Waikato’s agricultural trade began to flourish firstly of the twentieth century, marking the turning level for the area’s economic system. New developments in soil analysis led to elevated productiveness and this had a spill-over impact on the native economic system. Because the dairy trade started to develop, related infrastructure, corresponding to milking stations, dairy factories and freezing works, was vital, together with architects and engineers to design them. Many long-standing architectural practices started from these agricultural calls for whereas others grew by means of architects travelling to the area on the lookout for alternatives. The origin of Hamilton agency Angus, Flood & Griffiths (AF&G) encapsulates these typical traits of mid-century Hamilton follow in addition to others such because the inclusion of an engineer as a follow accomplice, and the progressive use of concrete and metal, the archetypical agricultural (learn cheap and long-lasting) constructing materials.
Established architect Ernest Gillman, who specialised within the design of dairy factories round Waikato and Taranaki, moved to Hamilton simply earlier than the Second World Struggle. In 1948, he was joined by Doug Angus, initially from Napier, and the 2 fashioned the partnership of Gillman & Angus. Each would ultimately type their very own practices however this partnership was the start of a flourishing architectural legacy, with Angus, Flood & Griffiths one of many extra progressive post-war Hamilton practices to emerge from it.
The presence of an engineer as a accomplice was typical for a lot of Hamilton companies of the time. Colin Fraser was the engineer in Leigh, de Lisle and Fraser, and Rex Clapp the engineer in Gillman, Garry, Clapp and Sayers. An engineer within the agency was helpful when tendering for big tasks, by offering shoppers with assured design functionality and, doubtlessly, some innovation. Structural engineer Tom Flood joined Doug Angus in 1961 having beforehand labored in New York for Ammann and Whitney, a civil engineering agency whose founder Charles S. Whitney designed many progressive constructions, together with collaborations with Eero Saarinen on the TWA Terminal constructing (1962). Whereas there, Flood labored on the John Deere Centre (1964) and delivered to Hamilton Whitney’s strategies for designing thin-shell concrete constructions.
AF&G would go on to design lots of of progressive buildings in New Zealand and a few abroad as properly. Many of those buildings had been firsts for the area, and a few had been firsts for New Zealand. Nevertheless, a number of elements curtailed the workload of Hamilton architects from the Nineteen Eighties onwards. Competitors from out-of-town architects, notably demonstrated by the JASMaD-designed Waikato Museum (1987), the elimination of set charges by the New Zealand Institute of Architects and the disestablishment of many Crown entities, such because the Ministry of Works and the South Auckland Training Board, meant that many native practices couldn’t survive. Employees members dispersed to exit on their very own, retire or depart the area altogether.
Angus was the primary to retire, shifting to Auckland to oversee the agency’s tasks there till about 1978. Flood retired round 2000, primarily because of poor well being, and John Griffiths retired a couple of years later.
AF&G was a prolific agency with work all through the North Island and abroad, and this survey represents only a fraction of its output. Its portfolio contains Catholic church buildings in Whakatāne, Hamilton and Morrinsville, 10 supermarkets throughout the central North Island, sports activities golf equipment, inns, medical centres, banks, grandstands and dozens of award-winning residential tasks.
A lot of its seminal buildings have survived however, as with tasks of most companies of that period, many have been demolished. Probably the most notable loss is St Joseph’s Church in Morrinsville (1964): the closest Waikato got here to Brazilian modernist structure.
THE ITINERARY
1. ca 1955 – Riverlea Cabaret83 Riverlea Highway, Hamilton
This was an early venture for Angus, who had gone out on his personal in 1954. Designed as a cabaret, the constructing remains to be in use at present as a working theatre and is essentially unique. The constructing’s development of pre-cast, tilt-up concrete panels, tied along with small metal flat sections, makes this probably the primary tilt-up panel constructing in New Zealand. Angus was starting to make use of concrete development in progressive methods, in addition to specifying a canvas cover enclosing a courtyard; on the time, it was the most important of its variety in New Zealand. See House and Constructing June 1956.
