The Dunedin Cathedral.

Progress, Volume XV, Issue 9, 1 May 1920, Page 783

The Dunedin Cathedral.

By BASIL B. HOOPER, A.R.1.8.A., Supervising Architect.

The first portion of this important, and in some respects unique building, being now completed, a short description and account of its erection may be of interest. As will he seen from the .views only one third of the whole scheme has been carried out in the

meantime, i.e., six: bays out of seven in the nave. This .-'leaves one bay pf the nave, North and South transepts, choir, and tower to be built in the future. The.general effect, except that of the “West” front is consequently to a great extent marred, the dimensions of breadth and height, compared to the length, being out of all proportion. These facts should therefore be taken into consideration when criticising the structure as a whole. , -

The site, although in a commanding and prominent position, is greatly cramped, especially at'.the main front, and this also, tends rather to depreciate the general effect of the design. Taking everything into account however, the new cathedral is a noble

building, and one of which the whole Dominion can well be proud. The usual, orientation has-been reversed, as the -site almost demanded that , the main entrance should, face the Octagon, i.e., the East. The conventional ; terms, will, however be adhered to throughout this description. The style, adopted by the designers (Messrs Sedding and . Wheatleynow Sedding and Stallybrass, of Plymouth, England) is a free. rendering, of 13th Century Gothic: The

mouldings, tracery, etc., are however decidedly fresh and original, and have appearance of having been slavishly copied. The window tracery, especially, is solid, and virile looking, in strong contrast to the flimsy and spidery type, we.are all so familiar with. There is no carved ornament in the whole building, the design depending entirely on the massing and proportioning of its, component parts, and the purity of its mouldings and tracery. x The West entrance is reached by a handsome set of N.Z. marble steps, consisting of two'side and one central flight, intersected' on. both sides by massive pedestals. It is suggested that later on groups' of

statuary be placed on them. The doors have been criticised as being too small for the building,, but in this, excellent precedent has been followed, as it is a fact that the majority of mediaeval cathedrals have doors quite .as small in proportion, as the Dunedin cathedral has. The whole setting of the doorway however, with its ' richly moulded receding planes, bounded by simple buttresses on either side, and balustrade above, ' is quite in proportion to, the front. The dimensions of the actual doors,- provided they are large enough for the purpose, do not count in circumstances such as these.. The doors themselves are built of solid teak,, deeply moulded and panelled, and studded with brass headed nails. - The niches above the doorway are filled with statues of Bishops

Selwyn, Harper, and Nevill, and were carved in England, from photographs sent for the purpose. ■'"/ The great West window, 40ft. in height, is flanked on both sides by turrets which finish at the top in octagonal form with open mullions. These are reached by spiral stairs, and command an extensive view of the town and harbour. -' - . The effect of the "West facade has been broadened by the addition of wing walls, over the ends of the aisles. These serve to tie the composition together, giving the appearance of support to the centre feature, and reducing its apparent height. The North and South sides are noticeable. for the heavy aisle

buttresses, from the top of which spring the flyers. .These abut against the clerestory walls, and help to take the thrust of the nave vaulting, and carry it down to earth. './^ ' *. - ;"".'• '" ''• ■ . The interior is perhaps even more interesting and unique- than the exterior.- The , double row of piers on each side, with" recessed clerestory windows, makes a most unusual and charming' picture, and combined with the glorious vaulted ceiling, the effect is most beautiful. The feeling .of mystery so necessary for a successful church interior, is most evident in all these features, and is further heightened by the triforium arcade, with its deep shadowy recesses, running horizontally between the clerestory windows' and the crown of the : low arcade. The sense of as-

piling vertically too,, so helpful to religious feeling, is noticeable in the long unbroken lines of the piers, with their attached shafts, running from bottom to top and supporting the feet of the vaulting ribs. The vaulting system is the most complete in New Zealand, the whole of the interior being finished in this way, throughout. The aisles and nave are ceiled with quadripartite ribbed vaulting, while the portions above the clerestory windows are ribbed barrel vaulted, transversely to the axis of the nave. ‘ All the intersections of the. ribs are mitred, no bosses being introduced, the effect, though simple, being most successful and pleasing. The task of determining these intersections, was however most intricate,

and the labour ; great,' owing to the ribs all coming together at different angles and varying curves. The ridge ribs are of course arched, with a rise of 2 inches in 6ft. The severy, or sheeting was made as thin and light as . possible, and the whole of the back of the vaulting was covered with 2in. of fine concrete, with wire netting embedded, as a safeguard against any possible earthquakes. The effect of the interior is greatly enhanced by the glazing, which is carried out in deadlights of an original and pleasing design, the colours of the glass being in a number of variations of soft greens irregularly placed. There are also a certain number of stained glass memorial windows already fixed. The building is warmed throughout by an Ideal low pressure hot water system, with excellent.-results. The ventilation was designed to be artificially controlled by a suction fan and motor,

placed above the vaulting. The ducts, etc., are all in position, huh for the time being the fan and motor have not been installed, opening casements and fanlights being relied upon to introduce fresh air. The ventilation will however, never be really satisfactory, until the artificial system is completed. One of the most successful features of the place is the electric lighting, which consists of handsome bronze fittings, containing holophane bowls and gas filled lamps, hung from wrought iron brackets, fixed above the caps of the vaulting shafts. The light is beautifully diffused, and there is a complete and noticeable absence of the eye-strain so commonly felt when naked lamps are used. The chancel, which as will be seen

from the photograph, is very small in proportion to the nave, is of course only a temporary structure, although built in a permanent, manner.

