Places and spaces - House of Representatives 1854-2004

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Places and Spaces

Along with the harbour, Te Papa and the hills, Parliament Buildings are one of Wellington's best-known landmarks. Standing at the north-west corner of the central business district, the parliamentary complex dominates this part of the capital city. Newly-weds have their photos taken on the steps of the Parliamentary Library, tourists click snapshots of Premier Richard Seddon pointing to the sky, and the Beehive ― a structure instantly recognisable to all New Zealanders ― squats alongside the imposing grey facade of Parliament House. The buildings have been modified, destroyed by fire, half built, and restored; people love them or hate them. Whether located in Auckland, as they were between 1854 and 1864, or Wellington since, the parliamentary places and spaces have formed an important part of New Zealand's history.

First Buildings

An Auckland Start

Auckland was a bustling place in 1854 when Parliament met there for the first time. The buildings were located in paddocks on what was then the edge of town, on Constitution Hill, between Official Bay and Mechanics Bay, close to the present-day University of Auckland.

Parliament's buildings left a lot to be desired. The plain, gabled, two-storey structure had been hastily thrown up, and offered scant comfort to politicians and parliamentary staff. It was little more than a bare shell and became known as the 'Shedifice'. The wind whistled through the walls and the roof leaked. There was no clock, division bell or strong-room to protect documents. Initially there was nowhere to get food or drink, and not even a toilet. Curiously, the Legislative Council or 'upper house' met on the ground floor and the House of Representatives or 'lower house' above. In the chamber for the House - a simple hall - the Table took up a third of its length. Behind the Speaker's chair two fireplaces gave a bit of warmth and on either side doors opened on to tiny rooms for the Speaker and select committees.

Everyone agreed that the buildings were unsuitable, and that Auckland was too far away for many MPs. But no one could settle on where to go, and major towns ― Nelson and Dunedin ― as well as smaller places ― Havelock and Picton ― were considered. In the end, a group of Australian Commissioners decided that Parliament should move to Wellington, and off it went in 1865, leaving the old buildings to be incorporated into the university in the 1890s and eventually torn down in 1919.

Destination: Wellington

The parliamentary complex was located near what had always been a government reserve, a site bounded by Molesworth, Hill and Sydney Streets. It was here that the Wellington provincial government had erected a building for itself in 1857, although the local politicians had an eye for the main chance and laid out the rooms in a style suitable for a future General Assembly. The colonial government bought the buildings in 1865, and moved in the same year.

The provincial buildings were soon too small to house all the politicians, parliamentary staff and government departments that found themselves located there. Extensions and alterations began immediately. By 1873, and loosely using designs from Dunedin architect Edward Rumsey, Government Architect William Clayton had arranged wooden additions and had strengthened the existing buildings. To the west at the back was a new Legislative Council Chamber; to the east at the front was a three-storey block of offices; and to the south the House of Representatives chamber was enlarged. The southern face gained a more elaborate Gothic look. In the early 1880s Thomas Turnbull provided masonry extensions at the back for a much grander Bellamy's, a spacious central Lobby and offices, and a porch for the Council Chamber. A specially-designed Parliamentary Library was up by 1899 where the original provincial chambers stood.

Old Government House

The Governor moved to Wellington with the rest of Parliament and got a new wooden residence, Government House, in 1871. After the wooden Parliament Buildings were destroyed by fire in 1907, the Governor was temporarily bundled off to Palmerston North; parliamentary staff and MPs moved in and used the ballroom as the debating chamber.

The MPs went in to the new Parliament House in 1918, but parliamentary services, including Bellamy's, stayed on, and a new place was built for the Governor in the suburb of Newtown. The conservatory became variously a messengers' room, post office and tea room, while the ballroom became the Social Hall, used for official functions. The impressive arched doorways remained, as did some of the fine furniture, but little was spent on maintaining the place.