2. 1958 – St Peter Chanel Catholic Church 125 King Avenue, Whakatān
This was one other early venture for the agency at a time when it employed only one (its first) employees member: Dick Mercer, an alumnus of the Christchurch Atelier. The constructing is probably a reference to the veil and bandeau of a nun’s headpiece. That is one in all many tasks to come back to Angus by means of the Catholic Diocese; later, important work within the training sector was included. Mercer was answerable for encouraging his classmate John Griffiths to affix Angus in 1958; nonetheless, in 1961, Mercer left the agency to determine his personal follow in Hamilton.
3. 1958–1974 – Kimiora Cultural Centre Tūrangawaewae Marae, 29 River Highway, Ngāruawāhia
Angus established a protracted and inventive relationship first with Princess Te Puea Hērangi round 1958 and, later, with the Tainui Māori Belief Board. The design of the Kimiora constructing centres round engineer Tom Flood’s favoured use of structural ring-trusses to unencumber flooring area beneath, and dormer home windows to supply vertical inside gentle. A fibreglass pole penetrates the ceiling and glass-capped, pyramid-shaped roof and is topped by a carved miniature canoe prow. The constructing was opened by Queen Elizabeth II throughout a royal go to to New Zealand in 1974.
4. 1964, demolished 2014 – St Joseph’s Catholic Church 1 Victoria Avenue, Morrinsville
This spectacular design mixed structure and engineering in a simplified parabolic concrete shell. Composed of prestressed concrete ribs with in-situ concrete panels in between, Flood’s design remembers Oscar Niemeyer’s Church of Saint Francis of Assisi (1943) in Brazil, which was revealed within the Journal of the NZIA in 1951 and described as “probably the greatest church designs our technology has produced”. Irregular-shaped fenestrations on the entrance wall mimicked these at Le Corbusier’s well-known chapel at Ronchamp in France and had been designed and hand blown by artist Martin Roestenburg. See House and Constructing April 1969.
5. 1966 – Hamilton Rowing Membership 154 Grantham Avenue, Hamilton
Steeply pitched, asymmetrical roof kinds and dormer home windows display recurring themes of the agency’s work. Each Angus and Flood had been energetic rowers, with Angus having rowed within the Auckland College School Eight. Flood was approached by the Hamilton Rowing Membership with a sketch plan already ready; nonetheless, Angus supplied an alternate scheme which was later accepted. The constructing is as near the river as any constructing in Hamilton will be; the bottom degree is designed to simply accept flooding when the river rises quickly. The agency additionally designed the Waikato Rowing Membership constructing (1980) additional down Grantham Avenue.
6. 1968 – St Matthew’s Catholic Church Silverdale Highway, Hillcrest, Hamilton
The extreme and considerably featureless exterior type of this church constructing is softened by the addition, in 1984, of a brand new entry vestibule, sympathetic to the prevailing roof. The massive inside flooring area is freed from columns aside from simply two beneath the ring-truss. The ceiling follows the pyramid-shaped fundamental roof, which supplies vertical top and drama. The distinction in type between this and St Peter Chanel Catholic Church (1958) in Whakatāne demonstrates the distinction between the arms of Mercer and people of Angus. Angus was identified to permit employees, together with Tom Flood, a specific amount of freedom of their designs.
7. 1971 – Medical doctors’ Rooms 17 Hill Avenue, Hamilton
This constructing was designed initially for 2 personal orthopaedic medical practitioners. The distinguished excessive roof design and irregular roof planes are typical of the follow and, right here, present helpful mezzanine cupboard space. This was one in all many healthcare services that Angus accomplished, indicating a specialist ability inherited by means of working with Ernest Gillman, whose son Frank Gillman would ultimately work nearly solely in that area as Gillman, Garry, Clapp and Sayers. The constructing remains to be in use as a medical centre at present and is sort of utterly unique. See House and Constructing February 1973.
