Itinerary: City Guide New Plymouth

Considered one of New Zealand’s first colonial settlements, New Plymouth’s temperate local weather, fertile soils, and genial Englishness led to early settlers calling it “the paradise of New Zealand”. Wanting nearer, the image is extra sophisticated; town presents one thing of a microcosm of the nation’s colonial story: intermittent Māori occupation, settler arrival, dicey land offers, Māori resistance, violence, with the relentless colonial undertaking ultimately prevailing. Certainly, Taranaki historical past is especially dramatic, involving a few of most uplifting (Parihaka) and most deplorable (Parihaka once more) moments in our younger nation’s historical past.

The Plymouth Firm was established in 1840 to settle the Taranaki area, and New Plymouth was named after it by Frederic Carrington, the surveyor who laid out the city’s central blocks. Settlers started arriving in 1841, and by 1843 almost a thousand individuals had arrived, half of them youngsters. This was the beginning of a interval of fast growth nationally, as hundreds of settlers poured in – by the late 1850s, Pākehā outnumbered Māori throughout the then comparatively sparsely populated nation. New Plymouth’s settlers, nevertheless, had arrived at a second when the Māori that occupied the realm had migrated away, and the legitimacy of most of the land transfers was questionable. Doubtful land gross sales at Waitara sparked the Taranaki Wars within the early 1860s. For a time New Plymouth was below siege, colonists retreating behind gated fortifications the place overcrowded circumstances brought about scores to die from illness.

Regardless of this turmoil, town stays the situation of a few of the oldest surviving architect-designed buildings in New Zealand. Arriving in 1843 amongst New Plymouth’s first settlers was Frederick Thatcher, a London-trained architect. He meant to change into a farmer however was drawn into design and civic administration. On the path of Bishop Selwyn he designed St. Mary’s (Itemizing 1) and at path of Governor Sir George Gray designed considered one of 4 hospitals (Itemizing 2) ambitiously meant to serve each Māori and settlers.

Visiting town now, the impression is of a city intact. The centres of most of our regional cities and cities have been broken by the mixed influence of huge field retail, seismic code-induced demolitions, and inhabitants drift, leading to gap-toothed predominant streets the place parking heaps and “For Lease” indicators outnumber banks and submit places of work. How did central New Plymouth survive, the place different cities have descended into two-dollar store purgatory? They pull cash out of the bottom. Powered by dairy farming, oil, and gasoline, Taranaki has the best per capita GDP of any area within the nation – effectively away from second-place Wellington and greater than 20% increased than third-place Auckland. New Plymouth’s centre hasn’t been topic to the waves of financial stagnation that enable the two-dollar outlets to slide in. As a substitute, personal wealth and a wholesome tax take have supported nice home and business structure, in addition to cultural amenities just like the Len Lye Centre and Puke Ariki.

Because of each its early prominence and ongoing wealth, New Plymouth is not like many different provincial New Zealand cities in that its townscape isn’t dominated by the work of architects from the principle centres; it was made largely by architects who lived there. Thatcher, Messenger, Bates, Laurenson, and the Boon workforce have been capable of create important our bodies of labor, together with the extra glamorous commissions that in Rotorua or Palmerston North could be scooped up by a well-connected Wellingtonian or a well-dressed Jafa. 

Nevertheless, Taranaki has not too long ago slid into unfavourable GDP progress. Shane Jones has been sprinkling his regional fairy mud, however a rising antipathy to fossil fuels could begin to let the air out of New Plymouth’s balloon. If that does occur, will probably be a sluggish leak somewhat than an enormous bang. Town will lengthy stay the most effective locations to see the complete vary of our architectural (and social) historical past.

THE ITINERARY

01. 1846 – Cathedral Church of St. Mary 

37 Vivian Avenue, Metropolis

The unique stone construction was designed by Frederick Thatcher initially of his lengthy profession in New Zealand. The oldest surviving stone church within the nation, it stands for instance of the Gothic Revival design promoted by Augustus Selwyn, NZ’s first Anglican Bishop, however is particular in being efficiently inbuilt stone somewhat than the timber that quickly turned typical. Thatcher’s nave has been significantly expanded over time by numerous architects together with Benjamin Mountfort (identified for St Mary’s Cathedral, Auckland), Tole & Massey (Cintra Flats, Auckland) and William Alington (Higher Hutt Civic Centre). The constructing is at present closed pending seismic strengthening. Thatcher additionally designed the stone Te Henui Parsonage (1845) at 290 Courtney Avenue, Strandon.

