costings in the business case had been comprehensively investigated and peer reviewed by a number of independent specialist engineers, and costed by quantity surveyors, before being subjected to a robust review by The Treasury.

“The investigations showed that as a category one heritage building, strengthening the court house is a complex project and requires a significant capital investment.

“I acknowledge the deep support locals have shown for the historic courthouse throughout this process.”

The facility in Stuart St was closed in 2011 after engineers found that parts of the building fell well short of the minimum 34 percent rating required under the National Building Standard. A temporary facility has been established at High St to ensure court services could continue to be delivered to the people of Dunedin and Otago in the interim.

With Cabinet’s decision, managing the restoration process now becomes an operational matter for the Ministry of Justice.

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/dunedin%E2%80%99s-historic-courthouse-be-restored

Related Posts and Comments:
22.9.125 Dunedin Law Courts | ODT editorial
7.9.15 Public petition to save Courthouse for courts use
11.7.15 Dunedin Law Courts “an incredible historic building” –Minister
14.5.15 Russell Lund on Ministry closure of Dunedin Law Courts
14.5.15 Justice at Dunedin
2.5.15 Ministry serves INJUSTICE for Dunedin Courthouse #HistoricHeritage

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: (top) Justice, Dunedin Law Courts (detail) by Elizabeth Kerr; radionz.co.nz – Amy Adams, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Dunedin Heritage Fund: Latest funding round | recipient building projects

### ODT Online Tue, 20 Oct 2015
Heritage fund contributes to renaissance
By Craig Borley
Another collection of old Dunedin buildings is to get a council cash injection as the city continues its renaissance. The 10 buildings received a combined $113,500 at this month’s meeting of the Dunedin City Council’s heritage fund committee.
Read more + Images

The grants
• Kelsey Yaralla Kindergarten, Trent Ave, North Dunedin: $5000 (earthquake strengthening)
• Golden Leaf International, 16 Manse St: $10,000 (earthquake strengthening)
• Empire Hotel, 395 Princes St: $5500 (earthquake strengthening report, prior to facade restoration)
• Gresham Hotel, 42 Queens Gardens: $20,000 (exterior restoration)
• Former stables, 218 Crawford St – $20,000 (reuse)
• Stafford House, 2 Stafford St – $5000 (fire upgrade)
• Loan and Mercantile Building, 33 Thomas Burns St – $20,000 (facade cleaning and restoration)
• Married quarters, Quarantine Island: $3000 (strengthening)
• Glenfalloch: $5000 (conservation plan update)
• Carpet Court, 115 Cumberland St: $20,000 (reuse)

TOTAL: $113,500

DUNEDIN HERITAGE FUND

The Dunedin City Council and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand) jointly administer the Dunedin Heritage Fund to support the protection and conservation of Dunedin’s built heritage, as well as the continued use and appreciation of these places by the community.

The Heritage Fund Committee has the ability to make grants or loans to the owner or occupier of any historic place within Dunedin for the purpose of assisting that owner or occupier to manage, maintain or preserve that historic place.

The Dunedin Heritage Fund can provide incentive funding for a wide range of works. These include:

i. Essential repairs, stabilisation or core structural works.
ii. Restoration projects.
iii. Upgrades to code/regulation standards to enable contemporary use of heritage places, eg fire, earthquake, access provisions.
iv. Specific “like with like” material replacement/maintenance projects that protect the integrity of heritage buildings (eg slate or timber shingle roofing; copper gutters/downpipes; wooden joinery; stained glass; stonework; pressed tin ceilings; etc)
v. Preparation of heritage conservation plans.
vi. Emergency or protective works to protect heritage fabric.

Note: Routine maintenance will not normally be a high priority for assistance.

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█ For more information and guidelines for how to apply, go to:
Dunedin Heritage Funding Application (DCC website)

Contacts:
Glen Hazelton, DCC Policy Planner (Heritage) 03 477 4000
Jonathan Howard, HNZ Otago Southland Area Manager 03 477 9871

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Law Courts | ODT editorial

The Dunedin courthouse is one of the city’s finest historic buildings, and part of a heritage cluster impossible to match anywhere in this country.

We await an “unequivocal commitment” from the Government to return court services to their Dunedin home.

### ODT Online Tue, 22 Sep 2015
Editorial: ‘Nonsense’ courthouse costs
OPINION Really? Would earthquake strengthening of Dunedin’s courthouse really cost more than $15million as officials claim? Or is this another example where supposed post-earthquake costs are used as an excuse? Or can the Government simply not design and commission building work for reasonable prices? There is probably a bit of both.
Read more

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Dunedin structural engineer Stephen Macknight called the Government’s $15million strengthening figure “absolutely ridiculous”.

Director of Dunedin construction company Lund South, Russell Lund, said his experience suggested the $15million figure was “just not even credible”.

