A Visual Survey of Hamilton Architects and Waikato Architecture 1935-55

Hamilton architects and Waikato architecture do not figure very large in any of the histories so far written about New Zealand’s built environment. In many cases the Waikato is completely absent, and Hamilton frequently dismissed as an agricultural town with buildings of little substance. Before the 1950s Hamilton architects seldom had their work published in Home and Building magazine or The Journal of the NZIA and only once did a Hamilton architect win a New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) Award prior to 1955, and this for a project in Auckland.

By surveying Waikato architecture (1935 to 1955) against the historical, contextual, and professional achievements of Hamilton architects of the day, this research seeks to direct some light onto this blind-spot in New Zealand’s architecture history. This thesis will present evidence that Hamilton has a long history of talented architects, and the Waikato a wealth of outstanding buildings. In turn these demonstrate a distinct and innovative regionalist response, with many of these buildings and structures New Zealand firsts yet manifestly ignored locally.

It is beyond the scope of this research to reach any definitive conclusion about why the architects of Hamilton and architecture of the Waikato should been ignored in this way, but it is suggested that many accounts of New Zealand’s architectural history have sought simplified regional patterns at the expense of describing more complex provincial development.

This research is a first step toward remediating the neglect architectural historians have shown towards architecture in the Waikato and serves as a document of evidentially based works by Hamilton architects. To that end this survey is a foundation step for future research in this area.

For the purposes of this thesis, the western tradition of architecture is referenced, and the timeframe investigated is primarily after European contact. Other publications should be consulted regarding pre-European architecture in the Waikato, such as Deidre Brown’s book Māori Architecture: From Fale to Wharenui and Beyond (Auckland: Raupo, 2009), which for instance covers the Tūrangawaewae Carving School.

This research commences with the neglect of Waikato architecture in publishing looking at the origins of the Waikato region both before and after European contact. The history of architects in Hamilton, who they were and how they came to the Waikato are presented, as well as what was instrumental in causing the enormous demand for their work.

The impact of World War 2 was significant in the Waikato but was not felt in the same way as in other parts of New Zealand, especially in terms of its impact on established architectural practices. Hamilton architects were active in numerous technological breakthroughs and their regionally- responsive innovations are evident in high-rise buildings, civil structures and in their materiality. Continued population growth and prosperity is most evident in the post-war northern suburbs, and through the work of new architectural practices that were established and grew in the 1950s.