Home New Zealand – August 01, 2019

162 HOME NEW ZEALAND

FILTER

My favourite

building

Convenor of Museums and Cultural

Heritage at the University of Auckland,

Linda Tyler admires the structural

innovation of the Wintergardens, which

opened at Auckland Domain in 1928.

Photography

Sam Hartnett

LAST WORD

“Entering the moist, warm air of the

barrel-vaulted Tropical House on

a cold, foggy morning in winter is a

transporting experience. As well as

revelling in colourful displays of flowers

and ornamental vegetables, you can

marvel at the intricacies of the structure.

Ninety years old, it’s still fit for purpose,

marrying form and function effortlessly.

It’s the work of 44-year-old Aucklander

William Gummer, of Gummer and Ford,

which was formed in 1923. Gummer had

stepped back into the Auckland scene

a decade earlier, after years of study and

working overseas. He had learned to

detail grand country houses in England

with Edwin Lutyens, and retained a

predilection for brick and masonry.

The influence of his time in America

is evident in the stripped classicism

of his monumental Auckland Railway

Station, completed in 1926. Working

with Chicago practice DH Burnham

& Co, he had detailed skyscrapers,

learning to exploit the strength of steel

in expansive glazing.

While the steel lattice structure of

the trusses supporting the roof arch

is admirable, the entire environment

is miraculous. Armed with knowledge

of the very latest techniques, Gummer

was able to achieve a consistent

temperature by balancing magnified

heat from the sun, underfloor heating

and humidity from the watering system

and plants through ventilation, achieved

with a complicated pulley system for

opening windows.

I enjoy the contrast of the solid masonry

buttresses with the transparency of

the roof, and relish details like the

circular window mullions and roof

lantern. I think of the Wintergardens

as Auckland’s answer to the Crystal

Palace, both lush and splendid.”