Wellington Central Library, WELLINGTON (List No.9761, Category 1) - Heritage New ...
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New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero – Report for a Historic Place Wellington Central Library, WELLINGTON (List No.9761, Category 1) Wellington Central Library (Grant Sheehan, December 1991) Kerryn Pollock DRAFT: Last amended 4 September 2020 Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
1. IDENTIFICATION 4
1.1. Name of Place 4
1.2. Location Information 4
1.3. Legal Description 4
1.4. Extent of List Entry 4
1.5. Eligibility 5
1.6. Existing Heritage Recognition 5
2. SUPPORTING INFORMATION 5
2.1. Historical Information 5
2.2. Physical Information 16
2.3. Chattels 21
2.4. Sources 24
3. SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT 25
3.1. Section 66 (1) Assessment 25
3.2. Section 66 (3) Assessment 26
4. APPENDICES 29
4.1. Appendix 1: Visual Identification Aids 29
4.2. Appendix 2: Visual Aids to Historical Information 33
4.3. Appendix 3: Visual Aids to Physical Information 36
4.4. Appendix 4: Significance Assessment Information 40
Disclaimer
Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero identifies only the heritage values of
the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of
its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary
conditions.
Archaeological sites are protected by the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, regardless of
whether they are entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero or not. Archaeological sites include
‘places associated with pre-1900 human activity, where there may be evidence relating to the history of New
Zealand’. This List entry report should not be read as a statement on whether or not the archaeological
provisions of the Act apply to the property (s) concerned. Please contact your local Heritage New Zealand office
for archaeological advice.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Purpose of this report
The purpose of this report is to provide evidence to support the inclusion of Wellington Central Library
in the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero as a Category 1 historic place.
Summary
Wellington Central Library possesses outstanding architectural significance as a highly esteemed
postmodern building, employing classical architectural forms, historical references and varied shapes
and materials to arresting effect. The building is critically acclaimed by architectural commentators and
has won major architectural awards. It has exceptional historical significance as a major work of Ian
Athfield, one of New Zealand’s most renowned architects of recent times, and represents the entry of
his firm into the field of public architecture. Commonly referred to as ‘Wellington’s living room’, the
Wellington Central Library has outstanding social significance as a much-loved and visited institution.
The library opened in 1991 and was the centrepiece of Wellington’s new municipal centre, Civic Square
(now known as Te Ngākau Civic Square), which comprised the Wellington Town Hall (1904), the City
Gallery (1940; the previous library), the Municipal Office Building (1951) and the Michael Fowler
Centre (1983) based around a new pedestrian square formed by a road closure. Wellington architect
Ian Athfield was made chief architect of the civic centre project and his firm, Athfield Architects, was
responsible for the design of the new library.
The design brief called for an architecturally distinguished building, which Athfield delivered.
Consisting of a basement and car park, three library floors and two smaller office floors above, the new
library has a fully glazed, undulating east elevation facing Te Ngākau Civic Square, flooding the interior
with natural light and putting it on public show. By contrast, the west elevation containing the main
entrance presents a solid face to the street, clad in precast concrete panels and punctuated by inset
windows. The building’s most striking feature is a series of metal nīkau palm columns at the main
entrance and the north elevation, where they forma lofty colonnade. The interior design was overseen
by Athfield Architects as well and New Zealand craftspeople were commissioned to make furnishings.
The library was a popular and critical success, attracting over 1 million visitors each year and winning
three major architectural awards. It catered for people from all walks of life, earning its status as
‘Wellington’s living room’ by welcoming all-comers with a diversity of reasons for visiting. Aside from
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 3
alterations made to the lobby in 1997 and 2000, the building was largely unchanged when it was
closed due to seismic concerns in 2019.
1. IDENTIFICATION 1
1.1. Name of Place
Name
Wellington Central Library
Other Names
Wellington Public Library
1.2. Location Information
Address
65 Victoria Street
Wellington Central
WELLINGTON
Local Authority
Wellington City Council
1.3. Legal Description
Lot 1 DP 494594 (RT 724107) and Legal Road, Wellington Land District
1.4. Extent of List Entry
Extent includes part of the land described as Lot 1 DP 494594 (RT 724107) and part of the
land described as Legal Road, Wellington Land District and the building known as Wellington
Central Library thereon, and the following chattels: Carin Wilson sofas (2), Carin Wilson chairs
(approximately 70), bucket chairs (40), plywood chairs (approximately 200), children’s sofas
(3), children’s armchairs (7), children’s desk, Alan Brown information desk, John Scott steel
sculpture ‘Decaying Steel – the Language of Deconstructed Reality, wedge podiums (6),
Paratene Matchitt gate, café counter.
1
This section is supplemented by visual aids in Appendix 1 of the report.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 4
1.5. Eligibility
There is sufficient information included in this report to identify this place. This place is
physically eligible for consideration as a historic place. It consists of a building fixed to land
which lies within the territorial limits of New Zealand.
1.6. Existing Heritage Recognition
Local Authority and Regional Authority Plan Scheduling
Not scheduled in Wellington City District Plan Operative 27 July 2000 [as amended]. It is
identified as a non-heritage building in the Civic Centre Heritage Area, Wellington City
District Plan Operative 27 July 2000 [as amended], Chapter 21, Appendix 19.
New Zealand Archaeological Association Site Recording Scheme
This place is part of a site recorded by the New Zealand Archaeological Association. The
reference is R27/456: Wellington Harbour Reclamations (1886-1889).
2. SUPPORTING INFORMATION
2.1. Historical Information
The human presence in Wellington is said to begin with the explorer Kupe, who travelled to
Aotearoa New Zealand from Hawaiki, the ancestral Polynesian homeland of Māori. 2 He left
his mark on the land by naming places, such as the islands Matiu and Mākaro in the harbour,
before returning home to Hawaiki. Following permanent settlement in Aotearoa, the
rangatira Tara, son of Whātonga and the eponymous ancestor of Ngāi Tara, travelled south
from Māhia Peninsula and settled at what came to be known as Te Whanganui-a-Tara, the
great harbour of Tara. 3 In the seventeenth century Ngāti Ira of Hawke’s Bay joined Ngāi Tara
and extensive intermarriage occurred. Other iwi who made a home there included Ngāti
Kahungunu, Rangitāne, Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Māmoe.
Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tama and Ngāti Mutunga migrated south from Taranaki in the 1820s and
early 1830s during a period of great upheaval associated with the introduction of Pākehā
2
Chris Maclean, 'Wellington region - Early Māori history', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 2007a,
http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/wellington-region/page-5 (accessed 20 February 2020).
3
Matene Love, Te Ara o Ngā Tuna: the Path of our Ancestors, http://www.wcl.govt.nz/maori/wellington/TeAra1.html
(accessed 5 June 2020).
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 5
muskets into te ao Māori. 4 Initially based on the Kāpiti Coast, the Taranaki people moved
further south to Wellington, where they became dominant. 5 In 1824 Ngāti Mutunga built the
five-acre Te Aro Pā, which straddled both sides of present-day Taranaki Street just north of
the intersection with Courtenay Place and Manners Street. 6 The Waimapihi Stream flowed
nearby and was an important food resource alongside the harbour’s kaimoana. Following
organised Pākehā settlement, the pā would give its name to the wider area.
Pākehā Settlement
In 1826 two ships belonging to the London-based immigration firm the New Zealand
Company sailed into Te Whanganui-a-Tara and identified it as a promising site for Pākehā
settlement. 7 Nothing came of this venture and the company became inactive, but the place
was not forgotten. When the company was revived the following decade Te Whanganui-a-
Tara was again in its sights.
By then, Pākehā had been in Aotearoa New Zealand for some time. Missionaries were
concerned about the impact of Pākehā settlement on Māori communities and feared the
growing encroachment of land speculators. They encouraged the British government to act
and by early 1839 it was clear that annexation was nigh. The New Zealand Company raced to
buy Māori land before the government banned sales and in August 1839 agent William
Wakefield bought ‘vast tracts of land’ around Te Whanganui-a-Tara from Te Ātiawa rangatira
Te Puni and Te Wharepōuri. 8 The highly controversial purchase was challenged by other
Māori leaders but Pākehā settlement nevertheless ensued and the first immigrant ships
arrived early in 1840. 9 The town at Pito-one (Petone) was moved across the harbour to what
is now Wellington after it was flooded by Te Awa Kairangi (Hutt River).
4
Maclean, 2007a.
5
Morris Love, 'Te Āti Awa of Wellington - Migrations of the 1820s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 2005,
http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/te-ati-awa-of-wellington/page-2 (accessed 5 June 2020).
6
Wellington City Libraries, ‘Te Aro Pa, Wellington – Map C.1. No. 2’ http://www.wcl.govt.nz/maori/wellington/tearopa.html
and ‘Te Aro Pa and Matairangi: Maori Sites of Te Whanganui a Tara
http://www.wcl.govt.nz/maori/wellington/ngawaahiaro.html (accessed 5 June 2020).
7
Chris Maclean, 'Wellington region - European arrival', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 2007b,
http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/wellington-region/page-6 (accessed 5 June 2020).
8
ibid.
9
Chris Maclean, 'Wellington region - The struggle to survive: 1840–1865', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 2007c,
http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/wellington-region/page-7 (accessed 5 June 2020).
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 6
Public Library
The first public library in Aotearoa New Zealand was likely the Port Nicholson Exchange and
Public Library, which opened in Wellington in May 1841. 10 Members had to pay a
subscription fee to borrow books and the financial position of the library was precarious. It
closed in 1842 and reopened later that year, only to close again in 1843. A new library
opened in 1850 and from then Wellington always had a public library. In 1893 a grand,
purpose-built library constructed by the Wellington City Council (WCC) opened on the site of
the current administration building at 101 Wakefield Street. 11
The library was joined by a magnificent neoclassical town hall designed by noted architect
Joshua Charlesworth in 1904. This established the area as the emerging civic hub of
Wellington. 12 A new library opened on the north side of Mercer Street in 1940 and was
followed by the Municipal Office Building (MOB) on the west side of the town hall in 1951. 13
The 1893 library was demolished on completion of the new library.
Civic Centre
By 1951 Wellington had a collection of civic buildings in close proximity but, unlike
Christchurch for instance, no civic centre where people could gather en masse. A triangular
piece of land in front of the MOB was landscaped and named ‘Civic Centre’ as a first step
towards a dedicated public space. 14 The land between Harris, Victoria and Mercer streets and
Jervois Quay was zoned as a civic centre in 1964 and the council bought properties as they
came up for sale. In the early 1970s the town hall was slated for replacement with a new hall
and convention centre. 15 Called the Michael Fowler Centre after the then-mayor, the Warren
and Mahoney-designed, ‘vaguely Brutalist’ building, took years to reach fruition, opening in
1983.16 The Charlesworth town hall was saved from demolition after the New Zealand
10
Julia Millen, 'Libraries - Public libraries', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 2014,
http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/libraries/page-1 (accessed 8 June 2020).
11
Wellington City Council, ‘Civic Centre Heritage Area’, 2015, p.4. An online version of this report is here:
http://www.wellingtoncityheritage.org.nz/areas/29-civic-centre (accessed 6 August 2020).
12
ibid., p.5. This building is Wellington Town Hall, List No. 3275.
13
ibid., pp.7-8. The 1940 library – now the City Gallery – is Wellington Central Library (Former), List No. 1451.
14
ibid., p.8; Photograph EP/1956/0331-F, Alexander Turnbull Library https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22788390 (accessed 8
June 2020).
15
Wellington City Council, 2015, p.8.
16
ibid. p.11. The foundational work took much longer than anticipated due to the challenges posed by building on reclaimed
land.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 7
Historic Places Trust lobbied the council, following a widely-supported community
campaign. 17
A number of civic centre concepts were drawn up in the early 1980s. 18 These were reviewed
in 1986 and a single concept plan was created. The proposed civic centre consisted of a new,
bigger library, the conversion of the 1940 library into an art gallery, the refurbishment of the
MOB, a new administration building, a central square created by the partial closure of
Mercer Street and a bridge to the waterfront. 19 Fletcher Development and Construction won
the contract and engaged architects Maurice Tebb, Gordon Moller and Ian Athfield. 20 The
new library would be Athfield’s responsibility.