8. 1972 – Kempthorne Prosser & Co Ltd 11–17 Somerset Avenue, Frankton, Hamilton
This warehouse and showroom for items bought to medical and pharmaceutical prospects options thermostatically managed underfloor heating. An infinite cover stretches out from the principle constructing past the standard setback required by Council; nonetheless, the transgression was permitted because of the added visible road amenity and its service to the general public. The cover appears to hover above the automobile park on only a single metal piloti housed in a brick pier. It earned an NZIA Waikato/Bay of A lot Department Bronze Medal in 1972. See House and Constructing Nov 1972 and NZIA Journal February 1973.
9. ca 1974 – Marist Brothers Grade Faculty Atu‘u, Tutuila Island, American Samoa
This was the primary of two colleges inbuilt American Samoa by the agency; each characteristic progressive pure air flow methods. The constructing had a specifically designed roof with a small opening appearing as a lid to permit air to flee, drawn from the skin, thus making a venturi stack impact. On a boring day, college students needed to put their jerseys on as a result of it bought too chilly, in line with Flood. The benefit of development and selection of supplies was a major issue within the design, as each needed to permit for native unskilled labour. There was no mechanical lifting tools used and, apparently, when scaffolding was used, it was erected on the within, not the skin, of the construction.
10. ca 1975, demolished ca 2000 – Marist Brothers Excessive Faculty Malaloa, Pago Pago, American Samoa
The second of the 2 colleges inbuilt American Samoa additionally makes use of pure air flow methods. Its location is extra distant than that of the Grade Faculty, a lot of the development was carried out in New Zealand, disassembled for delivery to Pago Pago after which reassembled on web site by crane. It obtained an AHI Environmental Award in 1976, the primary venture to realize this award upon its institution the earlier yr. Each colleges had been constructed of sturdy low-maintenance supplies which have needed to stand up to each heavy rainfall and hurricanes.
11. 1978 – World Rowing Championships Services Lake Karāpiro
AF&G acted as consultants for all planning and all services for the 1978 World Rowing Championships at Lake Karāpiro; included had been a significant short-term grandstand for 6000 spectators, the Race Tower and the Water Sports activities Centre. Flood visited various abroad world rowing occasions in preparation for the Karāpiro venture. The Water Sports activities constructing (on proper in photograph) was demolished in June 2009 to make manner for brand new services to host the World Rowing Championships in 2010. The unique Race Tower (on left in photograph) was demolished a couple of years later.
12. 1979 – Nationwide Mutual Life Affiliation Constructing 312 Victoria Avenue, Hamilton
AF&G acted as each architect and structural engineer for this 11-storey workplace constructing. Building of the tower was of poured concrete, relatively than prestressed concrete, which, on the time, was the prevailing method, saving the venture each money and time. Cooperation with the house owners of the neighbouring Waikato Financial savings Financial institution constructing and Hamilton Metropolis Council, enabled a pedestrian hyperlink by means of the constructing from Victoria Avenue to the river-bank and the Waikato River past; this was the primary of its variety in Hamilton. See House and Constructing March 1981.
13. 1980 – Embassy for the Federal Republic of Germany 90 Hobson Avenue, Thorndon, Wellington
AF&G was initially engaged to hold out the architectural design however, after preliminary conferences with the shopper, the agency’s providers elevated to incorporate engineering. The three-storey ($2-million) German Embassy took three years to finish, because the preliminary design temporary was not acceptable for the Wellington local weather, nor its seismic calls for, necessitating important redesign. The shopper supplied the fundamental format and specs, however the general design and inside design had been accomplished by the architects. Consumer necessities additionally included cladding to have bulletproof capabilities for armour-piercing ammunition at sure ranges.
Images: Russell Fricker/SBI Productions (01); College of Auckland Archive, the Sheppard Assortment, Doug Angus (A595) (02); John Griffiths property (03–06, 09–11 and 13); Matt Grant (07, 08 and 12).