02. 1847-8 – The Gables 

Brooklands Park Drive, Metropolis

Thatcher is greatest often known as the architect of the charming Chapel of St. John the Evangelist in Meadowbank, Auckland (1847) and Outdated St Paul’s in Wellington (1866). The Gables set the sample for these later buildings – the timber sheathing is positioned contained in the timber body, expressing the construction externally to nice ornamental impact. Now a Class 1 Historic Place, the constructing was considered one of 4 colonial hospitals commissioned by Governor Sir George Gray. Little used, it was ultimately bought by Newton King and moved from its former web site on what’s now New Plymouth Ladies’ Excessive College to Brooklands to function a residence. Later gifted to town, it turned an arts centre in 1985. Refer Historic Locations in NZ March 1986.

03. 1886 – White Hart Resort

Cnr Devon & Queen Avenue, Metropolis

Registered as a Class 1 Historic Place, the unique sections of this native landmark have been designed by James Sanderson. The distinctive balconies have been added in in 1909 by Frank Messenger, who had a tremendously lengthy profession and was liable for an enormous variety of buildings in and round New Plymouth (see itemizing 5). The constructing’s situation deteriorated via a protracted and considerably wild historical past, nevertheless it has now been renovated by Wellington agency Bonnifait + Giesen, preserving the façade, sprucing up the inside, and creating a brand new coated courtyard. Refer Structure NZ Sept/Oct 2012. Try the PoMo stylings of Boon Goldsmith’s 1985 Clock Tower throughout the street, which re-housed a clock from a demolished 1907 Publish Workplace.

04. 1920/1925 – Former Public Belief Workplace

Cnr King & Queen Streets, Metropolis

Thomas Bates stands alongside Frank Messenger as a key creator of New Plymouth’s cityscape. Whereas the 300-odd surviving Messenger buildings are largely wood homes, Bates’ legacy contains many business buildings nonetheless standing within the metropolis centre. He was additionally liable for the neoclassical State Hearth Insurance coverage (1924) at 42 Egmont Avenue, the previous Opera Home (1925) at 92-100 Egmont Avenue, the four-storey Colliers Constructing (1926) at 18 Devon Avenue, the Artwork Deco YWCA (1929/1934) at 74 Powderham Avenue, and the Taranaki Every day Information (1937) on the nook of Powderham and Currie Streets. Artwork Deco followers notice the Nationwide Financial institution Constructing (1939) by Mitchell & Mitchell on the nook of Brougham and Devon Streets.

05. 1927 – St Aubyn Chambers

Cnr St Aubyn & Queen Sts, Metropolis

Marking New Plymouth’s transition from a city to a fully-fledged metropolis, this constructing initially mixed features in a manner that may even now be radical – a automotive service station at avenue degree with central metropolis residences straight above. It was additionally technologically superior, being the primary all-reinforced concrete constructing within the metropolis and one of many earliest within the nation. Whereas the unique inside has been stripped out, the dramatic curving façade is basically intact. Positioned on a portion of what was the vital Puke Ariki pa web site, the constructing is a Class 2 Historic Place. Messenger’s agency additionally designed the 1924 Cenotaph throughout the street, and the 1924 Devonport Flats alongside at 127- 131 St Aubyn Avenue.

06. 1927 – King’s Constructing

Cr Brougham & Devon Sts, Metropolis

This constructing is linked to key figures in New Plymouth’s historical past. It was constructed for profitable native businessman Newton King, proprietor of the Gables (see Itemizing 2) and older brother of Plunket founder Truby King. Their father, Thomas King, had arrived on the primary ship of settlers in 1841, later serving as an MP in New Zealand’s first two Parliaments. This constructing has been renovated quite a few occasions, producing outcomes increased and decrease on the aesthetic spectrum – the present façade is comparatively calm. Gummer & Ford additionally designed the 1968 NZI Constructing on the nook of Currie & Ariki Streets, though the buildings’ crisp modernism is now submerged below later renovations.