### ODT Online Sat, 19 Sep 2015
$15m bill for court rejected
By Craig Borley
Dunedin engineers and construction experts have rubbished the Government’s claims the city’s historic courthouse needs earthquake strengthening work worth more than $15 million. […] Lou Robinson, director of Hadley Robinson Engineering, said he knew the courthouse intimately after being involved in the 2002 work on the complex. He estimated an “upper limit on strengthening of perhaps $3 million”.
Read more

█ Website:
http://www.saveourcourthouse.nz

█ Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/SaveOurCourthouse

█ Petition to Justice Minister Amy Adams:
http://bit.ly/1FlZIWy (via Avaaz platform)

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Related Posts and Comments:
7.9.15 Public petition to save Courthouse for courts use
11.7.15 Dunedin Law Courts “an incredible historic building” –Minister
14.5.15 Russell Lund on Ministry closure of Dunedin Law Courts
14.5.15 Justice at Dunedin
2.5.15 Ministry serves INJUSTICE for Dunedin Courthouse #HistoricHeritage

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Post and image (2015) by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Prison: Community Trust grant for restoration

39 Dunedin Television Published on Sep 17, 2015
Historic prison restoration gets kickstart

● Resource consent granted for conservation and repair
● Funding from Otago Community Trust
● New visitor centre
● Prison tours
● Restaurant for courtyard

### dunedintv.co.nz Thu, 17 Sep 2015
Historic prison restoration gets kickstart
A $90,000 grant is kickstarting the project to restore Dunedin’s historic prison to its former glory. The money will enable the Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust to start exterior repairs. And that means members are finally able to turn their vision into reality.
Ch39 Link

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[click to enlarge]DCC Webmap – 2 Castle Street, former Dunedin Prison [Jan/Feb 2013]

█ Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust

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Related Posts and Comments:
16.9.15 DPAG exhibition talk, Sun 20 Sep —Jonathan Howard on Dunedin 1865
7.9.15 Public petition to save Courthouse for courts use
30.8.15 DPAG exhibition | Dunedin 1865: A City Rises…
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 ‘The Open City’ … 29 Aug
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 Shoreline Trail launch
11.7.15 Dunedin Law Courts “an incredible historic building” –Minister
14.5.15 Russell Lund on Ministry closure of Dunedin Law Courts
14.5.15 Justice at Dunedin
2.5.15 Ministry serves INJUSTICE for Dunedin Courthouse #HistoricHeritage
28.2.13 Tour the old prison in March (2013)
20.9.12 Dunedin Prison
6.6.12 Dunedin Prison purchased by trust
18.10.11 Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust

█ For more, enter the term *heritage* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Captain Cook Hotel adaptive re-use

354 Great King Street [Google Street View Nov 2012]

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### ODT Online on Wed, 5 Aug 2015
Bringing ‘The Cook’ back to life
By Damian George
Patrons will be able to toast the reopening of Dunedin’s historic Captain Cook Tavern by Christmas, the project’s architect says. The venue, a popular jaunt for Dunedin’s student population, was founded in 1860 but closed in June last year. […] Architect Ed Elliott, of Queenstown company Elliott Architects Ltd, said a large emphasis of the refurbishment was placed on preserving the building’s character when design plans were drawn up.
Read more

█ The Cook Hotel is now at 70% seismic strengthening.

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Otago Daily Times Published on Aug 4, 2015
Bringing ‘The Cook’ back to life
Patrons will be able to toast the reopening of Dunedin’s historic Captain Cook Tavern by Christmas, the project’s architect says.

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Michael Brown established the hotel in 1864. The original “Cook”, a wooden structure, was pulled down in 1873 to make way for a brick and stone building which stands today. The replacement was designed by architect David Ross (1828-1908).

Otago Witness 29.11.1873 Issue 1148 (page 19)

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### otago.ac.nz Otago Magazine Issue 40
Whatever happened to…
The Cook?
There would be few Otago alumni who don’t have some sort of story about The Cook.
Built in the 1870s, The Captain Cook Hotel (to use its full name) has been part of North Dunedin as long as the University of Otago itself, becoming woven into the backdrop of student life.
When word of its imminent closure started circulating in 2013 it is fair to say there was widespread dismay at the loss of what was seen as a Dunedin institution. On the day it closed its doors, in June 2013, people who had not set foot in the pub since they were students made sure they went in to toast The Cook and to share their stories and memories.
Since then the two-storey brick building has been wrapped in a scaffolding cocoon while a transformation takes place. The owners – Chris James, Noel Kennedy and Greg Paterson – are having the building taken back to its original look, right down to the old traditional corner entrance to the downstairs front bar.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust Newsletters 2015

Received from Nev Jemmett
‎Tues, ‎26‎ ‎May‎ ‎2015 ‎at 10‎:‎16‎ ‎a.m.

Vol 1 Issue 2 – May 2015 [click to enlarge]

█ Download: DHLRT May 2015 newsletter (DOC, 4 MB)

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Received from Nev Jemmett
‎Wed, ‎25‎ ‎February‎ ‎2015 at ‎10‎:‎56‎ ‎a.m.