The building deteriorated over the years, and for a time alcoholics and tramps slept in an old cellar beneath it. The members' bar, nicknamed the 'Dog Box', was dark, dingy and cramped. In some spaces, flowerpots and rubbish bins caught the leaks from the roof. Conditions drove some staff away, while others worried it might collapse during an earthquake in August 1942; the distinctive tower was removed in 1944. Rats and mice were everywhere, and yellowing paint and grime covered the elegant carved woodwork. The decision to go with the Beehive spelled the building's end. The front went in the late 1960s, and the rear was moved to provide services while the Beehive went up; the last of it came down in the late 1970s.

Current Buildings

Parliament House

In 1907 fire destroyed all the buildings at Parliament, except for the library. Deciding what to do next was a difficult task, made worse by the fact that the House had to go about its business in the cramped old Government House, located across Sydney Street.

In February 1911 Prime Minister Joseph Ward announced a competition for designs among New Zealand architects. Thirty-three entries were received, with the winning design (from Government Architect John Campbell) selected by Colonel Vernon, former Government Architect for New South Wales. Another of Campbell's entries won fourth place, and the two were blended for the final building design.

The idea was to have a new Parliament House in brick faced with stone in the Edwardian neo-Classical style then popular for grand public buildings. It would be built in two stages on a big flat plateau created between the library and old Government House. The first stage, including both chambers, would be built without interfering with old Government House. The second stage, including a huge new library, would extend the building south to replace it.

Cost got in the way from the start. When William Massey became Prime Minister in 1912 he reluctantly let the first stage go ahead, but said no to the roof domes and ornamentation. Construction began early in 1914 but fell behind schedule because suitable Takaka marble was hard to find, and the war created shortages of labour and materials.

By around 1917 the top floor had been added and the grounds had been levelled, but everything was late. MPs were so desperate to get out of the old Government House that Parliament moved into the incomplete buildings in 1918. Construction continued around them until work on the southern wall petered out in 1922, leaving it incomplete. Parliament House had to wait until 1995 for an official opening when Queen Elizabeth II did the honours.

It would never be finished. Modernists did not like Edwardian neo-classicism and others worried about earthquake risks. Some called for demolition. Doubts remained until the 1980s when the government, heeding the heritage call, decided to strengthen and refurbish the buildings.

The Beehive

The 'Beehive' is the most recognisable building in the parliamentary complex. It is here that many government ministers have their offices, as well as the Prime Minister and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. There is a host of meeting spaces, MPs' and other dining rooms, bars and lounges, and television and radio interview rooms. On the two lower floors are large reception areas.

Everyone knew the old buildings were cramped earthquake risks by the 1960s, but whether to knock them down, finish them or remodel was the million dollar question. The issue was so contentious that an outsider, British architect Sir Basil Spence, was brought in. Keep the existing buildings and leave them alone, Spence said - finishing such an old design went against modern-day architectural thinking. Then he quickly sketched out his startling 'Beehive' for housing the executive and Bellamy's. The name came from a box of 'Beehive' brand matches he had been given, and despite official misgivings, it stuck. Bryant and May later made special 'Beehive' matchboxes for sale to MPs.

Doing up the House

Parliament House was looking somewhat shabby by the 1980s. Some people argued that it should be pulled down, but the assigning of an 'A' classification by the Historic Places Trust helped confirm the special value of the building. Not only was the place dowdy, but it was getting unsafe too, particularly given its location about 400 metres from an earthquake fault line.

In 1992 the biggest heritage building conservation project undertaken in New Zealand began when work commenced on strengthening and refurbishing Parliament House and the Parliamentary Library. Queen Elizabeth II opened the new-look complex in November 1995, and the first sitting of the House in the restored chamber was held in February 1996. During the project, Parliament was moved across the road to Bowen House, and an underground tunnel was built to connect it to the Beehive; a temporary debating chamber was erected next to Bowen House.

Strengthening the buildings was a key part of the project. In a mammoth job, the buildings were cut from their original foundations, new basements carved out and 417 base isolators made of rubber, steel and lead installed to separate the buildings from the ground. Reinforced concrete supported the walls, and new wings were built on the second and third floors.