07. 1932 – Tupare

487 Mangorei Rd, Highlands Pk

Chapman-Taylor, the nation’s premier Arts & Crafts architect, was raised within the Taranaki. Regardless of a nomadic profession starting from Khandallah to Manurewa, Chapman-Taylor designed quite a lot of buildings in his house area. Tupare was created for Sir Russell Mathews, founding father of a agency that turned NZ’s largest roading contractor. Matthews was an opinionated consumer, and the home varies significantly from JWCT’s authentic design. The backyard is publicly accessible, and free excursions of the home can be found on a number of days of the week throughout summer season – refer www.tupare.nz for info. Severe JWCT followers would possibly swing by Plas Mawr (1913) at 26 Standish Avenue, Westown. Listed as a Class 1 Historic Place, this personal house is seen to the general public solely as a shingled roof over a excessive, ivy-covered fence.

08. 1963 – Whiteley Memorial Church

58 Liardet Avenue, Metropolis

Designed by Bowering with Abbott, Gap & Annabell, this hovering house is likely one of the greatest identified of the extremely geometric designs that characterised New Zealand church design within the Nineteen Sixties. Invoice McKay has described the spatial drama: “Past the welcoming porch and although a small, strong vestibule, the house expands and the large roof over the nave is thrust excessive as if the cranked metal portals have been upraised palms.” The Methodist constructing obtained an NZIA Enduring Award in 2007. Refer NZIA Journal Oct, 1964. Pop throughout the street to the Hearth Station (1965), designed by the younger John Sutherland (later of JASMaD fame) within the workplace of native architect Edgar T. Collins. Refer NZIA Journal Oct. 1970.

09. 1965-72 – NPBHS Ryder Corridor

107 Eliot Avenue, Metropolis

Designed by White for the Taranaki Training Board, this efficiency corridor and classroom block is encased in a Brutalist shell that marks it out as a radical departure from customary faculty structure. A 10m-high in-situ concrete wall wraps easily across the avenue nook, a dramatic fireplace escape and a modernist sculpture animating the façade. The inside is a theatrical composition of fair-faced concrete, pale timber, and mild sidelight. One other notable constructing on the campus is Pridham Corridor. Courting from 1919, it was designed by Auckland-based William Cumming, architect of St Kevin’s Arcade and the second Director of Auckland College’s structure faculty.

10. 1969 – St. Josephs Church

106 Powderham Avenue, Metropolis

Like Whiteley, constructed just a few years earlier, externally this church is all about geometry and construction – a folded aircraft roof over a hexagonal plan, all propped on a pin-jointed body. On the inside, designed to seat a thousand individuals, notice the immersion baptismal set into the ground, and The Stations of the Cross created by New Plymouth-born artist Michael Smither. A youth corridor within the basement is neatly configured to have entry from the adjoining avenue. The church obtained an NZIA Enduring Award in 2002. Followers of Enduring gems ought to try the New Plymouth Phone Alternate (1982) by Boon Goldsmith at 927 Liardet Avenue.

11. 1992 – TSB Stadium

1 Rogan Avenue, Welbourne

As massive, primarily clean packing containers associated primarily to carparks, stadiums like this are a tricky design problem. This one is elegantly dealt with, with a skinny, late PoMo façade wafting throughout the frontage to mediate between the automotive park and the inside. Followers of BGBB may contemplate a go to to Todd Power Aquatic Centre (2008) at 8 Tisch Ave (low key from the road, however an incredible inside), or a drive-by of BGBB’s TSB Most cancers Help Centre (2009) at 71 Lorna Avenue, Lynmouth. The later undertaking obtained quite a few awards in 2009: an NZIA Regional Award, an NZIA Resene Color Award, and an NZ Wooden Timber Design Award.

12. 2003 – Puke Ariki

1 Ariki Avenue, Metropolis

This improbable regional museum and library is the perfect place to begin a tour of New Plymouth – try out the pure historical past and historic shows. Architecturally, the constructing is an impressive mix with Māori and Pacific references rendered in industrial metal, and incorporating quite a lot of current buildings: fragments of a big 1922 Messenger, Griffiths & Taylor-designed retailer; an overbridge that connects to the library within the 1960 Warfare Memorial Constructing designed by Taylor & Collins; the historic Richmond Cottage (1854) tucked in alongside. Refer Structure NZ Mar/Apr 2003. Pop across the again to the NPDC Bus Depot, designed by BGBB in 2004, and winner of an NZIA Native Award in 2005.