Vol 1 Issue 1 – February 2015 [click to enlarge]

█ Download: DHLRT February 2015 newsletter (PDF, 2 MB)

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Related Posts and Comments:
4.11.14 Phillip George (Phil) Cole, RIP
5.6.14 DCC Transport Strategy and Riccarton Road
28.7.13 Dunedin Cable Car Trust – Public Meetings SUNDAY 28 July
14.2.13 Phil Cole on the High Street Cable Car
15.1.13 Return of High Street cable car
23.12.11 High Street cable car update
29.11.10 Phillip Cole on Dunedin buses
16.9.10 Pre-election opinions on public transport and the stadium
26.11.09 The Chronicles of Yarnia
19.10.09 Cable Car Meeting @Dunedin
27.8.10 Invitation to ALL #High St Cable Car
23.11.09 High Street Cable Car a possibility
9.7.09 Designing public transport for repeat use

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Warehouse conversions | Apartment interiors #materials #light #colour

Warehouse Converted to Modern Loft
This 8,600 square-foot loft was completed and renovated by developers and designers of urban lofts Benito Escat and Alberto Rovira; the designers teamed up with interior design studio Minim for this ambitious project. What was once stables (built in 1930), a bomb shelter and then a print shop is now a modern loft located in Barcelona, Spain. The original brick walls are exposed, and the high concrete ceilings make the space truly magnificent. Glass lights set in the floor reveal the bearing structure and provide light to the level below.

More photos at http://www.iintrepidinc.com/lifeinstyle/2011/9/29/a-rustic-modern-loft-warehouse-conversion-barcelona.html

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Russian architect Denis Krasikovis created this eclectic apartment in Murmansk, Russia.

More photos at http://www.homeadore.com/2014/12/09/murmansk-apartment-denis-krasikov/

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In 2014, Vertebrae Architecture designed this tiny 330 square feet apartment in Venice, California. Full height hidden storage delineates space and provides visual and acoustic privacy. The minimal material palette minimizes distraction and maximizes the spatial quality of the apartment.

More images at http://www.homeadore.com/2014/12/08/micro-apartment-vertebrae-architecture/

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Rad Design fully demolished and redesigned the interior of this loft in Toronto, Canada. Custom shelving and displays show off the client’s antique camera collection and books on photography. The client had requested use of reclaimed wood materials and simple, metal elements. A small black platform makes the low bed float slightly above the floor. The bright new kitchen and bathroom add modern touches.

More images at http://www.homeadore.com/2014/11/04/photo-loft-rad-design/

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Warehouse in San Francisco Converted into Contemporary Loft
This project located in the historic Oriental Warehouse Loft Building in San Francisco’s South Beach neighbourhood, is a complete reconfiguration and renovation of an existing loft apartment. In order to maximize the spatial experience of the loft, traditional notions of domestic privacy were abandoned in favour of open and transparent relationships. Here is more on the renovation process from the architects: “Opaque guardrails at the sleeping mezzanine were replaced with frameless glass guardrails in order to provide a direct visual connection to the living room below. A large over-sized sheet of transparent glass further eliminates privacy in the master bathroom by allowing views into and out of the bathroom to the rest of the loft beyond. In contrast to the existing heavy-timber and rusticated brick structural shell which are left exposed, sleek new interior finishes were replaced throughout including wall and floor finishes, kitchen and bathroom mill work and a new steel cantilever stair that connects the living areas on the ground floor with the sleeping areas on the mezzanine.”

Edmonds + Lee Architects: http://www.edmondslee.com/owl.html

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Jestico & Whiles, Andel’s Hotel Łódź, Poland, warehouse conversion (completed 2009)
Located in central Łódź, the hotel features a top-floor spa centre and modern interior design. Its spacious and bright rooms come with air conditioning and a flat-screen TV. The hotel houses a luxury spa, the skySPAce, featuring a glass-covered swimming pool with beautiful city views, as well as various saunas, a massage parlour and a fitness centre. The hotel is a beautiful building with a post-industrial character. You can see an old and historical place (loads of old factory elements) and on the other hand the building is really modern. The Andel’s Hotel Łódź is housed in the cultural and commercial complex of Manufaktura, just 1.5 km from the famous Piotrkowska Street. The hotel was recently awarded the best in Poland in a European ranking.

More photos and their sources via Google Images

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Lant Street warehouse conversion, Southwark, London
Dow Jones Architects
An ongoing process of urban regeneration has seen the transformation of nineteenth century light industrial buildings into residential quarters for the liberal middle classes. In Lant Street, a five-level former brick warehouse is a case in point; over the past few years it has been gradually transformed into residential property with an art gallery below street level. Dow Jones Architects was asked to convert the top two floors and the roof, with spectacular views of the city, into a separate apartment. The brief was unequivocal; the client asked for ‘London in my living room’.
Giving views of the City skyline, only previously available from the rooftop, required the placement of the living room on the uppermost floor, with the sleeping and bathroom area on lowest level and the kitchen and dining in the middle. Preserving the stairways in their original locations allowed a relatively unpartitioned organisation of the individual floors, with just two oversized, automatically operated fire doors unobtrusively concealed in wall linings. Dow Jones’ internal material palette combines the original brick surfaces and rough timber structure with new smooth oak linings with flush camouflaged doors. The in-situ concrete boxes that mark the wet areas – bathroom, shower room, kitchen – read as discrete objects placed atop the existing surfaces.