Ian Athfield
Ian Athfield was born in Christchurch in 1940. 21 He knew from a young age that he wanted to
be an architect. After leaving school in 1958 he commenced a Diploma of Architecture, which
entailed academic courses and an apprenticeship with Christchurch architectural practice
Griffiths, Moffat & Partners. He also did summer work with Warren & Mahoney. Athfield
finished his studies at the University of Auckland and it was there that he became interested
in Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe of Germany and the
Netherlands’ Aldo van Eyck, all of whose work and philosophies influenced his practice. Van
Eyck’s ideas about the social value of housing and neighbourhoods, in particular the notion
that a house was akin to village or city, with communal rather than individualist values
prioritised, were particularly influential.
Following his 1962 marriage to Clare Cookson and graduation the following year, Athfield
briefly worked for Stephenson & Turner in Auckland before moving to Structon Group in
Wellington. There he gained experience in designing high-rise buildings and knowledge of the
17
ibid., p.9. This chronology explains the obvious lack of design connections between the two buildings.
18
ibid., p.11.
19
John Gully, Brian McKeon and Peter Saxton, ‘Wellington Public Library Development Plan Report Prepared for the
Wellington City Council, February 1983’. 2001:79:1, Wellington City Archives (WCA). The 1940 library had become too
small by the mid-1960s and some services were off-site. A proposal to extend it was abandoned in 1970 after an
investigation concluded its design inadequacies would not be compensated for by an addition. A new library was instead
recommended as part of the long drawn-out civic centre proposals.
20
Wellington City Council, 2015, p.9; Gatley, 2012, p.204.
21
The biographical information is drawn from Ben Schrader, Alison Dangerfield and Blyss Wagstaff, ‘New Zealand Heritage
List/Rārangi Kōrero – Report for a Historic Place: Athfield House and Office, Wellington’, List No. 9662, 2017, unless
stated otherwise.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 8
latest building technologies. 22 He was made a partner in 1965 but was sacked by senior
partners in 1968 when he suggested a retirement policy as a way of making space for
younger staff and fresh ideas. Undeterred, he founded Athfield Architects the next day,
taking some of Structon’s clients with him.
Athfield Architects
Much of Athfield Architects’ early work was in domestic housing and the firm’s growing
reputation was based on this, but it needed to expand into commercial work to be viable. 23
While Athfield recognised that ‘if you can get [high-rises] up then you can make quite a bit of
jam’, he was interested in commercial work because it supported the smaller projects. 24 He
adhered to the modernist philosophy that good architecture could change society for the
better and maintained this belief as the firm took on more corporate work in an increasingly
explicit postmodern style. 25 Business thrived in the 1980s, a period of ‘financial boom…and
frenetic speculative development’ when Athfield Architects ‘produced some of the country’s
best postmodern buildings’. 26 The 1987 share market crash put an end to the frenzy but the
firm survived when many did not by moving into public and institutional architecture.
Wellington’s new civic centre was perfectly timed. What became Te Ngākau Civic Square was
the country’s largest construction project at the time and was a major development in the
history of Wellington’s urban environment. 27
Architectural historian Julia Gatley describes the Wellington Central Library, the centrepiece
of Te Ngākau Civic Square, as ‘the building with which Athfield Architects proved themselves
to be a firm capable of designing and delivering high-quality public architecture’. 28 The library
heralded a change in focus from corporate to public buildings. Athfield’s long-held interest in
communities and neighbourhoods remained in place, albeit now cast more widely ‘at the
level of the city and broader urban environment’. 29
Design Brief
22
Julia Gatley, Athfield Architects, Auckland University Press, Auckland, 2012, pp.8-9.
23
ibid., pp.39, 118.
24
ibid., p.118.
25
ibid., p.127.
26
ibid., p.118.
27
Ken Davis, ‘Open Book’, Capital, Winter 2020, p. 55.
28
ibid., p.206.
29
ibid., p.189.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 9
The work of British architect and library designer Michael Brawne (1925-2003) informed the
brief for the new building. 30 Brawne identified four basic principles in library design:
movement and circulation, supervision, storage, and enticement. To his mind these were
shared with the likes of supermarkets and the brief consciously positioned the new library
with the retail sector, rather than the traditional government or municipal sector. 31 The
principal of enticement was particularly influential on the Wellington library. The site,
between busy Victoria Street and the proposed civic centre, was chosen for its proximity to
pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the way supermarkets were. In keeping with contemporary
thinking, the building was to be free of the features traditionally associated with libraries,
such as forbidding, closed façades, yet architecturally distinguished from surrounding
buildings so its function would be clear and people drawn inside. As described by City
Librarian Brian McKeon:
Ideally the passerby [sic] should gain an impression of what is happening inside the
building without entering ….The entrance should proclaim itself, be at ground level,
and be easy to negotiate….there should be an inducement for the visitor to move
further into the building and explore. 32
Ian Athfield researched the notion of ‘threshold fear’, when people hesitate to enter
institutions like museum, galleries and libraries because they feel unwelcome for any number
of reasons. 33 He visited new libraries in the United States and Scandinavia on a study tour
and witnessed the benefits of accessible, open-plan buildings. 34 The new Wellington building
was to encourage visitors inside through conscious design.
The Building
Athfield and his team (Clare Athfield, Richard Carver, Pauline Ching, Ken Davis, Ian Dickson,
Gary Edridge, John Melhuish, Natasha Perkins, Ian Stantiall and Paul Walker) designed the
new library between 1988 and 1989, with construction beginning that year. 35 Fletcher
30
Brian McKeon, ‘Wellington Public Library’, Section 9.2 in ‘City of Wellington Civic Centre Development: Preliminary
Concept Brief, 1987, p.20. 2001:79:2:20, WCA.
31
Note that Athfield himself used the word ‘supermarket’ in relation to the library.
32
ibid., p.22.
