The college buildings are an imposing group representing a persistent and successful effort to carry out an architectural idea over an extended time which saw considerable change.
Initial outlay The Presbyterian Church of Otago and Southland opened a seminary for Ministers, its Theological Hall, in Dunedin in 1876. Early in the 20th century it acquired the core of the site in Opoho, above
North East Valley, intending to re-house the seminary and to provide accommodation for its students and others attending the University of Otago. It established a brief and conducted an architectural competition won in 1906 by the 21-year old
William Gray Young of Wellington.
J. Louis Salmond (1868–1950) came second. Young's plans envisaged development well beyond the college's immediate requirements taking the form of four ranges surrounding a central quadrangle. After the first stage was completed he was retained as architectural adviser and remained responsible for the buildings' design for more than forty years. His successors remained true to his conception through challenging circumstances. The construction contract for the main accommodation block was won by
Fletcher Brothers at a price of £9120. The chairman of the project was
Rev Andrew Cameron and the contract winner was his son-in-law
James Fletcher. Because Young was based in Wellington and perhaps also because of his youth, Salmond was appointed supervising architect. The plan called for a principal range facing west with a large, square, central tower. It had subordinate ranges reaching forward at either extremity in a generally symmetrical composition. Behind the west range there were to be others at right angles to it, extending east, forming the north and south sides of the quadrangle. The first building stage was the tower and the northward parts of the west range together with the range behind that trending east on the north side of the intended quadrangle (the "North Wing"). This part, the range on the north side of the quadrangle, included not only provision for teaching but a dining hall and servants' accommodation. in the modern-day Great Hall The foundation stone was laid on 6 April 1908 and the building was opened on 23 June 1909 having cost £19,307. The foundations were Port Chalmers breccia. The walls were finished in brick with Oamaru stone trims and the roofs were red clay tiles. The building was in the
Jacobethan style, a late form of the Gothic revival still vigorous in the early 20th century. Knox has the characteristic Tudor arches, oriel windows and battlements and the elaboration of forms and details, if not to the extent of
Harlaxton Manor, sometimes pointed to as the type, or template, of the style.
Early development The second stage was the southern part of the west range, including the forward projecting chapel. Behind this part of the west range the first part of the quadrangle's southern range was also to be built. A tender was accepted in September 1912 and completed by March 1914. Construction had cost £10,525. At this point the College Council's ambitions and those of their architect were becoming clear. On their high site the buildings are very visible. The council had insisted on raising the architect's four-storeyed tower to five storeys. The three storeyed ranges and the forward thrusting subordinate reaches present a complex, but legible and imposing face to the world. The interiors were spacious and finished with period detailing, including panels and hammer beams in the Dining Hall and stained glass and elaborate plasterwork, notably in the chapel. Even so, the college, as Young had conceived it, was far from complete. Plans to extend the southern range, known as the "South Wing", were prepared by him in enough detail to be estimated by 1929 but the Depression and the Second World War prevented their execution. In 1952 with plans and funding almost complete the project was suspended.
Post-war progress Meanwhile, the combination of seminary and residential hall was proving difficult to accommodate in the existing space. In 1945 a fund was established to provide additional room. Young was getting old. He oversaw the drafting of the plans but advised the committee of his resignation in 1952. Salmond had died in 1950. His son, Arthur Salmond, (1906–1994) now in partnership with Harry Burt, took over the project. A contract was signed in 1953, building commenced the next year and the new Theological Hall was opened on 12 November 1955 for a cost of £80,000. The new building, to become known as the Hewitson Wing, was set parallel to the main west range, behind it, forming the east flank of the quadrangle. With a library as its front, facing the quadrangle, and with a hall behind, this structure is very deep. It is linked by an arch to the north range, closing the quadrangle's corner at that point. Building methods and codes had changed. This structure, the first of the second building phase, incorporated reinforced concrete while retaining the forms and materials of the earlier buildings. It too is decorated inside in period fashion, the library, for example, managing to make the reference to an Elizabethan interior with a plausible degree of conviction. The former provision for the Theological Hall in the north range was now made into additional accommodation for residents. This meant the Dining Hall was now too small for the numbers. That had been anticipated in the Gray Young era but in 1953 the council commissioned Salmond & Burt to prepare plans to extend the hall, estimated at £2,500. The work was completed by July 1957. The extension reaches into the quadrangle courtyard, terminating in a crenellated bay window with stained lead lights. Inside it provides the space for the dais for the hall's high table and seems a natural enlargement of the room. In 1959 the College Council resumed its effort to extend the "South Wing". Money was raised, the plans revised, tenders were called in August 1961. The building was opened on 21 April 1963 for a cost of £44,501. This was another structure with a reinforced concrete frame, styled and dressed to match the building it joined. It extended the "South Wing" eastward, taking the southern range to its present extent, further closing the quadrangle. It stopped short of the line of the east range which at that time had not reached its full extent. It was named the "Ross Wing". The quadrangle was still not completed and with the centennial of the
Theological Hall approaching the College Council decided in August 1974 to mark it by extending the library. Fund raising was difficult but work began in August 1983. The extension was opened on 30 May 1984 for a cost of $463,000. This is another structurally modern building dressed to complement the context. By this time Arthur Salmond had retired but his son John (1940–2008) was in practice. The addition extends the east range southwards, taking it to the line of the south range but leaving an open space between. With this the quadrangle was all but complete.
Post-millennial contributions In 2008, the Hewitson Building was modified to house offices and teaching spaces for the newly formed
Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership (previously the
School of Ministry), and to provide a purpose-built facility for the
Presbyterian Archives. In the summer of 2012–13, the main residential building was earthquake-strengthened to comply with the latest building code. At the same time, 40 rooms were added to the college. Some of these were the result of the reconfiguration of rooms and offices at the northern end of the ground floor of the main building; others were the result or rebuilding the area of the college known as The Close. Opportunity was also taken to refurbish the main building from top to bottom, and to open up the Great Hall to the Junior Common Room to facilitate dining for the increased numbers at the college on formal occasions. In the summer of 2019–2020, the area of the college known as Somerville Close, comprising Mackay, Marshall, Glendining and Wilson Houses, underwent an extensive refurbishment. Arden house was used also used for student accommodation from time to time. == Presbyterian Research Centre ==