Read more at http://www.architecturetoday.co.uk/?p=6122

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Historically Preserved Mansion Gets Eclectic Makeover
A true mansion, originally from 1922, with preserved architecture and full of details that reveal a rare magnificence, is the headquarters of the 22nd Edition of Casa Cor Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With very high ceilings and large windows, the beautiful and famous building has been designed in an eclectic style with over 5,400 square metres of constructed area, divided into 52 environments, with about 80 professionals who have demonstrated that it is possible to renew with style, but without deleting the marks of time. The building was once a Boarding School of Nursing Anna Nery (1926- 1973) and the College Student House (1973-1995). Here, past, present and future coexist im harmony.

Interactive room. Reuse was the watchword for Tiana Meggiolaro and Bia Lynch who set up the room with brick walls left exposed. “Based on the concept of upcycling and demos new function was given to the pallets, wooden structures used in freight transport that became bookshelf and countertop,” says Tiana.

Jewellery. The space of interior designers Mariana Dean, Jason Sartori and Luciana Arnaud pays homage to the fashion designer Coco Chanel and makes reference to her jewellery.

More at http://www.onekindesign.com/tag/preservation/page/5/

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Related Posts and Comments:
1.1.15 Dezeen: 3 projects #materials
28.12.14 Small apartments —then !! New York by Gehry #2011nuclear
25.12.14 2Modern Blog | Modern Decor + Architecture + Interiors
19.10.14 Dunedin: Randoms from inside warehouse precinct 18.10.14
22.6.14 Vogel Street Heritage Precinct (TH13)
17.4.11 Ricardo Bofill’s cement factory
28.12.10 Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / Meyer, Scheter & Rockcastle

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Hotel We LIKE: Distinction Dunedin Hotel at former CPO

Reopening the former Chief Post Office building “marks a significant milestone for the restoration project, with more tenants, a three-level car park building and, eventually, the 120-apartment four-star-plus Distinction Dunedin Hotel, all to follow”. (ODT)

Dunedin Chief Post Office (1930s)

### ODT Online Tue, 25 Mar 2014
Office workers light up CPO
By Chris Morris
The return today of a commercial tenant to Dunedin’s former chief post office building for the first time in more than 15 years marks a significant milestone in the restoration project. About 145 staff from Silver Fern Farms are expected to start work in their new headquarters – occupying the first two floors of the partially-restored building – this morning. It was the first time the building had been home to a permanent tenant since closing its doors in 1997, building owner Geoff Thomson, of Distinction Hotels, said.
Read more

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Dogged controversy.
Submissions in opposition to the proposed waterfront tower hotel at 41 Wharf Street (LUC 2012-212) make frequent mention of a preference to see the old Chief Post Office restored and in use as a city hotel in The Exchange.
Dull criticism from the anti-heritage brigade has often been cast at the old building’s owner for lack of speed in making the redevelopment happen.
Geoff Thomson, a canny and diligent man, has proceeded with the retrofit of this very large government architect-designed building at the pace he can afford in the up-down market he faces. Geoff Thomson deserves significant praise for his passion and perseverance in seeing the project through as well as attending to quality tenanting and leases.

[history and significance]
█ Heritage New Zealand (HNZ) registration report: List No. 2145 (Category II)

Photo: Gerard O’Brien – Reroof, May 2011

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Related Posts and Comments:
22.6.13 Dunedin’s former Chief Post Office
5.3.11 Former Chief Post Office, Dunedin – magazine feature…
14.8.2010 No surprises with former CPO redevelopment
12.5.10 DScene – Geoff Thomson buys back former CPO
11.5.10 DCC Media Release – Chief Post Office
16.3.10 Planning the future of Dunedin heritage buildings [recent comments]
10.11.09 Dunedin public library services
24.10.09 Rodney Wilson: Dunedin as national heritage city
20.7.09 DCC + former CPO + others(??) = a public library (yeah right)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: rootsweb.ancestry.com – Dunedin Chief Post Office (1930s) re-imaged by whatifdunedin; odt.co.nz – Gerard O’Brien: CPO Reroof, May 2011 [screenshot]

Heritage: Old BNZ, Dunedin —restored

Work on the historic bank included strengthening the structure from 67% of building code requirements to 100% and installing a full fire sprinkler system.

205 Princes St – Old BNZ c.1888 (photo by FA Coxhead re-imaged)

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With Silver Fern [Farms] also moving into the old chief post office, it will give the Exchange momentum. The shops will do better and it will give the whole area more impetus. –Michael van Aart

### ODT Online Sat, 27 Jul 2013
Refurbished bank building ready for law firm
By Nigel Benson
Dunedin’s former commercial heart – the Exchange – will pulsate with new life next week. With scaffolding removed and tradesmen gone, the 130-year-old Bank of New Zealand building in Princes St will become the new home to commercial law firm Van Aart Sycamore Lawyers on Wednesday. The occupation of the building, which is considered architect William Barnett Armson’s (1834-1883) masterpiece, follows an 18-month restoration project.
“We’re really looking forward to moving in,” firm director Michael van Aart said yesterday. “The building is dramatic and one of a kind. We have to celebrate the unique features we have here in Dunedin and heritage is certainly one of them. The Exchange was the heart of New Zealand’s economy when it was built.”
The building had been untenanted for the past 13 years. Van Aart Sycamore Lawyers had been based in Radio House for the past six years and the move would be good for the Exchange, Mr van Aart believed.
Read more