33 th
Ian Athfield, ‘Lecture on the 20 anniversary of the Wellington Central Library, 13 December 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU7zfZ88Uxo (accessed 22 June 2020).
34
Sue Dale, ‘Opening Windows on the Wide World: Wellington City Libraries Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui’, Wellington City
Council, 1998, p.7, https://wellington.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/4438 (accessed 3 July 2020).
35
Gatley, 2012, p.206; Wellington City Council, ‘Wellington Central Library. The Building: Facts and Features of Interest’.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 10Development & Construction was the building contractor with Holmes Consulting group
responsible for the engineering. 36 The 18,800 square metre building comprised a basement
containing a public cark park and library loading dock, the main library spaces on the ground,
first and second floors (comprising 11,500 square metres), a mezzanine area, smaller third
and four floors that were leased as office space and a plant room on the roof. 37 The top two
floors also provided space for future expansion. The library was opened by the Governor-
General Dame Catherine Tizard on 9 December 1991.
Generous floor space allowed 30,000 more books on the public shelves, items that had
hitherto been in storage. 38 All services were now under one roof and librarians were
stationed at public service desks rather than ‘working in a rabbit warren, mostly behind the
scenes’ as in the old library. 39
Alongside Ken Davis, Clare Athfield co-ordinated the interior of the library and designed a
brightly-coloured, patterned carpet for the floors. 40 The shelves, book trollies, book ends and
lighting were designed in-house and made by local firms, with Clare Athfield arguing ‘it is
time for New Zealanders to stand up and say we can do it. We can make chairs, design
furniture. We don’t need to import it’. 41 Carin Wilson (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangihouhiri)
designed the Kura Kōwhatu armchairs and couches placed through the first three floors.
Made of mangeao, steel and leather, the curved chairs referenced a whakataukī about a
young person sitting on a rock sucking a pebble while listening to a teacher. 42 Alan Brown
designed the ground floor information desk based on a waka, while the steel sculpture above
the returns desk by John Scott was called Decaying Steel – the Language of Deconstructed
Reality in reference to the steel structures of the building. 43 Artist Fergus Collinson
collaborated with Wellington children to make painted curtains in the Children and Youth
00496:1:1, WCA.
36
‘Wellington Library, Civic Centre, Wellington’, Architecture New Zealand, May/June 1993, p.54.
37
‘Wellington Central Library. The Building: Facts and Features of Interest’; Wellington City Council, ‘Statement of Proposal
for the Future of the Central Library’, 21 July 2020, p.175.
38
Wellington City Council, ‘Meet your New Library’, undated. 00496:1:1, WCA.
39
ibid.
40
ibid., p.89; ‘Wellington Central Library. The Building: Facts and Features of Interest’.
41
Bartley, 1992, pp.89-90.
42
Claire McCall, ‘Artist Carin Wilson’s Hilltop Studio’, 29 May 2013, https://www.viva.co.nz/article/culture-travel/artist-
carin-wilsons-hiltop-studio/ (accessed 24 June 2020).
43
‘Wellington Central Library. The Building: Facts and Features of Interest’, 2020. Note that this is not John Scott the
architect, but John Scott the artist and polytechnic chief executive. See Sarjeant Gallery, ‘John Scott’,
https://collection.sarjeant.org.nz/persons/9411/john-scott (accessed 4 September 2020).
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 11Section, while Duncan Sargent made distinctive clocks for the three floors. 44 Waharoa by
Paratene Matchitt (Te Whānau ā Apanui) was placed at the top of the stairs on the second
floor, forming the gateway to the Māori section.
A guiding design principal was permeability between the library, Victoria Street and Te
Ngākau Civic Square. Libraries typically had only one entrance/exit for security reasons and it
was thought that this would rule out a direct connection with the Square. 45 The solution was
an internal mezzanine floor skirting around the library proper, which acted as an internal
path between the Square and Victoria Street. 46 Described at the time as a ‘radical move for a
library’, the mezzanine included a café and bookshop, both of which were intended to draw
non-library users into the building. 47
Reception
The goal of enticement was realised, with library usage increasing by 80% and book
borrowing by 40% in the year or so after the building opened. 48 Within six months of
opening, New Zealand Home & Building reported ‘the record crowds that have flocked to the
new Library, which has gained rapid and wide public recognition as “that building with the
palm trees” are testimony to the fact that the brief has been successfully met’. 49 Its success
led to Athfield Architects being commissioned to design more libraries, such as the new
Palmerston North Library, and signalled the beginning of the firm’s ‘unprecedented stability
and respectability’. 50
The Wellington library was critically acclaimed, winning a Carter Holt Harvey Architectural
Award, Environmental, in 1992 (when it was described as ‘…by far and away the best New
Zealand public building of the 1980s’ 51), a New Zealand Institute of Architects Wellington
(NZIA) Branch Award the same year and an NZIA National Award in 1993. 52 The national
44
The Fergus Collinson curtains have been repainted since installation and are not included in the chattels list for this
reason.
45
McKeon, 1987, p.24.
46
Gatley, 2012, p.206.
47
Bartley, 1992, p.90.
48
‘Wellington Library, Civic Centre, Wellington’, 1993, p.54.
49
Bartley, 1992, p.89.
50
Athfield, 2011; Gatley, 2012, p.188.
51
‘Wellington Library, Wellington’, Architecture New Zealand, Nov/Dec 1992, p.52.