As far as possible the materials from the old church were used, including the roof, windows, flooring, etc. The fittings— stalls, prayer desks, altar, piscina, etc., were however all new. and designed . for their position by the supervising architect. Figured red pine was used, treated with bichromate of potassium, and dull French polished, the effect being a permanent rich deep brown shade, which will not fade, as the untreated red pine in time invariably does. The pulpit, also by the same designer, was based on the one in Siena cathedral in Italy, and is constructed of Oamaru stone, with N.Z. green serpentine columns' and handrail. The carving of the whole of the upper portion, is yet W be

undertaken, and when that is done the effect should be very rich and striking. For the meantime the nave has been seated with the pews from the old church, but it is intended to replace these later on with rush bottomed chairs, similar to what have been used for the aisles. A noticeable feature of the interior is the beautiful cream colour and markings of the stone. This latter feature is especially noticeable in the piers, and other places where the hard quality was employed. Gay's Oamaru'stone was used throughout except in the sheeting of the vaulting, where white and pink T.T. was mixed with the Gay's, to give a slight variety to the colour, and take away the monotony which might he caused by using the one colour right through.

One, of the first impressions gained on entering the cathedral, is the extreme purity and dignified simplicity of the design, and this is without doubt partly caused by the exclusive use of stone, and the absence of harsh, crude colours, such as mar too many otherwise good designs. .

A short account of the actual building of the cathedral may now be of interest. Early in 1915, the old church was cleared, away, and the foundations were put in by day labour, the foundation stone being laid on June Bth, 1915. Tenders were then called for the superstructure, resulting in that of Mr. W. McLellan, of Dunedin being accepted. A start was made early in 1916, Mr. Wm. Haigh, of Christchurch, being appointed clerk of works. On the contractors’ staff the general foreman was Mr. Jas. McLellan, and the masons’ foreman Mr. John Tweedy. Great credit is undoubtedly due to the contractor and these two especially, for the successful carrying out of this job, as in many ways both the construction and design were quite new to New Zealand. The cutting and preparation of the stone was greatly accelerated by the use of up-to-date machinery; in some eases—notably the machine for cutting mouldings on the curve—invented and constructed by the foreman himself.

As far as possible timber has been, eliminated in the construction, the only place where it has been used, beyond the doors and fittings, being the roof trusses over the nave. The aisle roofs are of con-crete-reinforced with expanded metal, and covered with Neuchatel asphalte. The main floor and the triforium floor, are also of reinforced concrete, the former being reinforced with round rods, on the beam and slab principle. Neuchatel asphalte on concrete has also been used for the roof gutters in place of wood and lead, as originally intended, so that the amount of deterioration and maintenance should be infinitesimal. The core of the walling is concrete, waterproofed, a very fine solid job resulting, with no sign, of damp anywhere. .

As a great many of the walls in the basement are faced with white lime and sand bricks, and the whole of the interior of the nave and aisles is stone faced, there was very little boxing to be done. Concrete therefore made a far more economical core than brick would have done, besides being immensely su-

perior-and convenient in the way of bonding, etc. For the greater -part of the job, a concrete mixer of the "batch" itype was used, with very good results, very much better than the "continuous" mixer that was.used for the foundations. As may be imagined, the scaffolding was a very /big item, also the centreing for the nave vaulting. As a matter of fact however, practically the only centreing needed was for the ribs, the sheeting being run across from rib to rib in one length as far as possible, the upper portion only being slightly supported in'the middle. Owing to the war, there was a certain amount of trouble in .getting imported materials, but fortunately the bulk of the materials used, consisted of concrete and stone, which of course were local products. The green American slates' took about two years to be delivered after ordering, and arrived just in the nick of time. By dint of ordering well ahead, however, everything essential was obtained,' and where it could not he, compromises, and substitutes of sometimes a better nature were employed. The sub-contractors' works, upon which so much usually depends, were ail well and faithfully carried out, the names of the firms being as follows:Heat—Messrs G. W. Davies and Co. ; Electric lighting and power— Turntoull and Jones, Ltd. Glazing—Messrs Bradley Bros, of Christchurch; Plastering—Thos. Didham; Plumbing Messrs A. and T. Burt, Ltd. Chancel fittings Messrs C. and W. Hayward; Wood carving—J..Scott and Co. Stone carving—Mr. E. L. Shank.