Armson drawing no. 10, Princes St facade with secondary doorway

Readings:
New Zealand Historic Places Trust – Category 1 Historic Place
(No. 7299) Registration Report – the history and significance

[wikipedia] Princes Street, Dunedin
[wikipedia] Bank of New Zealand

Book: John Barsby, The BNZ Building, Princes Street Dunedin (Southern Heritage Trust, 2011)

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Related Post and Comments:
26.2.13 Bank of New Zealand Building, 205 Princes St (cnr Rattray)
[more images]

The banking desk designed by architect Robert A Lawson is held by Otago Settlers Museum; and an original ornamental fire surround from the bank is installed at Antrim House (NZHPT National Office) in Wellington (photographs in Barsby). It is thought one more fire surround went to another Wellington residence.

RA Lawson, Drawing for write-up desk, Old BNZ

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Cities: Organic renewal

St Joseph, Missouri

### Citiwire.net Fri, July 5, 2013
Organic Renewal: St Joe’s Story
By Roberta Brandes Gratz
In the mid- and late 1960s, while many cities and towns were still tearing their hearts out for the false promises of urban renewal, all sorts of people, young and old, saw the beauty, value and promise of gracious living in historic buildings in the places left behind by suburban development. From San Francisco to Louisville to Providence to Brooklyn to St Louis and beyond, urban pioneers stripped, cleaned and restored the irreplaceable artifacts of bygone eras of quality and taste.
Those pioneers were the vanguard of the regeneration of neighbourhoods and cities that, today, many people do not remember were considered a blighted lost cause. Washington’s Georgetown. Park Slope in Brooklyn. King William in San Antonio. The Garden District in New Orleans. The Victorian Districts of San Francisco and Savannah. Who remembers that those neighbourhoods were once considered “blighted,” over, finished?

Surely, this is the most compelling storyline of the second half of the last century. The rebirth of today’s thriving cities started with the rediscovery of yesterday’s discards. That, as they say, is history. But history has a funny way of repeating itself. Today, one finds examples of that organic renewal process re-emerging.

Many cities have lost more than what remains of the authentic architecture on which to build a new momentum. Miraculously, one that survives with an amazing rich legacy to work with is St Joseph, Mo.
Set on a bend in the Missouri River and almost equidistant from Kansas City and Omaha, St Joseph was a railroad, lumber and banking centre and, most importantly, the last full provisioning point for the Westward Expansion in the mid-nineteenth century. It’s the birthplace of the Pony Express, the site of Jesse James’ demise, home of Stetson Hat, Saltine crackers and Aunt Jemima.
St Joseph is still home to a diverse assortment of agriculture-related industry. The past and present combine to offer new opportunities, and a small but growing group of adventurous entrepreneurs appear to be present to lead the way, like the urban pioneers of 50 years ago.
Read more

● Roberta Brandes Gratz is an urban critic and author of The Battle For Gotham: New York In the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, 2010, Nation Books.

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Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Grants Scheme for Central City Heritage Buildings

This item was published on 05 Jul 2013.

The DCC now has $90,000 available in grants for heritage building re-use projects in Princes Street and areas adjoining the Warehouse Precinct. Like the Warehouse Precinct scheme, this new grant scheme is focused on a specific geographic area to facilitate and expand the regeneration occurring there already. There has been good success with targeted incentive schemes in the Warehouse Precinct. Expanding into the areas around it recognises that the precinct is not an island, but is integrated with the areas around in and with the central city as a whole.

There is already some great work stirring regeneration in the area and it is important we are also poised to assist and encourage others to participate in this regeneration of the area south of the Octagon.

Applications can be made for support for a range of activities, from earthquake strengthening and facade restoration to assistance for businesses and creative industries in the area. The scheme allows building owners to build on the growing positive private sector re-use and investment in the area, such as the Chief Post Office, former BNZ and Standard Building restoration projects already or soon to be underway.

The scheme is supported by Resene Paints which is offering discounts on paint and free colour advice. Resene Otago Trade Representative Henry Van Turnhout says, “We are proud to be offering our support to another DCC area-based project, as we have for King Edward St and the Warehouse Precinct. We are also offering free assistance with colour selection as we recognise how greatly appropriate colour choice can influence the way a building – and an area – looks.”

Taking an area-based approach to regeneration and incentives encourages businesses and building owners to work together and to recognise the benefits for the entire area of re-using or improving their building.

Applications are open immediately, on a first come first served basis. Application forms will be sent to building owners, residents and businesses owners in the next week and are at www.dunedin.govt.nz/heritage

Last year’s Warehouse Precinct grants scheme supported 11 re-use projects in the area. Information about these is available at here.

Contact Glen Hazelton, DCC Policy Planner on 477 4000.