52
‘NZIA-Resene Awards for Architecture: Wellington Branch’, Architecture New Zealand, March/April 1993, p.18; ‘Wellington
Library, Civic Centre, Wellington’, p.54; Gatley, 2012, p.206.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 12award citation called the library a ‘world class building’, while the branch citation was
effusive in its praise:
Absolutely positively urban: confident yet humane, quirky with a critical edge. This
complex building artfully presents a distinct visage towards two separate public
spaces. Fronting the Civic Square, a glassy serpentine wall slides past the angular flank
of the old library. Soft fluid lines are realised with machined precision. Brittle surfaces
and crisp details amplify generations of difference between the two neighbours. The
west elevation proclaims civic grandeur to a bustling commercial thoroughfare. The
envelope is rendered sheer and massive. The street wall is breached by a lofty portal
which has been ennobled by giant metallic nikau palms, which combine stateliness
and whimsy to produce a signature for the whole Civic Centre. 53
Designed by Athfield Architects and built in partnership with engineer Johnny Mines, the nīkau
palm columns swiftly gained local icon status and were used in library and city marketing and
branding. 54 After being asked to find cheaper alternatives to the proposed limestone columns,
Ian Athfield was inspired to use the nīkau form by the emblematic palm trees of Hollywood
Boulevard in Los Angeles, which he observed when working with American architect Frank
Gehry on their entry for the Museum of New Zealand design competition. 55
The library had around 1.1 million visitors per year in the 1990s, rising to an average of 1.3
million in the 2000s and slightly less in the 2010s. 56 In 2007 the Architecture Centre included it
in an unranked list of Wellington’s 10 best buildings, while in her 2012 biography of the firm,
Julia Gatley wrote ‘Athfield Architects passed the ultimate test of a library’s success: teenagers
53
‘Wellington Library, Civic Centre, Wellington’, 1993, p.54.
54
‘Wellington Central Library. The Building: Facts and Features of Interest’, 2020; Redmer Yska, Wellington: Biography of a
City, Auckland, Reed Books, 2006, p.244; Selina Powell, ‘Nikau Palms a Part of Heritage’, Dominion Post, 10 January 2013
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/capital-life/8159474 (accessed 26 June 2020); John Daly-Peoples, ‘Ian Athfield,
the Architect who Helped Change the Face of Wellington’, National Business Review, 6 June 2012
https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/ian-athfield-architect-who-helped-change-face-wellington-120464 (accessed 26 June
2020); Rebecca Walsh, ‘Hands out for Surplus Civic Square Palms’, Evening Post, 7 May 1998, p.22; ‘Influential Architect
Reworked Wellington’, Dominion Post, 31 December 2014, p.A2; Michael Forbes and Tom Hunt, ‘Architect Recalled as
Visionary, Subversive’, The Press, 17 January 2015, p.A3; Wellington City Libraries brochures, 000492, WCA. Gatley, 2012,
p.206, calls the palms ‘character-defining’. The palms form the current Wellington City Libraries logo
http://www.wcl.govt.nz/ (accessed 26 June 2020).
55
Davis, 2020, p. 56; Public Meeting, Wellington Central Library – Save it, or Scrap it?, recording of NZIA public meeting, 19
July 2019, https://vimeo.com/348513015 (accessed 6 August 2020).
56
Wellington City Libraries Annual KPI reports, supplied by Wellington City Libraries. Copy on Heritage New Zealand file
12009-1328.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 13flood in after school, to socialise under the guise of doing homework’. 57 It was Wellington’s
second most-visited public building after Te Papa and catered for a cross-section of people. 58
In the words of one regular visitor:
There would be toddlers playing in the kids section while their caregivers read them
picture books, or just sat back for a welcome breather in a safe and welcoming space.
The desks that lined the enormous stretch of windows along the length of the back
wall of the library would be filled with students, studying or being tutored. There
would be people reading the paper, senior citizens on their way from the drop-in
centre, businesspeople returning books on a quick break from work, people heading to
the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, and Clarks cafe upstairs, feeding and caffeinating the
hordes. 59
Closure
While the library was not damaged by earthquakes centred in Canterbury (2010, 2011) and
Kaikōura (2016), the building was suddenly closed to the public on 19 March 2019 following
changes to government seismic performance guidelines. 60 Particular concerns were raised
about the library’s precast hollowcore concrete flooring system, a common flooring in
buildings constructed between the 1980s and 2000s, and one which had failed in other
Wellington buildings of similar design during the Kaikōura earthquake. 61 In the wake of the
closure, the library was acknowledged by the Wellington City Council (WCC) as ‘Wellington’s
‘living room’….the Central Library service played an important role in the social well-being and
community life, welcoming over 3,000 visitors daily.’ 62
57
David Dickens, ‘Structures in our Midst: Wellington’s Best Buildings’, Dominion Post, 1 May 2007, p.A6; Gatley, 2012,
p.206.
58
Wellington City Council, ‘Proposed Future of the Central Library Consultation’, 2020, p.171
https://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/your-council/meetings/council/2020/july/2020-07-21-agenda-council.pdf (accessed
20 July 2020).
59
Gem Wilder, ‘Can we Fill the Void Left by the Wellington Central Library’, 21 March 2019
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/21-03-2019/can-we-fill-the-void-left-by-wellington-central-library/ (accessed 31 July
2020).
60
https://wellington.govt.nz/services/community-and-culture/libraries/central-library-closure (accessed 29 June 2020).
61
Chris Barton, ‘Editorial: Chris Barton on Longevity’, Wellington City Council,
https://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/editorial-chris-barton-on-longevity/ (accessed 30 July 2020); ‘Wellington Central
Library Building and Service Update and Building Remediation Options’, 27 May 2020, pp.17-18
https://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/your-council/meetings/council/2020/may/2020-05-27-agenda-council.pdf?
(accessed 29 June 2020).
62
‘Wellington Central Library Building and Service Update and Building Remediation Options’, 2020, p.25.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 14There was significant community dismay about its closure and uncertain fate and the library’s
architectural qualities were highlighted by commentators. 63 Noted architect Pip Cheshire
spoke on behalf of NZIA Gold Medal winners, Distinguished Fellows and past presidents when
he described the library ‘as a major building in…Ian Athfield’s body of work….The success the
central library has enjoyed as an innovative and popular library, social hub and key public
building is due in no small part to Athfield’s unique design….’ 64 Angela Foster of the NZIA
Wellington branch called it ‘an outstanding example of the architecture of its era, a
postmodern milestone in the continuum of Wellington architecture that stretches from the
mid-19th century to the present day’. 65 When considering its future, the WCC noted ‘in many
ways the building is regarded as before its time and pushed the limits of what a new modern
library could be’. 66 These endorsements were echoed at a well-attended public meeting
organised by the NZIA in July 2019 called ‘Save it or Scrap it?’ 67
In June 2020 councillors voted 14-1 in favour of strengthening the library, with some citing the
influence of public opinion on their choice, Iona Pannett declaring ‘we have heard
Wellingtonians loud and clear, you want your library’ and Fleur Fitzsimons noting ‘the clear
message from the public is they are deeply missing their library and want it open as soon as
possible’. 68 Mayor Andy Foster spoke of the ‘many passionate requests to just reopen it.’ 69
However, all options, including demolition and replacement with a new building, were to be
presented during a public consultation process.