The cost, including the refurbishment of the library, was about $175 million, and at its height, more than 400 people were employed on the site, with another 300 engaged throughout Wellington, the rest of New Zealand and overseas. The materials came from all over New Zealand, and further afield too: marble hewed from the hills around Takaka, joinery from Masterton, concrete precast in Otaki, ceramics made in Italy and bronze windows crafted in Australia.

New spaces

The refurbishment allowed new spaces to be opened up, such as an internal courtyard or Galleria made of Takaka marble and Coromandel granite. Against some opposition from MPs, the old billiard room and members' lounge was converted into the Grand Hall for use as a function space. Select committee rooms were located on the ground floor, with the doorway of one decorated with Pacific motifs; the new Maori Affairs Committee room, Maui Tikitiki A Taranga, was furnished with carvings and tukutuku. On the first floor were rooms for the Clerk of the House and government whips, and the old cabinet room was converted into a new office for the Speaker. MPs were located in offices on all floors: government members on the first and second floors, and the Leader of the Opposition and Opposition MPs on the top floor.

Open House

The plan was not only to make Parliament a safe building with high heritage values, but a place that would be accessible to New Zealanders. It was to be an 'Open House' with enhanced public access. Sure enough, the revitalised buildings attracted many more visitors on tours, or just to look. Tours became more regular than before, and a shop and visitor centre were established.

A Workplace

Many people call Parliament their workplace, but for MPs and others, the parliamentary complex has not always been the ideal place to spend long hours. The refurbishment of Parliament House and the Parliamentary Library in the 1990s (and the Beehive from the early 2000s) changed that, but for a good part of Parliament's history, the buildings, and the chamber especially, could be uncomfortable.

In the chamber

Early Parliaments had been cramped affairs, with members sometimes squashed into spaces too small and that were either too hot, too cold or too draughty. The Auckland chamber was hot and stuffy, but as soon as the windows were thrown open, MPs complained that the draught set off their rheumatism.

Wellington was not much better. The drainage around the buildings was poor, and the politicians complained of bad smells wafting into the chamber, including from the Bellamy's kitchen. The smell of 'burnt bones, onions, and kindred compounds' was 'simply detestable', one MP claimed.

In the 1870s the chamber was enlarged and new seating installed ― double padded leather couches set out in a horseshoe formation, with the government on the right of the Speaker, and the Opposition on the left (in a colder, more draughty area). The place was lit by 240 gaslights, which certainly provided light, but made the chamber hot and airless. The drains smelled so bad that an MP suggested the local council sprinkle eau de Cologne about the local streets. Despite the installation of fans, air purifiers and vents, as well as the shift into the new chamber from 1918, things did not improve until the later 1940s.

The Library

Today, Parliament's library is housed in a gracious Victorian Gothic building, built in 1899 and refurbished in the early 1990s with the same colour schemes and many of the same features as a century before. For people passing Parliament's grounds, this building is a picture postcard. For MPs and others working in Parliament, the library is also an important research institution, housing many thousands of books, and important collections of newspapers and other documents relevant to the workings of Parliament.

The first libraries

In the Auckland Parliaments of the 1850s and early 1860s, the library - known as the General Assembly Library - was just a tiny room, shared with the Auckland Provincial Council. There were 750 volumes in the collection by 1860. The library moved to bigger premises in 1863, still a single-room cottage behind Parliament's main building, but this could house 4,000 volumes.

Down in Wellington from 1865, the library's holdings grew steadily: 8,000 volumes were listed in the catalogue by 1872, and housed in six substantial rooms at the rear of Parliament Buildings. Heating was provided by open fires ― lovely for reading besides of a winter's evening, but potentially hazardous for the library's contents. With the collection of newspapers and books published in New Zealand, the library became the country's premier library. The collection kept on growing, and finally flowed out into committee rooms and even the ladies' tearoom and the offices of two ministers. A new, purpose-built and fireproof building was clearly a necessity.

