Farewell to the Toomath’s Buildings then. Designed by architect William Crichton, completed by 1901. Survived years of neglect – did not survive a group of vagrant youths setting fire to it. Well and truly gone now, a digger has smashed it into pieces, without a hope of the building ever coming back. Could it have been saved? Well, yes, probably, but not once a fire had…
demolition
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Leviathan
4 Min Read
Welcome to 2018 and welcome back to the Eye of the Fish, the uniquely Wellington look at architecture and urban matters in and around our glorious and perfectly formed small city – the self-proclaimed Coolest Small Capital in the World. The holiday season is now half over, and while you have been at the beach or up on a mountain top, some other people have been…
Maximus
3 Min Read
For those that are interested, the following is the text of the final paragraphs of the decision on the Harcourts building: (302) In the end, for the reasons we have outlined, we have concluded that the demolition of the Harcourts building would not constitute sustainable management of an important physical resource, namely a heritage building of considerable significance. DECISION (303) Consequently, having regard to the evidence…
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Maximus
2 Min Read
So: the results are out from the Commissioners: Mark Dunajtschik may not demolish the “Harcourts” building. That’s an interesting result – and opposite to that recommended by the Council’s own planning officers – and Mr Dunajtschik is furious. We wrote about it here, and also here, and this decision sets out quite clearly that demolition is not going to be granted wholesale for the heritage buildings…
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Maximus
3 Min Read
Regarding the old Temperance and General Building on Lambton Quay – known to next to no-one as the Harcourts building. Submissions on it’s proposed demolition are due in a week – by the end of the month. It is a crunch point for Wellingtonians – should a building owner be allowed to demolish their building because it is a bit hard to strengthen it, or do…
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Maximus
5 Min Read
Christchurch – there’s just so many things I want to write about down there, and sadly, not really that much going on up here. The Government announced yesterday that three suppliers of temporary portable housing have been named: “Three kiwi-based companies were selected to provide the temporary accommodation. A consortium of Hawkins/Spanbild/Fulton Hogan; Jennian Homes; and New Zealand Transportable Units were the chosen providers out of…
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Maximus
2 Min Read
I saw the headline and I was packed and ready, to answer the call of the nation. Normally they just send up the Fish signal, much like the Bat symbol, but this is the first time my moniker has made it to the front page of the DomPost. Had my site boots, hi-vi and my hard hard ready for action too, until I saw that they…
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Maximus
2 Min Read
So, Auckland awoke to the news that a “historic building” had been knocked down last night, in possibly the dodgiest piece of developer dealings seen since the 1980s (outside of Christchurch of course). The 124 year old Palace building “had to” be knocked down due to a structural instability it had developed “overnight” as it was being turned into a “brothel”. As usual with the Chow…
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