Athfield’s Legacy
In 2004 Ian Athfield received the NZIA’s highest honour, the Gold Medal. The citation
encapsulated his contribution to New Zealand architecture:
63
Inner City Wellington, ‘Save our Library – WCC Failing to Recognise the Public’s Concern’, 5 May 2020
http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=127830; Wellington City Council media release ‘Council to Set Direction for Future
Central Library Services’ https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/news/2020/05/central-library-paper-released; Lindsay
Shelton, ‘Where’s the Will to Fix the Library’, 24 May 2020 http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=128340; Joel MacManus,
‘Wellington’s Central Library set to Avoid Demolition but Still Years Away from Reopening’, 3 June 2020a
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington-top-stories/121707745/ (accessed 29 July 2020).
64
Pip Cheshire, letter to the editor, Dominion Post, 28 May 2019, p.15.
65
Angela Foster, ‘Save our Library from the Wreckers’, Dominion Post, 13 June 2019, p.16.
66
‘Wellington Central Library Building and Service Update and Building Remediation Options’, 2020, p.30.
67
https://www.nzia.co.nz/explore/news/2019/save-it-or-scrap-it-the-future-of-wellington-central-library (accessed 6 August
2020).
68
MacManus, 2020a.
69
Joel MacManus, ‘Wellington’s Central Library Likely Saved, as Council Backs Costly Earthquake Strengthening’, 3 June 2020
https://i.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington-top-stories/121707745/wellingtons-central-library-likely-saved-as-council-
backs-costly-earthquake-strengthening (accessed 29 July 2020)/
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 15Ian Athfield is a huge personality in New Zealand architecture. Throughout his highly
productive career…he has generated work that is accomplished and often provocative.
He has had a profound influence on the built environment of this country, especially in
Wellington….From his public projects…to commercial buildings to private residences,
he has exhibited mastery on all the fronts on which New Zealand architects operate. 70
Ian Athfield died in January 2015 following surgery for cancer. 71 The Wellington Central
Library was referred to in media reports and obituaries as one of his most acclaimed
buildings. 72 At the public memorial service held in Te Ngākau Civic Square in February, Mayor
Celia Wade-Brown identified it as ‘embody[ing] Wellington’s sense of creative flair’. 73 On his
death Athfield maintained a lofty reputation as, in the words of colleague Sir Miles Warren,
‘New Zealand’s most distinguished and most creative architect’. 74
Associated List Entries
N/A
2.2. Physical Information
Current Description
The Wellington Central Library is located on Victoria Street in Wellington’s Central Business
District and forms part of the western boundary of Te Ngākau Civic Square. The library adds a
postmodern element to the architectural styles of the square’s buildings, which include the
neoclassical Wellington Town Hall (1904; List No.3275), the stripped classical former library
(1940; List No. 1451) and the somewhat Brutalist Michael Fowler Centre (1983).
70
‘Ath 1940-2015’, pamphlet for service of commemoration, Wellington, 2015. Copy on Heritage New Zealand Central
Region Office file 12013-1863 vol.1.
71
Forbes and Hunt, 2015.
72
ibid., ‘Sir Ian Athfield, one of New Zealand’s Finest Architects, Dies’, Architecture Now, 19 January 2015
https://architectureau.com/articles/an-architectural-icon-2/ (accessed 2 July 2020); Forbes and Hunt, 2015; ‘Athfield
Lives on in his Work, Dominion Post, 19 January 2015, p.A10; Australian Institute of Architects, ‘Ian Athfield Lives on in
this Work’, https://wp.architecture.com.au/news-media/ian-athfield/ (accessed 2 July 2020); Lindsay Johnston, ‘Vale Ian
Athfield 1940-2015’, 27 January 2015 https://architectureau.com/articles/vale-ian-athfield-1940-2015/ (accessed 2 July
2020).
73
‘Ath 1940-2015’, 2015.
74
ibid.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 16The Māori creation story of the ancestor Māui fishing up Te-Ika-a-Māui (the North Island)
informed the design of Te Ngākau Civic Square. 75 His net was represented in the pattern of
the square’s paving stones and the shape of the City to Sea Bridge made by Paratene
Matchitt, with the ramp reminiscent of an unfurling net. The open face of the library’s Te
Ngākau Civic Square elevation looks out over the net, Whairepo Lagoon with its resident
whai repo (eagle rays) and the sea.
Exterior
The west and north elevations make a strong contribution to the townscape. The west
elevation facing Victoria Street forms the main entrance. Clad in precast concrete panels, its
solid walls with inset aluminium windows were designed to reference the warehouses that
once dominated the street. 76 The wall plane is sited over the footpath and supported by a
low colonnade on either side of a lofty main entrance buoyed by two nīkau palm columns
made of lead, copper and steel and mounted on concrete plinths faced with Ōamaru
limestone and tiles. The palms are carefully worked and realistic, with aspects of the live
plants, such as the ringed trunks and the bulging crownshafts under the fronds, faithfully
replicated. The curved roof of the plant room at the top of the building echoes the glazed
curve at the apex of the main entrance. Below this, the inset entrance wall is fully glazed,
exposing the interior to the street. This to some extent mitigates this elevation’s sense of
monumentality which, despite the design brief, is rather forbidding.
The colonnade, which Athfield believed worked better on tall buildings than the verandah, is
used to full effect on the north elevation, where a projecting second floor resting on more
nīkau palm columns shelters a walkway to Te Ngākau Civic Square. 77 The nīkau palm is a tree
indigenous to the Wellington region and used in customary Māori housing. 78 Nodding to
history, in this instance through the palms and employment of the classical colonnade, is a
quintessentially postmodern device. The palms also add a sense of playfulness to the
building, another hallmark of postmodernism.