In Gothic Style

Today's Parliamentary Library building is a grand structure, but it could have been grander. Architect Thomas Turnbull, commissioned by Premier Richard Seddon in 1897, produced plans for an ornate three-storey structure in the Gothic style. Worries about cost led government architect John Campbell to redesign it as a two-storey building with less ornamentation. Turnbull demanded that his name be removed from the commemorative stone, but the building went up all the same and was completed in 1899.

Now there was ample room for the library's 40,000 volumes, and the collection could branch out to include paintings, photographs and documents. There were 110,000 volumes by 1926 and 300,000 40 years later.

The value of making the library fireproof became apparent just a few years after it was built. A fire destroyed the remainder of the parliamentary complex in 1907, but the library was saved by its iron fire-door. All the same, flames licked at the building, and people hurriedly carried loads of books out of the library to safety ― 8,000 in the space of 45 minutes, one newspaper reported.

Disasters

Fire and earthquake have been a major threat to New Zealand's parliamentary buildings. Fire was the worst danger, because wood was used in the buildings for a good part of their history. Earthquakes have not substantially damaged the buildings, but Wellington's location on a fault line worried engineers, and several times recommendations were made to demolish parts of the parliamentary complex because of the earthquake risk.

The great fire of 1907

At 2 a.m. on 11 December 1907 Parliament's nightwatchman made his regular check of the buildings and returned to his office for a hot cup of cocoa. He thought he heard rain on the roof, but when he went to check, he found a substantial blaze had broken out. He sounded the alarm, threw open the gate for the fire brigade and tackled the fire with a hose ― which soon burned right through.

The fire was probably started by a short in the electric wiring in the ceiling of the interpreters' room. It spread rapidly through the old wooden parts of the buildings, and then into the masonry additions of the 1880s. By 5 a.m., Bellamy's had gone and firemen were battling desperately to save the library. The morning light revealed the scale of the devastation to the crowds and parliamentarians who had turned out to watch: the wooden buildings were completely destroyed, and the library had been saved only by its fire walls and metal fire door.

1992: the year of three fires

In 1992 the refurbishment of Parliament Buildings began, only to be disrupted three times by fires. The first occurred in July in the penthouse of Parliament House, but it was not too serious as this part would have been removed anyway. It was the library's turn in October, and this time the fire was more serious; it severely damaged the main staircase, plaster work, stained glass and roof. To cap it all off, another fire destroyed some of the original toilets in the library's basement.

Parliament Grounds

New Zealand is one of the few places in the world where the public can walk around the grounds of Parliament. On a fine day, people sunbathe or enjoy their lunch on the grass; walkers getting from one part of Wellington to another use the grounds as a shortcut; and the rose gardens and sloping lawns make an ideal venue for special photographs, especially with the backdrop of the buildings. The grounds have been used as a place for groups of people to gather for celebration, to listen to important announcements, for protest, or to mourn the death of a major public figure.

The grounds around the first Parliament Buildings in Auckland in the 1850s and 1860s were bare paddocks. The grounds of the Wellington buildings were not much better, and it was not until the 1890s that they were landscaped and all the hollows and bumps smoothed into a gentle hillside. New gates were erected on Molesworth Street ― the main entrance ― and from there, a carriage drive swept up to the front of the buildings.

It was in the 1890s that electric lighting was first installed in the grounds. Until then, MPs and others who worked in Parliament had to fumble their way out of the dark grounds aided by a gaslight that was lit only on evenings when there was no moon and even then was put out at midnight. There were stories of parliamentarians feeling their way along fences with the aid of umbrellas or sticks, and walking into posts and poles in the dark. Complaints finally led to the appointment of a gaslighter stationed on the corner of the grounds who doused the outside lights at 2 a.m. after the last member left.

The 1907 fire made redesign of the grounds necessary, and the basic format created in the 1920s remains largely unchanged today. Lawns and drives were set out, and deciduous trees and pohutakawa planted. The main entrance to the complex was put on the corner of Bowen Street and Lambton Quay where a large elm tree stood sentinel.

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