DCC Link
ODT: DCC boost for Princes St regeneration

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Dunedin. In future years, the council plans to use this approach in other parts of the central city and beyond.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: (from top) commons.wikimedia.org Tim Kiser – St Joseph, Missouri (2006): Buchanan County Courthouse, Downtown cnr Francis St and North 4th St, Downtown viewed from the east near cnr 10th and Charles. Dunedin: South Princes St (2007 watercolour by Elizabeth Gorden-Werner), former Gresham Hotel at Queens Gardens, Speight’s (Lion Breweries) on Rattray St; commons.wikimedia.org Benchill – Dunedin Central Fire Station, Castle St.

Dunedin Town Hall (sic) and Dunedin Centre reopen this week

“The entire complex is now known as the Dunedin Centre.”

● Dunedin Town Hall will always be known as Dunedin Town Hall, not a flower by another name !!!!

● Godsakes, ditch DVML as the venue operator !!!!

● UPDATE 24.4.13 – Major stuff up. DVML mismanages Town Hall seating plan for Anzac Day Revue. Those with prebooked seats will be treated as general admission. ODT

Related Post:
7.3.13 Town Hall, Dunedin Centre, Municipal Chambers #linked

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Dunedin City Council
Media Release

Busy Times Ahead for Revamped Dunedin Centre

This item was published on 22 Apr 2013.

The doors don’t open to the public until Thursday, but the redeveloped Dunedin Centre has already got bookings through until May 2015.

Some large events are already booked, including national and international conferences such as the Ingenium Conference and the 5th Global Botanic Gardens Congress. There are also concert bookings by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music New Zealand and the Southern Sinfonia, as well as bookings for school formals, graduations, weddings and private functions.

Invited guests will join Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull in a low-key civic ceremony on Wednesday morning to celebrate the Dunedin Centre’s new lease of life. The first performance will be the Dunedin RSA Choir performance in the Town Hall on Anzac Day.

Mr Cull says, “The Dunedin Centre complex is very much an events centrepiece for our city and it’s great to see there are a number of bookings already.”

About $45 million has been spent over several years upgrading and renovating the existing Dunedin Centre/Town Hall and Municipal Chambers (work on the latter was completed in August 2011). The entire complex is now known as the Dunedin Centre.

Key elements of the overall upgrade include linkages between all buildings to enable people to move easily within what is now an integrated convention centre. There will be lift access to all Dunedin Centre and Town Hall floors, including the Town Hall ceiling, as well as major technology upgrades, new kitchen facilities, new conference/function spaces and new toilets. Another key feature of the redevelopment is a raft of sophisticated behind-the-scenes improvements, which mean the buildings now meet regulations in areas such as fire protection, health and safety, ventilation and access.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Prof Claudio Modena | Open Lecture Wednesday 1 May

New Zealand Historic Places Trust and New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering public talk

Professor Claudio Modena — “Retrofit of stone masonry buildings”
Italian research and practice

The New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) and the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE) present a public talk by Italian earthquake engineering academic and consultant, Professor Claudio Modena.

When: Wednesday 1 May 2013 at 5:30 pm

Where: University of Otago, Quad 2 Lecture Theatre
1st floor Geology Building, Dunedin

All welcome

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Claudio Modena is a Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Padova, Italy (1994–). He has presented the course of “Structural Problems of Monumental Historical Heritage” in Architectural and Building Engineering and is Director of the Masters course in ‘Structural Restoration of Historic Monuments and Buildings’.

Author of over 200 papers in international journals and attendances at conferences, Claudio Modena is interested in analysis and design of construction, with particular attention on:
– masonry of historical and monumental structures
– strengthening/retrofitting in seismic areas
– retrofitting of metal and masonry arch bridges, and
– safety evaluations.

The professor has maintained a balance between academic and practical experience, combining with mutual benefit both research work and technical consulting. Most of his consulting activity is in the field of restoration and conservation of historic masonry structures.

Claudio Modena is a member of several technical and scientific committees: Cultural Heritage Ministry, Protection of Cultural Heritage from Seismic Hazard Committee. He is currently a member of the High Risks Committee – Seismic Risk Sector of the national Civil Protection Agency and of the special committee established by the Ministry of Infrastructures and Public Works for re-drafting the national codes system related to structural safety of both new and existing structures.

Visit this website for more information about the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering Inc www.nzsee.org.nz

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin’s existing building stock

Standard Building Before

Standard Building March 2013 (Images: Glen Hazelton)

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Email received.

—– Original Message —–
From: Glen Hazelton
To: City Planning ; EMT (Executive Management Team) ; Council 2010-2013 (Elected Members)
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2013 6:59 AM
Subject: Standard Building Update

Hi there everyone

For those of you who have not noticed this already – the scaffolding is down on the former Canton/Standard Building in Princes St. Externally, only the ground floor work to go now – inside is also starting to look just as amazing. See the before and after to see just how much you can transform a building perceived a few years back as having little value by many.

This work is a testament to the tenacity and passion of the owner (Ted Daniels) and also the skill and craftsmanship of Daniel Pollard, who unfortunately passed away without seeing the finished project. The project has also been proudly supported by the Dunedin Heritage Fund and DCC Heritage Rates Relief. A great example of just what can be achieved in our city when people put their minds to it.