75
Athfield Architects, ‘Wellington Civic Square’, https://athfieldarchitects.co.nz/projects/civic-community/wellington-civic-
square (accessed 17 August 2020); personal communication Zac Athfield to Kerryn Pollock, 17 August 2020, copy on
Heritage New Zealand file 12009-1328.
76
Fletcher Development & Construction Limited, ‘Library’ Section 4, in ‘Wellington Civic Centre Building Descriptions’, 1989,
p.31; ‘Wellington City Library, in ‘Awards 1992-2000’, p.2. Collection of Athfield Architects.
77
Tommy Honey, ‘Library a Talking Point’, Architecture New Zealand, Mar/April 1992, pp.51-52.
78
Gatley, 2012, p.206.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 17Overlooking Te Ngākau Civic Square, the sinuous glass façade of the east elevation’s ground,
first and second floors satisfies the requirement to entice people inside by putting the
interior on show. From the outside it reflects people and buildings in the Square and shallow
pools between the glass façade and the old library provide additional visual interest and
create further connections with the sea. 79 Built on land once under the sea, the library’s
relationship with the water is symbolised by these connections.
A wide flight of tiled stairs and an Ōamaru limestone zig-zag ramp connect the library with Te
Ngākau Civic Square. It has been argued that the lack of direct access between the building
and square at ground level on this elevation has inhibited public use of the square;
nevertheless the mezzanine internal pathway has long been a handy shortcut between
Victoria Street and the square and waterfront. The third and fourth floors and plant room are
stepped back on this elevation.
The south elevation, clad in the same precast concrete panels as the main entrance, forms
one side of the Victoria Street entrance to Te Ngākau Civic Square. The library was originally
connected to the administration building on the other side by a glazed portal or covered
bridge on the fourth floor; this was removed in 2015. 80 The portal, generally disliked by
architectural critics, was described by Peter Shaw as ‘awkward’ 81 and Tommy Honey as
‘unsatisfying’. 82 Athfield himself was not satisfied with the portal in its final incarnation. 83
The west and south elevations project a sense of solidity that contrasts with the openness of
the glazed eastern elevation, which faces the sea. The north elevation employs both solidity,
through repetition of the precast concrete walls, and openness via the projecting second
floor, which is almost fully glazed and thus flooded with natural light. The curved roof and
bright colours of the plant room at the top of the building add further visual diversity,
another key feature of postmodern architecture.
Interior
79
Athfield, 2011.
80
https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/projects/earthquake-strengthening-projects/completed-strengthening-
projects/portico-demolition (accessed 20 July 2020).
81
Peter Shaw, A History of New Zealand Architecture, 3rd edn, Auckland, Hodder Moa Beckett, 2003, p.215.
82
Honey, 1992, p.52.
83
pers. comm. Zac Athfield to Kerryn Pollock, 17 August 2020.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 18Athfield Architects was responsible for both architectural and interior design and
furnishings. 84 The design brief called for a flexible interior layout that could accommodate
changing functions and uses. 85 The building services – the central plant air plenums, modular
lighting, power point grids and cable reticulation – are suspended beneath the floor slabs in
order to achieve simplicity and flexibility. A desired sense of openness and light is realised by
up to seven metre floor-to-ceiling heights, a glazed roof atrium above the staircase and
escalators and the fully-glazed east elevation.
The ground, first and second floors constitute the heart of the library. All three floors are
largely open plan, with floor-to-ceiling columns at regular intervals and librarian workrooms
set at the edges. Exposed structures and services impart an industrial feel. These floors are
arranged around the central atrium and escalator, which is a significant vertical element of
the building and an important way in which visitors engage with and move through the
space. Stairwells and lifts that service all floors are located on the north and south sides of
the building.
Prior to the 2019 closure, the ground floor housed the fiction, music, and young adult and
children’s collections. The library’s entry and exit gates are on this floor, directly opposite the
main entrance lobby. The original terracotta and vitrified floor tiles in the lobby and ground
floor remain in place. A lofty ceiling height on much of this floor imparts a sense of openness;
this contrasts with the low ceiling in the south-west corner where the children’s collection
was located.
General non-fiction was on the first floor and the second floor was occupied by the New
Zealand and Māori collection, the reference section and the stack. The ceiling height of these
floors is lower than the ground but both receive good natural light via the glass façade of the
east elevation. On the west side the first floor ends at the mezzanine, whereas the second
floor extends right to the wall and the large arched window above the main entrance.
The main staff room and administrative services were located on the second floor in the
projecting glazed section of the north elevation. The basement contained public and council
car parking and the library loading dock, while the third and floor floors were general office
84
https://athfieldarchitects.co.nz/projects/civic-community/wellington-central-library (accessed 22 June 2020); Alison
Bartley, ‘Radical Departure’, New Zealand Home & Building, April/May 1992, p.89.
85
‘Wellington City Library, in ‘Awards 1992-2000’, p.3.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 19space. The mezzanine floor contained the café and bookshop space (most recently occupied
by the Citizens Advice Bureau).
Alterations
The library has not been significantly altered since it opened in 1991. Relatively minor
alterations were done to the ground floor lobby in 1997 and 2000. 86 At the time of writing,
all three library floors contained the original Clare Athfield-designed carpet (which, in
keeping with the Māui story of Te Ngākau Civic Square, was based on fish and clouds of sand
floating through the sea 87), and some of the custom-made artwork and furniture, such as
John Scott’s Decaying Steel and Alan Brown’s information desk on the ground floor. The
original café counter on the mezzanine floor remained in-situ.
Comparisons
As noted above, architectural historian Julia Gatley has identified the Wellington Central
Library as a building with which Athfield Architects demonstrated they could produce first-
class public architecture, which went on to become a highly important field of work for the
firm. 88 The Wellington Central Library stands out as a seminal building in the oeuvre of
Athfield Architects. Its success led to further library commissions, such as the reconfiguration
of Palmerston North’s DIC Building into a new library (DIC Building (Former), List No.1256).
