Authenticity restored | Architecture Now

Sensible phrases to heed when contemplating the improve of a heritage constructing are “do as little as potential however as a lot as is vital”.

They had been echoed very neatly when Cardinal John Dew briefed Jane Kelly, the architect commissioned for the upgrading of the Cathedral of the Sacred Coronary heart in Wellington. He stated to her: “Strengthen the constructing, maintain it easy, concentrate on the altar.”

A succinct transient, and the ensuing improve of the Cathedral, accomplished in June 2024, could be pretty assessed as assembly it.

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Coronary heart stands in Hill Avenue, Thorndon, distinguished for its magnificent Classical portico, lording it over the Gothic of the Parliamentary Library additional down Hill Avenue. It’s the work of architect F W Petre, typically generally known as ‘Concrete Petre’ for his modern use of the fabric, however extra particularly recognized for a exceptional sequence of Basilican-style Catholic church buildings. These embody these in Ōamaru, Tīmaru, Waimate and, most particularly, Christchurch; the latter, certainly one of our biggest architectural treasures, was critically broken within the earthquakes of 2011 and later demolished.

I just lately had two hours within the constructing with Jane Kelly, venture architect of Staff Architects, and Paul Cummack, conservation architect. The venture was initiated as a result of a structural evaluation in 2018 confirmed that the constructing was earthquake inclined, at 15 per cent NBS. This led to rapid closure and the easy spoken transient to the architect quoted earlier.

Strengthening was clearly the motivating power, and the constructing now stands at 50 per cent NBS. The work concerned a metal diaphragm above and within the aircraft of the ceiling; bracing within the roof planes; post-tensioned longitudinal metal ties, and vertical metal within the columns. Intensive although this sounds, the fantastic coffered ceiling of the nave was left undisturbed, and, though the roof cladding needed to be eliminated, this was pressed metallic tiles of recent origin and with out heritage significance. Nothing of the structural work is seen except one delves into service or roof areas.

Through the course of this work, it turned clear that the material of the constructing was affected by critical decay. Cummack took moisture readings of the Ōamaru stonework over giant areas of the inner wall surfaces, discovering a few of it at 99 per cent; the saturated masonry had, in flip, rusted the metal ties that held the interior pores and skin of Ōamaru stone to the brickwork of the outside, and a few wall planes had been distorting in consequence.

It’s stated that one coat of paint 50 microns thick could make the distinction between good and dangerous conservation, and nowhere was this extra true than right here with 400 microns of paint; it was paint coatings that truly threatened the soundness of the constructing. The inside stone had been painted many occasions, forming an impervious pores and skin that held the errant moisture that made its means via the brickwork, the random rubble infill and the stone. This paint was laboriously taken off with an ingenious array of purpose-made hand planes, by 4 staff over eight months, whereas, on the skin, weathering enhancements had been made to window sills and flashings. Fretted and spalled stone and brick surfaces had been repaired with rigorously let-in new materials: seen however discreet. Not solely did the moisture readings drop dramatically inside weeks of the removing of the paint, however the heat glow of the Ōamaru stonework is, now, as soon as once more a defining function of the inside. One can solely guess that the portray of the inside was a useless try to remedy the dampness downside.

The Cardinal’s phrases “concentrate on the altar” might hardly have been extra faithfully met. St Gerard’s Monastery Chapel standing above Oriental Bay was designed by John Swan in 1908. When it was bought by ICPE Mission, a Catholic organisation, to a secular proprietor, they gifted the altar to the Cathedral as a part of the sale settlement: an attractive Italian-made marble and mosaic piece that’s now the focus of the chancel. It replaces a contemporary altar and has been positioned ahead of the unique place to fulfill present-day liturgical wants. Trendy chipboard flooring and carpet within the chancel had been eliminated to disclose long-hidden mosaic tilework on the ground. The risers of the steps and the bases of the columns had been all in remarkably good situation however calling for cautious restore in small native areas; it’s now arduous to detect these repairs.

In addition to the Cardinal’s transient, the work was guided by a conservation plan for the Cathedral ready in 1998 by Salmond Reed Architects. Though it was old-fashioned in respect of district plan and constructing consent issues, it held good in historical past and evaluation of significance issues, and it served as a base doc for the work. Kelly was continuously in contact with workers at Salmond Reed, and he or she had discussions at vital occasions with Metropolis Council and Heritage New Zealand workers.

As for consenting issues, a constructing consent was issued for the structural work; all else was judged to be restore and upkeep with no consent required. Though listed on the District Plan as a heritage constructing, exterior solely, a useful resource consent was pointless for the reason that solely exterior change was making good to faulty cloth. That’s till it was determined to change the porch, which is a part of a Nineteen Eighties’ addition to the unique constructing, designed by Melling Morse Architects. Since it’s an integral a part of the constructing, it is usually part of the heritage itemizing.

The venture was drawn out — 2018 to 2024 — Covid being answerable for a superb portion of this time, and discoveries alongside the best way prolonged the scope of the work. Looking back, each Kelly and Cummack stated that, ideally, extra investigative work ought to have been performed in the beginning, and the work would have been deliberate otherwise. Good apply would have required that the conservation plan be up to date, too.

The venture value got here to roughly $13m, a beneficiant $8m of which got here from the Authorities’s ‘Shovel Prepared’ initiative within the wake of Covid.

A vitally necessary class 1 heritage constructing now stands structurally safe, with cloth defects eradicated and weathering capability tremendously improved. The grand portico of the entrance elevation is wanting formidable and the outside usually effectively cared for. I be part of with some parishioners to find the distressed sample of the carpet (“harking back to flagstones”) inappropriate in such a proper and ordered constructing however, that apart, one can applaud the return of the wonder and authenticity of the Ōamaru stonework, of the newly revealed mosaics, and of the re-ordered chancel with an attractive altar. This improve, important within the lifetime of the constructing, has been achieved with a commendable respect for and minimal disturbance of heritage cloth… “as little as potential however as a lot as was vital”.