Regards

Glen Hazelton
Policy Planner (Heritage), City Planning
Dunedin City Council

****

### ODT Online Tue, 2 Apr 2013
Buildings may be abandoned
By Simon Hartley
Spiralling earthquake-proofing costs could leave some Dunedin commercial property owners owing more on investments than the properties are worth. This raises the possibility buildings could be abandoned, that being the way to lose the least amount of money, a commercial property consultant says.

Dunedin has the third-largest concentration of pre-1976 buildings, about 3900, behind Auckland’s 19,050 and Christchurch’s 5000, according to Quotable Value and local body data collated in a consultation paper by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Dunedin last year had about 160,000sq m of office space, of which ”at least 10%” will be deemed earthquake-prone, Colliers International national director of research and consulting Alan McMahon said when contacted.

Dunedin City Council policy planner for heritage, Glen Hazelton, said 138 building owners had provided assessments. About 58 were less than 33% compliant and required upgrading. More assessments are expected when owners change use. Upgrades are expected at that time.

One [Dunedin] building owner, who did not want to be identified, said while the council had written to many building owners, many had not yet responded, as the deadline is July next year. Another source said far more assessments had been carried out than reported to the council and it was ”likely they don’t want the assessment put on public record just yet”.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Heritage Re-use Awards

The winners of Dunedin’s annual Heritage Re-use Awards were announced last night at a ceremony at Wall Street.

Dunedin City Council – Media Release
20 Mar 2013

Dunedin Heritage Re-use Award Winners Announced

The overall winner this year was the NMA building in Water Street, Dunedin, which also won the interiors section for the Psychology Associates Offices.

This is the third year of the awards, which celebrate excellence, innovation and sensitivity in the re-use of heritage buildings in Dunedin and include categories for earthquake strengthening, interiors and overall re-use. A student design competition is also held during the year, which challenges students to develop innovative solutions to the re-use of Dunedin’s older buildings. The awards and competition are an initiative of the Dunedin Heritage Buildings Re-use Steering Group.

The awards are judged by a panel including Dunedin City Councillors, representatives from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, the local branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects and the Institute of Professional Engineers of New Zealand, and building owners.

Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull sees the awards “as acknowledging the efforts of those who strive to maintain and enhance the unique heritage character of Dunedin”.

Cr Lee Vandervis, who headed the building judging panel, says both of the two main winners – the NMA Building and Knox College – “showed remarkably imaginative and cost-effective solutions to earthquake strengthening while retaining all practicable heritage features.

“The NMA building has been turned from a unused liability into a delightfully revealed cornerstone of Dunedin history with superb creation of character spaces ideal for its new tenants. Knox College has been a large extraordinary earthquake strengthening project shoe-horned into the tightest of time frames without compromising heritage features and still managing to maintain a very sensitive level of attention to detail.”

Cr Jinty MacTavish says the two winning entries in the student design competition “demonstrated a clear commitment to retaining and showcasing key heritage features, while at the same time addressing the practical needs of well-defined anchor tenants.”

Judges in this category were for a second year running impressed with the work of Peter Rozecki-Lewis, who also took out the top honours in this category in 2012.

Nominations for next year’s awards can be made any time before 20 December. Further details are available at www.dunedin.govt.nz/heritage

WINNERS

Oakwood Properties Earthquake Strengthening Award
Sean O’Neill – Hanlon and Partners for Knox College

Barlow Justice/New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage Interiors Award
Psychology Associates Offices, NMA Building

Dunedin Heritage Re-use Award
NMA Building, Water Street

Dunedin Heritage Re-use Design Competition
Individual winner: Peter Rozecki-Lewis
Team winner: Laura Hughes and Campbell McNeill

Highly Commended:
Dunedin Heritage Re-use Award
Otago Settlers Museum

Contact Policy Planner (Heritage) on 477 4000.

DCC Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Bank of New Zealand Building, 205 Princes St (cnr Rattray)

BNZ Bank, The Exchange 1976

### ODT Online Tue, 26 Feb 2013
New lease of life for BNZ building
By Debbie Porteous
A grand old dame of the Dunedin streetscape is being brought back to life by a Dunedin law firm. The historic Bank of New Zealand Building at the corner of Rattray and Princes Sts, in the Exchange, will, come June, be home to commercial law firm Van Aart Sycamore Lawyers, after the company bought the building and is having it renovated. Firm directors Michael Van Aart and Tony Sycamore said they were looking for permanent premises and the building’s location, natural light and character had appealed. Mr Sycamore said he expected the building would be “a really nice place to work”. The location was also great. Buildings around the Exchange area were filling up with commercial tenants, in what was historically the commercial heart of Dunedin. The company’s 14 staff would be based on the first floor, and once they had moved in the firm hoped to find tenants for the other three floors.

The company was strengthening the building from 67% of code to 100%, and installing full fire sprinkler systems throughout, as well as renovating and fitting out new offices, while retaining the heritage features of the building preserved by previous owner Ted Daniels.

The company was working closely with the Dunedin City Council and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust on the refurbishment.
Read more

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Heritage New Zealand – Category 1 Historic Place
(No. 7299) Registration Report – the history and significance

The Bank of New Zealand Building was designed and constructed over the period 1877-1883. The architect, William Barnett Armson, was one of the first colonially-trained architects to work in New Zealand. He trained at Melbourne in architecture, engineering and surveying, and returned to New Zealand in 1862. The building is considered to be the architect’s masterpiece, and New Zealand’s finest surviving nineteenth century bank.