13. 2006 – Liardet Avenue Overpass

Cnr Liardet & St Aubyn Sts

New Plymouth metropolis centre is in nice form however like Tauranga, one other in any other case interesting regional metropolis, it’s somewhat sadly minimize off from the waterfront by a practice line. This overpass hyperlinks – nearly effortlessly – the northern finish of town to the Coastal Walkway. The undertaking obtained quite a few awards, together with NZIA Regional and Nationwide Structure Awards in 2009/2010, and was a Extremely Recommended on the grandly named Ingenium Excellence Award in 2007. Refer Structure NZ Jan/Feb 2010 and Might/June 2010. BGBB additionally accomplished the residences close by at 22 Liardet Avenue, winner of an NZIA Native Award in 2008.

14. 2015 – Len Lye Centre

42 Queen St, Metropolis

Described by Jeremy Hansen as the right constructing for the Instagram age, the LLC now stands alongside Wellington’s Beehive and Auckland’s Skytower as considered one of NZ’s most recognizable buildings. The chrome steel façade, laid over pre-cast concrete panels which can be expressed internally, evokes Lye’s sculptural work and turns the constructing into an arresting city presence. Ramps hyperlink the galleries with the fragmented ground ranges of the Govett-Brewster – a former image theatre tailored as an artwork gallery in 1970. See Structure NZ Sept./Oct. 2015 and Dwelling NZ Aug./Sept. 2015. 

Different Addresses

AMP Insurance coverage Society Constructing (1916) – Cnr Devon and Egmont Streets, Metropolis Frederick de Jersey Clere.

St Andrew’s Church (1932) – Cnr Courtney & LIardet Sts Frederick de Jersey Clere.

New Plymouth Courthouse (1967) – 94 Powderham Avenue, Metropolis Ministry of Works A crisp Brutalist gem. The portico was added and inside alterations made within the late Nineties.

T & G Constructing (1972) – Cnr Liardet & Devon St East Stevenson & Turner.

Egmont Avenue Buying Improvement (1984) – Cnr Egmont Avenue & Devon St West Fletcher Development.

Metropolis Centre (1988) – 11 Gills Avenue, Metropolis Roger Walker This mall opened in 1988, however has since been renovated with a vibrant however pretty generic up to date design that eliminated nearly all traces of Walker’s hand.

TSB Showplace (1999) – 92-100 Devon Avenue West BGBB Crew Architects.

New Plymouth Ladies Excessive College Millennium Block (2000) – 60 Northgate Street, Strandon Dickson Lonergan Architects.

Huatoki Plaza (2010) – 18 Devon Avenue West BGBB Crew Architects With a delicacy and dynamism uncommon in New Zealand, a light-weight roof is propped at a jaunty angle.

Plunket Hub (2014) – 214 Devon Avenue West Elliot Architects.

The city is host to improbable public artwork, principally alongside the 13km-long Coastal Walkway, most notably Len Lye’s Wind Wand. Additionally try Filipe Tohi’s Halamoana (2003) Cnr Brougham and Powderham Sts, commissioned by architect Terry Boon, and John Reynold’s Huge Wave Territory (2011) on the Port.

SOURCES

The images are by Jade Shum and Andrew Barrie. Go to Puke Ariki and purchase ($10) a duplicate of New Plymouth Historic Walks (New Plymouth: Puke Ariki, 2010). It covers intimately most of the buildings included on this information. Judy Seirs’ ebook The Life and Instances of James Walter Chapman-Taylor (Napier: Millwood, 2007) covers Tupare and tells of JWCT’s youth in pioneer-era Taranaki. Margaret Alington has written two helpful books – Goodly Stones and Timbers: A Historical past of St Mary’s Church, New Plymouth (New Plymouth: The Church, 1988) and An Wonderful Recruit: Frederick Thatcher (Auckland: Polygraphia, 2007). Ian Pritchard’s self-published ebook, Frank Messenger, Architect: The Work of a New Plymouth Architect (New Plymouth: Ian Pritchard, 1994) covers a lot of his vital buildings. Ryder Corridor and the Whiteley Memorial Church are coated in Julia Gatley’s Lengthy Stay the Fashionable (Auckland: Auckland College Press, 2008). Whiteley can be coated in Invoice McKay’s Worship: A Historical past of New Zealand Church Design (New Zealand: Godwit, 2015). For extra normal New Plymouth historical past, see J. S. Tullett’s The Industrious Coronary heart: A Historical past of New Plymouth (New Plymouth: NPDC, 1981).

The itinerary collection is supported by Dulux Colors of New Zealand. Dulux Color Specialist Davina Harper has chosen a Colors of New Zealand palette primarily based on this itinerary. See the complete vary and order color samples right here.