OTHER ADDRESSES
1958 –Angus, Flood & Griffiths Workplace (former) 1088 Victoria Avenue, HamiltonThe former Angus, Flood & Griffiths Workplace was the primary purpose-built architectural workplace in Waikato and, probably, in New Zealand.
1958 – Federated Farmers Constructing 71 London Avenue, HamiltonOne of the primary post-war multilevel industrial tasks in Hamilton.
1960 – Eight Outlets 58–74 Masters Avenue, Hillcrest, Hamilton
1972 – Townhouse Growth Cnr Wellington Avenue and Franklin Highway, Freemans Bay, Auckland An entry into an invited competitors by Auckland Metropolis Council, this scheme of 33 townhouses was profitable, primarily based on standards that included entry, privateness and liveability.
ca 1973 – Grisham Clinic Cnr Financial institution Avenue and Vaile Avenue, Te Awamutu
1979 – Huntly West Rugby Membership: Grandstand and Sports activities Pavilion Alexandra Avenue, Huntly
1974–1981 – Waahi Paa: Important Corridor, Website Growth, all Residential and all Service Services Harris Avenue, Huntly
1987 – Financial institution of New Zealand 501 Pollen Avenue, Thames
BIOGRAPHY
Douglas Haig Angus (1918–1986) was initially from Napier, and the youthful brother of modernist painter Rita Angus. Earlier than shifting to Hamilton in 1947, he had labored in Auckland for Benjamin Charles Chilwell (1879–1950). Thomas Clendon Flood (1930–2006) graduated in 1954 however left New Zealand in 1958 to check civil engineering at Columbia College as a Fulbright Scholar. Whereas in New York, Flood labored for Ammann and Whitney, an progressive civil engineering agency. He returned to New Zealand in 1960 and, the next yr, joined Angus to grow to be Angus & Flood. John Alexander Griffiths (1930–2014) studied structure at Auckland College School. After graduating in 1954, he stayed in Auckland and labored for Sargent, Smith & Companions. He joined Doug Angus in 1958 and, in 1966, grew to become a accomplice. Kevin Findsen joined AF&G in December 1969 and have become a accomplice in late 1982 however would depart in 1989 to work as a sole practitioner. The 1987 stock-market crash resulted in a major downturn of labor and AF&G went from a employees of round eight to simply two. The enterprise was lastly wound up in March 2002.
SOURCES
Regardless of being broadly revealed on the time, and reaching quite a few architectural and engineering awards, Angus, Flood & Griffiths has not but obtained a survey the follow deserves. Fortuitously, administrators Tom Flood and John Griffiths had been interviewed throughout the Architects’ Oral Historical past Undertaking by Hamilton Metropolis Council in 1999, and that testimony has knowledgeable a lot of this analysis. I interviewed John Griffiths throughout 2013 and this has additionally knowledgeable this survey. Helpful revealed sources embrace: Andrew Barrie and Jade Shum’s ‘A Information to Waikato Structure’, revealed as Map No. 5 in Block: The Broadsheet of the Auckland Department of the New Zealand Institute of Architects nos 1/2 (2020); Ross Hill’s Hamilton, Hub of the Waikato 1864–1964 (Auckland: Industrial Publicity Ltd, 1964); and David Sayers’ The Goodwill Years: The Exceptional Story of a Skilled Partnership (Hamilton: SFT Books, 2010). I’ve additionally written on Hamilton structure beforehand, in ‘A Visible Survey of Hamilton Architects and Waikato Structure 1935–55’, Grasp of Structure thesis, Victoria College of Wellington, 2024. Hamilton Metropolis Libraries’ Oral Historical past Programme, ‘Again to the Drawing Board: Abstracted Interviews from the Architects’ Oral Historical past Undertaking’ (1999–2000), is a useful supply.
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.
