Maurice Clark – innovative engineer and heritage building maestro

Innovative Wellington engineer and heritage building maestro, Maurice Clark, recently talked about the heritage projects he and his wife Kaye had been involved in. Host, Councillor Nicola Young, congratulated him on behalf of all Wellingtonians for his superb commitment to the city’s heritage.

Maurice recalled his early absorption of and love for the variety of historical building styles from his early years in Oxford, UK. He was unusual in combining structural engineering expertise with investing and developing. ‘It’s important to recognise the difference between conservation [highest level of preservation] and adaptive re-use [pragmatic approach]’ he said.

The 1987 restoration of the Old Government Buildings was his first conservation and strengthening project. The rotten totara piles, going two metres deep into the poor ground of the old beach, needed replacing with concrete for the building to be authentically restored. The timber frame building was built by farmer labourers during the 1870s’ recession using Australian hardwood that had been dumped on the beach. The strongest part was the old Treasury mint area made of brick. While the frame of building was ‘very wobbly’, the interior doors and window joinery were of ‘brilliant quality’ made by English tradesmen. Over $2 million of demolition kauri and other native timber was used to replace original features that had been lost or defaced. A lot of the plaster had cracked and fallen off the laths and polypropylene fibres were used instead of horse hair in the new plaster. Maurice explained that although there is usually a requirement to retain original features of the exterior of heritage buildings, the 22 chimneys of this building are now polystyrene replicas.

Old Government Building, Lambton Quay

His next heritage project was the Hunter Building at Victoria University of Wellington. It also had a ‘magnificent staircase’, but except for the main library, the rest had been ‘pushed around a bit’. Made of unreinforced brick with a cavity structure, the building was heavily sprayed with concrete, and big ties used to transfer loads. Maurice said he ‘couldn’t believe there’d been such a strong move to knock it down’. He was, he said, ‘thankful to the protagonists who opposed that’.

Old Government Life Building,
50 Customhouse Quay

The old Government Life Building (Tower Building) at 50 Customhouse Quay followed. The original building had been knocked down and replaced in the 1930s, after the Napier earthquake, with one constructed of steel encased in concrete. The Government couldn’t find the necessary steel columns, so several steel plates were riveted together to make the column sections to carry the beams. The rivets were heated by coal braziers on the floor below and thrown up to a guy above who caught them with a leather glove. He put them into a hole and with another man on the other side, they hammered the hot rivet in place, shaping the head. As it cooled, it contracted pulling the plates and beams together. The building’s earthquake rating was assessed at 25%, but research at the Ministry of Works’ laboratory showed the beam column joints to be very strong. Heritage New Zealand supported Maurice’s desire to remove the footpath canopy to reveal the Doric columns, but he had to go to the Environment Court to get consent because of a city ordinance about canopies over certain Wellington footpaths leading to the station.

Old Defence Building, Stout Street

The old New Zealand Defence Force building at 15 Stout St had been empty for eight years, and had a ‘dubious’ earthquake rating, and an ‘unattractive courtyard’. It was also built by the Ministry of Works but using proper steel sections that were welded. There was doubt about the quality of the numerous overhead welds involved and the building had only a 40% earthquake rating. The 3,000-plus welded joints were, however, found to be very strong having been done by British shipbuilders to a high standard. Research conducted by the University of Auckland involved cutting the beams and using big jacks to simulate the earthquake load on the beam column joints. Among 50 tested only one joint failed and the building was rated at 180% NBS. The 22,000 square metre building was snapped up by Hon Steven Joyce for the new Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Maurice’s next heritage project was the Wellington Museum, the old headquarters of the Harbour Board. The 1892 brick building rested on rotten timber piles. Replacing the piles without destroying the heritage building, Maurice said, ‘was like putting on new shoes without taking the old ones off and not sitting down’. The walls were of unreinforced masonry, and he had to construct new beams and fix them to the building’s walls and columns and jack up the entire building in order to take its weight off the old piles. Since then, the building’s walls need further strengthening.

Public Trust Building, corner of Lambton Quay and Stout Street

The Public Trust building was Maurice’s next heritage ‘headache’. During the earthquakes plaster had cracked and fallen on the heads of Creative New Zealand staff, who quickly left. The members of the chambers of the Hon Stephen Kos also decided to vacate, leaving the building almost empty except for the Trelise Cooper store which remained despite preparations for strengthening. The tall and slender building was clad with huge granite blocks and was ‘very unstable’. Maurice strengthened the building by putting big foundations in the bottom, a huge beam with anchors, and ‘two very thick sheer walls’ with steel inside them to absorb the earthquake energy. The building has a lovely performance hall which welcomes being utilised.

Maurice’s current project is the Oriental Bay Band Rotunda, which was empty for 10 years. The building has corroded steel concrete reinforcing and needs extensive work. His original plan was to drop the restaurant floor to street level but Wellington City Council insisted (‘rightly’ he added) that the lower windows and basement be kept for architectural integrity and community use. The weakness with the building is caused by these same windows on the seaward side having no lateral strength. The building’s heavy top could screw off its bottom in an earthquake ‘like opening a jam jar lid’. It turns out the basement slab can be fixed with diagonal bracing, and seawater entry stopped. The priority is to identify a restaurant tenant in order to complete the work to their specification.

Maurice ‘inherited’ the Anglican Chinese Mission Hall in Frederick St, with the site for his and Kaye’s ‘Housing First’ philanthropic project. They are building 75 units for housing vulnerable folks. The Mission Hall, designed by Frederick de Jersey Clere, was to be knocked down by its previous owners. Only the facade had been listed by Wellington City Council for ‘streetscape’ value (and that listing had been opposed by the previous owners). This unreinforced masonry building ‘on poor ground’ has since been heritage listed. Most of the external brick walls are being replaced by identical-looking light weight timber ones. The building roof and façade will be retained but need strengthening.

At Turnbull House, Bowen St, temporary walls have been built in preparation for the structure being base isolated.

Finally, Maurice was applauded for his and Kaye’s tremendous contribution to Wellington’s built heritage, a truly wonderful legacy.

Felicity Wong, Bay View newsletter 80, November 2022