This too included a mezzanine level with a ramp that acted as an internal street, a café and
internal atrium with exposed services. 89 More recent Athfield libraries have shared the
Wellington library’s concern with community space, multi-use, flexibility and permeability
between the inside and outside, such as Auckland’s Devonport Library (2015), Picton’s
Waitohi Whare Mātauranga (2017) and Wellington’s Waitohi Johnsonville Library &
Community Hub (2019). 90 Both the Picton and Johnsonville libraries reference local history
through design elements similar to Wellington’s iconic nīkau palms. Similarly, historical and
geographic specificity, notions of community space and the principle of enticement are
integral to the design of Christchurch’s award-winning library Tūranga (2018) designed by
86
Building consents SR35031 and SR66688, Wellington City Archives.
87
Pers. comm. Zac Athfield to Kerryn Pollock, 17 August 2020.
88
Gatley,2012, p.206; https://athfieldarchitects.co.nz/projects/civic-community/ (accessed 29 July 2020).
89
ibid., p.221.
90
https://athfieldarchitects.co.nz/projects/civic-community/te-pataka-korero-o-te-hau-kapua-devonport-library,
https://athfieldarchitects.co.nz/projects/civic-community/waitohi-whare-matauranga-picton-library and
https://athfieldarchitects.co.nz/projects/civic-community/waitohi-johnsonville-library-community-hub (accessed 24 July
2020).
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 20Architectus and Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen, which has been described as a ‘beacon
that draws people across [Cathedral] Square’. 91 The Wellington Central Library can be seen as
providing a lineage of sorts to these later buildings.
Construction Professionals
Ian Athfield – Architect
Athfield Architects – Architect
Fletcher Development & Construction – Builder
Holmes Consulting group – Engineer
Johnny Mines – Engineer
Construction Materials
Concrete, steel, timber, glass, Ōamaru limestone, aluminium, lead, copper
Key Physical Dates
1989-90 Original construction
1997 Alterations to lobby
2000 Further alterations to lobby
Uses
Civic Facilities – Library
Trade – Café
Trade – Shop (Former)
Trade – Office Building
2.3. Chattels
This List entry includes chattels that contribute to the heritage significance of the place. The
number of each item is recorded in brackets. At the time of writing, the contents of the
library – books, shelves, furniture – were in the process of being moved offsite, either to new
temporary libraries or storage. The chattels listed here are key items that were still in the
library at the time of writing. 92
91
https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/turanga/turanga-about-the-building/ (accessed 24 July 2020).
92
Item numbers at 10 August 2020 were supplied by Lucy Lang, Wellington City Council, as were the photographs of the
sofas.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 21Carin Wilson sofas (2)
Carin Wilson chairs (approximately 70)
Bucket chairs (40)
Plywood chairs (approximately 200)
Children’s sofas (3)
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 22Children’s armchairs (7)
Children’s desk
Alan Brown information desk
John Scott steel sculpture ‘Decaying Steel – the Language of Deconstructed Reality (above
desk)
Wedge podiums (6)
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 23Paratene Matchitt gate
Café counter
2.4. Sources
Sources Available and Accessed
Architectural historian Julia Gatley’s 2012 biography Athfield Architects was a critical
secondary source, providing detailed information on the life and career of Ian Athfield and
entries on many of the firm’s buildings, including the Wellington Central Library. Te Ara – The
Encyclopedia of New Zealand provided useful background information on the early Māori
history of the Wellington region and the arrival of Pākehā in the early nineteenth century.
Wellington City Council documents held at the Wellington City Council, such as the library
design brief and civic centre concept briefs were vital primary sources, as were architectural
plans held by Athfield Architects. Architecture New Zealand articles provided good evidence
of the building’s critical reception. Athfield Architects Principal Zac Athfield, Dr Julia Gatley of
the University of Auckland and Natasha Perkins of Victoria University of Wellington reviewed
the report.
Further Reading
Athfield, Ian, ‘Lecture on the 20th anniversary of the Wellington Central Library’, 13 December
2011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU7zfZ88Uxo
Dale, Sue, ‘Opening Windows on the Wide World: Wellington City Libraries Te Matapihi ki te
Ao Nui’, Wellington City Council, 1998 https://wellington.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/4438
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 24Davis, Ken. ‘Open Book’, Capital, Winter 2020.
Gatley, Julia, Athfield Architects, Auckland University Press, Auckland, 2012.
Honey, Tommy, ‘Library a Talking Point’, Architecture New Zealand, Mar/April 1992.
3. SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT 93
3.1. Section 66 (1) Assessment
This place has been assessed for, and found to possess aesthetic, architectural, cultural,
historical and social significance or value. It is considered that this place qualifies as part of
New Zealand’s historic and cultural heritage.
Aesthetic Significance or Value
Elements of the Wellington Central Library, in particular the nīkau palm columns, have
become a symbol of the building as an institution. Instantly recognisable, the palms have
been used in library and city branding. They are beautifully rendered in lead, copper and
steel with attention to detail evident in the ringed trunks, bulging crownshafts and feather-
like fronds, all of which are true to life. More than mere columns, the nīkau palms are
architectural sculpture, imparting strong aesthetic value to the building. The undulating form
of the east elevation, allowing views out to sea from the interior and reflecting life in Te
Ngākau Civic Square on its glazed surface, is another source of aesthetic value.
Architectural Significance or Value
Wellington Central Library is an excellent, intact and authentic example of postmodern
architecture in Aotearoa New Zealand by a renowned architect whose contribution to the
country’s built environment is immense. The use of classical architectural forms such as the
colonnade, references to local history through the employment of nīkau palms as columns
and the warehouse-like walls of the north elevation, and the building’s varied shapes and
materials, are typical postmodern devices. The nīkau palms impart a strong sense of
postmodern playfulness and have become one of the most lauded features of the building,
which is seen by Athfield’s peers as among his most outstanding works. It is an architectural
reply to the guiding design principles of enticement and permeability. The building works to
93
For the relevant sections of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 see Appendix 4: Significance
Assessment Information.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No.9761 25You can also read
