Building Since as early as 1872, there were plans to create a town hall for the city of Auckland. The corner of Greys Avenue and Queen Street was chosen as the location in 1880, and the corner was requisitioned by a formal act of parliament, the Auckland Reserves Exchange and Change of Trust Act 1881. The area proved to be too small, so the municipal government purchased the adjoining properties in 1883. A design competition for the building was held in 1908, which was won by
Melbourne-based architects
JJ & EJ Clark. The interior contains several varieties of English ceramic surfaces – tessellated floors and glazed ceramic wall tiles. The semi-circular Council Chamber is fitted with wood panelling and
Art-Nouveau-style electric light fittings, while stained glass is a feature of all the main rooms. The ceilings throughout all the main floors are ornamented with good quality plasterwork, the Great Chamber being the most elaborate. The great four-sided clock in the building's tower was donated by
Arthur Myers (
MP and former Auckland mayor) and the Great Hall's pipe organ by
Sir Henry Brett. The Town Hall project was championed by Myers before and during his time as mayor (1905–1909), and one of his last acts in office was to lay the foundation stone. Between 1957 and 1960 alterations were made to offices in the Town Hall, and a carved wooden sound reflector was added to the main auditorium to improve acoustics. The Town Hall's interior was extensively restored from 1994–1997 at a cost of
NZ$33 million, partially because the unreinforced masonry structure did not meet earthquake standards. Australian engineering firm
Sinclair Knight Merz pioneered various techniques to reinforce the structure without substantially changing the heritage character of the building. In 2007, the exterior underwent additional restoration work. A number of ornamental details on the exterior had been removed in the 1950s due to earthquake concerns, and some of the Oamaru limestone was damaged during aggressive stone cleaning. After careful research and analysis, these were replaced by limestone sourced from the same levels of the North Otago quarry that provided the original stone. Interior acoustic performance was corrected by the removal of earlier ill-judged and obtrusive intervention measures and their replacement by less-visible and more effective treatments. Interior paintwork was restored throughout to the original Edwardian-era colours. Complex fragmented porcelain and glazed ceramic tiling was restored with exact, new purpose-made replicas in the lavish main entrance foyer. The original carpet was recreated (for reference, a small portion of the original was left in one corner of the Council Chamber). The stained glass windows were restored and (where necessary), rebuilt and the entire building was unobtrusively fire protected.
Town Hall Organ The Town Hall
Organ, dating from 1911, is the largest musical instrument in the country, and is itself a 'Protected Object' in New Zealand law. It was funded by former mayor of Auckland
Henry Brett, designed by English organist
Edwin Lemare and constructed by Norwich pipe organ manufacturer
Norman and Beard. It was extensively remodelled in 1969–1970 when the
organ reform movement reached New Zealand, significantly altering and reducing its original Romantic-era power, discarding many parts of the original, and adding new ones to produce a then-fashionable Baroque sound. The resulting compromised instrument was dismantled in January 2008 for restoration and rebuilding. The rebuilt organ, incorporating remaining parts of the 1911 original, some recently recovered components, and new elements, was built by
Orgelbau Klais of Bonn, Germany. It returned to the Great Hall at the end of 2008, and was reassembled as the country's largest (and once again most powerful), organ. Auckland City had committed itself to providing NZ$3 million to the restoration project, with a $500,000 remainder obtained via private fundraising. The restored organ was officially unveiled on 21 March 2010, with a specially commissioned symphony.
Auckland Philharmonia In early February 2016, the administration staff of New Zealand's largest metropolitan orchestra, the
Auckland Philharmonia, moved into the vacant former mayoral office suite, making Auckland Town Hall, where the orchestra largely performs, its new home. ==Gallery==