Interior, before alterations circa 1960. Campbell Photography, Dunedin

The bank is elsewhere described as one of the few New Zealand buildings to reflect the large scale of the sixteenth century Italian palazzo, its prototype. The richly carved exterior features New Zealand plants and landscapes carved by Louis John Godfrey. The interior was extensively modernised by the architects Mandeno and Fraser in 1958 but the superb plaster ceiling over the banking chamber was preserved.

Ceiling, main banking chamber

Related Post:
27.7.13 Heritage: Old BNZ, Dunedin —restored

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: BNZ Archives, Wellington (via Ted Daniels); Athol Parks, citywalks.co.nz

Dunedin Events: Gasworks150 + Heritage Impact150

AN IMPORTANT HERITAGE EVENT FOR OCTOBER 2013
2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the first production of town gas in New Zealand. This event took place at the Dunedin Gasworks which operated from 1863 to 1987, being the last gasworks to close in New Zealand.

The Gasworks played a significant role in Dunedin’s industrial, economic and social growth during its operation.

Today the Gasworks Museum forms a distinctive part of Dunedin’s industrial legacy and raises important issues about how industrial heritage can be sustained in the light of national and international experience.

As part of the celebrations the Dunedin Gasworks Museum Trust is planning a series of events to commemorate the significance of this anniversary.

Two major events are planned:

1. HERITAGE IMPACT150 – Industrial Heritage SYMPOSIUM
A three-day event to be based at Otago Settlers Museum. The symposium will bring together people with expertise and an interest in industrial heritage including archaeologists, architects, archivists, curators, engineers, historians, local government leaders, planners, sociologists, and those involved in tourism, heritage maintenance and restoration.

2. GASWORKS150 – Community FESTIVAL
The festival supported by funding from the Dunedin City Council will bring together the Dunedin community to celebrate the anniversary at the Gasworks Museum. The event is in its initial planning stages and will have an art and cultural focus including a celebration of dance, art and photographic exhibitions. There will be a market day, museum open days, and a competition for senior secondary school students involving an Industrial Heritage research project.

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The Call for Contributions to the Industrial Heritage Symposium HERITAGE IMPACT150 can be downloaded at www.gasworks150.org.nz

The website will be updated regularly.

What Can You Do To Help?
1. We have a wide distribution network based on our database, if you know of anyone or any organisation that may be interested in the symposium please ask them to contact us or visit www.gasworks150.org.nz
2. Talk to colleagues and help distribute news of the symposium and associated events.
3. Submit a proposal for contributions before 31 March 2013.
4. Encourage colleagues to join our newsletter list.

Contacts for further information:

SYMPOSIUM PROGRAMME
Ann Barsby
Symposium Convenor
Heritage Impact150
Phone: +64 (0)3 479 0169
ann@southernheritage.org.nz

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SYMPOSIUM AND FESTIVAL ORGANISER
Craig Bush
ExcellentEvents NZ Ltd
PO Box 327, Dunedin 9054
Phone: +64 (0)3 477 8048
Mobile: 021 890 095
admin@excellentevents.co.nz

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

“Otago” —musing the provincial social history museum

[screenshot]

Peter Entwisle is perfectly right: “The Dunedin institution is here and is a window on the history of Otago.”

### ODT Online Mon, 7 Jan 2013
Opinion | Art Beat
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater
By Peter Entwisle
The redevelopment of what used to be called the Otago Settlers Museum is undoubtedly a great success. But there are concerning issues surrounding it which need some careful thought.

Readers may remember I did not support the name change to include ”Toitu”. At a practical level it obscures the path to resources in publications using the old name. It was also a public relations ”own goal” because the opinion poll conducted by the museum showed overwhelming opposition, which was then blithely ignored. It thus became an issue for the city council, decided on the mayor’s casting vote. It is an odd use of the casting vote, which conventionally favours the status quo. In explanation Mayor Dave Cull said the institution was now a new museum and so a new name was appropriate.

“With respect, it is not a new museum, being on the same site and with the same collections, but an existing one expanded, physically. But the change of name and other things suggest it is changing its focus.”

I was on a tour of the premises shortly before their opening when director Linda Wigley addressed the group. When it came to question time I asked if the museum was not losing its focus on wider Otago. She acknowledged it was focusing more on Dunedin and I asked why that was and if it was a good thing. She said that as history museums had sprung up in other parts of Otago, she thought her institution should avoid poaching on their ground.

This has at best limited merit.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
21.9.12 Fugly ‘logo’ for Otago Settlers Museum
27.6.12 Otago Settlers Museum
31.5.12 The ‘happy’ little renaming of our leading social history museum
28.1.12 DCC “unjustifiably” disadvantages senior conservator
5.11.11 Otago Settlers Museum – Burnside Building (site visit)
28.1.10 Alert: Dunedin has some gifted professional conservators
24.10.09 Rodney Wilson: Dunedin as national heritage city

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr