The Dilworth School of Agriculture Accommodation House was constructed in 1917 in an area of rural farmland as part of an agricultural education school for children at a time when agriculture was becoming increasingly significant in the New Zealand economy. At this branch school of the Dilworth Ulster Institute it was the boarding house and domestic building until the branch closed in 1919. Over the subsequent years the place has maintained strong links to agriculture and education with continued use in farming, research, and currently by the Manukau Institute of Technology. The place has historical significance as one of a small number of purpose built agricultural education buildings that reflect the importance of agriculture in New Zealand and is the earliest surviving building associated with the education of children in this field. It has architectural significance in the use of multiple styles that are integrated seamlessly in its design. Originally part of the Fairburn purchase, Lot 5 Parish of Manurewa was part of the Crown grant to William Goodfellow in 1850. Goodfellow farmed the land, naming it Otara farm, and his family lived there until 1910 when they sold the property to the Dilworth Trust. The Trust was formed in 1896 by the will of noted philanthropist James Dilworth to establish a school to educate boys growing up in hardship. The school opened in 1906 at Dilworth’s home in Epsom as a boarding school and the Trustees purchased the Otara property with plans to expand the school. Although plans were made to re-establish the whole school at the new property changing circumstances resulted in a new plan to build the Dilworth Ulster Institute School of Agriculture. The agricultural school opened in 1915 as a boarding school with a model farm under the management of Primrose McConnell. The students had all completed their primary education at the Epsom school and were taught the up-to-date scientific farming methods to prepare them for future work. When the school was initially opened they used the Otara Farm buildings until the Trustees engaged Richard Atkinson Abbott to design buildings that would be substantial and have permanence in accordance with the wishes expressed in Dilworth’s will. Atkinson Abbot designed a number of buildings including the stables, constructed 1916, and the Accommodation House with associated outbuildings, constructed 1917. The Accommodation House is brick and plaster with concrete foundations and a tile roof. The design incorporates elements of Arts and Crafts and Spanish Mission styles. The building comprises four splayed wings around a central two story block with a Spanish Mission inspired tower. One of the wings was originally a dormitory wing while rooms in the other wings and the central block provided accommodation for teachers and service staff as well as rooms required for the day-to-day domestic functioning of the boarding school. The Agricultural school closed in 1919 and in the late 1920s the buildings and grounds were leased to Betham Edwards and later to his daughters Nancy and Marjory. They used the site for a horse stud and lived in the Accommodation House. In 1950 the Dilworth Trust sold the property to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) who converted the Accommodation House into the Otara Research Station. The station was leased to Fertilizer Manufactures’ Research Association (FMRA). The DSIR made some changes to the building during their use of the place, most notably renovating the dormitory wing in 1966 to provide office space and a physical chemical laboratory. In 1987 the Accommodation House and surrounding land was leased to the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) and was gazetted in 1990 forming the MIT North Campus. The building was refurbished in 2006 to become the administration building. In 2018 the Accommodation House is still in use for administration and the Executive offices of MIT.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 2
Access
Able to Visit
List Number
9729
Date Entered
5th May 2018
Date of Effect
6th June 2018
City/District Council
Auckland Council
Region
Auckland Council
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes part of the land described as Pt Lots 17-18 DP 24310 (RTs NA86D/104, 583448, NZ Gazette 1990, p.1678), North Auckland Land District, building known as Dilworth School of Agriculture Accommodation House (Former) thereon. It includes the scheduled tree on the land. It excludes the structure known as the Generator building. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).
Legal description
Pt Lots 17-18 DP 24310 (RTs NA86D/104, 583448, NZ Gazette 1990, p.1678), North Auckland Land District.
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 2
Access
Able to Visit
List Number
9729
Date Entered
5th May 2018
Date of Effect
6th June 2018
City/District Council
Auckland Council
Region
Auckland Council
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes part of the land described as Pt Lots 17-18 DP 24310 (RTs NA86D/104, 583448, NZ Gazette 1990, p.1678), North Auckland Land District, building known as Dilworth School of Agriculture Accommodation House (Former) thereon. It includes the scheduled tree on the land. It excludes the structure known as the Generator building. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).
Legal description
Pt Lots 17-18 DP 24310 (RTs NA86D/104, 583448, NZ Gazette 1990, p.1678), North Auckland Land District.
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value The Dilworth School of Agriculture Accommodation House (Former) is historically significant as a major part of one of New Zealand’s earliest agricultural schools for children. Together with its associated stable block, it is believed to be the earliest remaining building linked with children’s agricultural education in this country. It is closely linked with the rapidly expanding importance of agriculture in New Zealand’s economy during the early twentieth century, and the provision of educational and employment opportunities through private charity around this time. It is particularly connected with the educational ideas and activities of G.M. O’Rorke, described as ‘one of the founders of New Zealand education’ and the Dilworth Trust Board – established in the will of Auckland philanthropist and businessmen James Dilworth. The place is also significant for reflecting close cultural connections between New Zealand and Northern Ireland in the early twentieth century through the intended provision of the School of Agriculture to educate boys from Northern Ireland, and the ideas of Ulster-born James Dilworth. The construction and use of the place as a school of agriculture reflects the rural nature of Otara and the wider East Tamaki area prior to the spread of Auckland suburbs.
Physical Significance
Architectural Significance or Value The Dilworth School of Agriculture Accommodation House (Former) has architectural significance in its use of multiple styles of design that reflect the varied study and travels of the architect, Richard Atkinson Abbott, who is notable for his designs of school buildings for Auckland Grammar and Kings School as well as the One Tree Hill Obelisk. The Arts and Crafts style and Spanish Mission style elements are combined in a seamless manner that integrates both styles into a single, visually successful design. The visually imposing and distinctive architecture reflects the ideals of the school’s founder, James Dilworth. The use of Arts and Crafts can be seen to reflect the Institute’s strong connection with Britain, and the use of Spanish Mission as effecting a progressive approach to education. The building was purpose built as a boarding school accommodation house and the plan reflects the importance of environment for the students.
Detail Of Assessed Criteria
It is considered that this place qualifies as a Category 2 historic place. This place was assessed against, and found to qualify under the following criteria: a, b, e, g, j, k. (a) The extent to which the place reflects important or representative aspects of New Zealand history The Dilworth School of Agriculture Accommodation House (Former) reflects the growing importance of agricultural education to New Zealand associated with the agricultural revolution in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The place is an example of early attempts to provide dedicated up-to-date agricultural training to young boys to set them up for future work in farming. The place also reflects how provision of support for disadvantaged members of society was a focus of philanthropic efforts in the late Victorian era in New Zealand. (b) The association of the place with events, persons, or ideas of importance in New Zealand history The place is associated with James Dilworth, the founder of Dilworth School, which is the largest boarding school in New Zealand and caters to boys experiencing financial or personal hardship and shows the importance given to educational opportunities for the students. It is also associated with George Maurice O’Rorke who was a key individual in the advancement of ‘technical education’ within the Auckland Education Board area. The Dilworth School of Agriculture Accommodation House (Former) also has importance as a place that has strong connections to scientific farming as a model farm for Dilworth School that sought to teach scientific farming under Primrose McConnell and later as a research station of the DSIR. (e) The community association with, or public esteem for the place The Dilworth School of Agriculture Accommodation House (Former) has maintained connections to the Dilworth School through the continued recognition of the place in histories of the school produced by the Dilworth trust Board and Old Boys Association. After refurbishment, the renaming of the building as the Dilworth Centre reinforced this connection and the members of the Board attended the ceremony. As a central feature in the MIT North Campus the Accommodation House has been maintained and strengthened by MIT as a significant heritage building. (g) The technical accomplishment, value, or design of the place The styles used in Richard Atkinson Abbott‘s design of the Dilworth School of Agriculture Accommodation House (Former) are integrated to create a single design that links the different elements together. The integration creates a visually distinctive place that is mostly as originally designed. (j) The importance of identifying rare types of historic places The place has significance as a rare remnant linked to the agricultural education of children in the early twentieth century. The place is one of a limited number of dedicated agricultural schools for children opened by private organisations following the increasing importance of farming to the New Zealand economy in these years. These private schools were supplanted by state secondary schools which incorporated agricultural education in the 1920s. This purpose built dormitory was part of the only school of this type in the Auckland region. A contemporary agricultural school for children near Hastings was destroyed in 1931. (k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural area The building has connections to the former Stables of the Agricultural College. The stables are scheduled in the Auckland Unitary Plan, 1353, Category B, interiors excluded.
Construction Professional
Biography
Abbott (1883-1954) began his career in the office of C L N Arnold and became his partner in 1910. Abbott, whose career began prior to the passing of the New Zealand Institute of Architects Act in 1913, became registered under that Act. He is best known for the design of Auckland Grammar School (1913) which is one of the earliest Spanish Mission style buildings in New Zealand. He also designed several branch buildings for the Bank of New Zealand including the Upper Symonds Street branch (1937) and several buildings at King's College, Middlemore, including the Memorial Chapel (World War I), the Memorial Library (World War II) and the Assembly Hall (1954). Abbott was active in the New Zealand Institute of Architects, serving on its Council (1926-28), and on its Education Committee (1926-36). In addition he was Chairman of the Auckland branch of the Institute (1927-28). Abbott was born at Parnell, Auckland. He was educated at St John's College and King's College after which he joined the architectural firm established in the 1870s by Charles Le Nevre Arnold. Abbot became Arnold's partner in practice in 1910. After Arnold's retirement in 1927, Abbot remained in sole practice for a time, but was later joined by G.I. Hole. Abbott's first major achievement was in 1913 when he submitted the winning design for the Auckland Grammar School. The janitor's cottage was part of the design brief. Abbot became a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects in 1913. Five years later he prepared the winning site layout for the King's College site at Middlemore. In contrast to Auckland Grammar School, the buildings on the King's College campus were designed in a more conservative Gothic collegiate style. In addition to the main building at King's (Kings College Main Block, NZHPT Registration # 529, Category II historic place), Abbott designed the memorial church to Old Boys who died in the First World War (Kings College Chapel, NZHPT Registration # 90, Category I historic place); the library; a memorial to old boys killed in the Second World War; and the School's assembly hall. For over 25 years Abbot was the architect for the Bank of New Zealand in the Auckland region. He is also remembered as the designer of the One Tree Hill Obelisk (NZHPT Registration # 4601, Category I historic place), constructed on Maungakiekie, One Tree Hill in 1939-1940.
Name
Abbott, Richard Atkinson
Type
Architect
Construction Details
Description
Renovation of north front wing including chemical laboratory and offices.
Start Year
1966
Type
Refurbishment/renovation
Description
Renovation and seismic strengthening.
Start Year
2006
Type
Structural upgrade
Description
Construction of Accommodation House and associated buildings
Start Year
1917
Type
Original Construction
Description
Renovations for DSIR.
Period
1950s
Type
Refurbishment/renovation
Construction Materials
Brick and plaster with clay tiles
Early history of the site Dilworth Accommodation House is located in Otara, a district in south Auckland. Otara has overlays of ancestral footprints, the earliest being Te Tini o Toi people. O-Tara means ‘the place of Tara’ or ‘territory belonging to Tara’, who was a rangatira of the area. 'Otara’ is an abbreviation of the name Te Puke o Taramainuku. Te Puke o Tara was one of Otara's prominent volcanic cones, and prior to European settlement was the site of a scoria cone pā. Together with Matanginui and Te Puke Ariki Nui, Te Puke o Tara formed part of the East Tamaki volcanic field. All three cones were densely settled prior to European settlement in East Tamaki, due to their rich volcanic gardening soils and fresh water springs. There is general agreement that today’s mana whenua groups are the descendants of Pacifika voyagers on board waka Tainui. According to Ngai Tai oral traditions, Te Puke o Tara and Otara are named after their ariki Tara Te Irirangi, who lived from the late eighteenth century until 1852. Ngai Tai Ki Tamaki became closely interlinked by marriages with Te Akitai Waiohua, Ngati Tamaoho, Ngati Kahu, Ngati Paoa and Marutuahu iwi. Though considered a Ngai Tai area, the aforementioned iwi have an overlaying cultural footprint in Otara. The land was part of the 1836 Fairburn purchase and following settlement of Fairburn’s land claim became Crown land. In 1850 Allotment 5, Parish of Manurewa, along with neighbouring allotments, was granted to William Goodfellow who named the area Otara Farm. As well as farming wheat at the property Goodfellow was involved in local politics and was a representative on the Auckland Provincial Council between 1855 and 1861. Allotment 5 remained in the Goodfellow family until 1910 when the land was purchased by the Dilworth Trust Board who intended to use the land for a branch school of the Dilworth Ulster Institute. James Dilworth and the Dilworth Ulster Institute The Dilworth Ulster Institute was the legacy of James Dilworth (1815-1894), who came to Auckland from Ulster, Ireland via Sydney, Australia in 1841. Dilworth was an Auckland philanthropist, farmer and businessman who worked in banking before purchasing significant areas of land which he used for farming. He was a founding member of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Society in 1848 along with Governor Grey and other Auckland landowners. Upon his death in 1894, his will established the Dilworth Trust Board with the aim of founding a school to educate “disadvantaged boys” from the Auckland province and Ulster, Ireland who were growing up in hardship. The purpose of the school was to provide these boys with education and support to become ‘good and useful members of society’. Other schools for the disadvantaged were also established around this time, notably the Jubilee Institute for the Blind which was founded in 1890 and funded by public and private contributions. The first trustees on the Board were the named executors of Dilworth’s estate and included Sir George Maurice O’Rorke (1830-1916). O’Rorke also immigrated to New Zealand from Ireland and held significant positions in New Zealand politics as a member of parliament for 38 years, including 10 years as Speaker. He was a prominent figure in the development of education in the country and, as well as his position at Dilworth, he was a founding governor of Auckland Grammar, a member of the Senate of the University of New Zealand and the first chairman of the Auckland University College Council. In 1906 the trustees established the Dilworth Ulster Institute at Dilworth’s home and property on the slopes of Mount Hobson in Epsom, Auckland. The trustees felt that to fulfil the terms of Dilworth’s will it was important that the school be exclusively for boarders and Dilworth became the largest boarding school in the country. In 1910 the Trust purchased the land at Otara with a mind to future plans for establishing a farm school branch of the Institute. Farming was a significant industry in the New Zealand economy and the advent of refrigeration in the late nineteenth century had led to an agricultural revolution in New Zealand as access to new markets for goods had made smaller farms profitable. Opportunities for further education in practical subjects such as agriculture after primary school was recognised and advanced by the Manual and Technical Education Act 1900 as a post primary pathway separate from secondary education. Dilworth and a number of the Trustees came from farming backgrounds. O’Rorke was a vocal supporter of manual and technical education and the possibilities therein for students who would have otherwise left formal education for work. The school at Epsom already included farming activities in the lives of the students with caring for the school gardens and livestock as part of the daily chores. Before the farm school could be established, plans for the Otara site were changed and the Trustees intended to relocate the main school to Otara instead. A Private Bill was passed by parliament in 1912 to allow the trustees to vary from the specific terms of the will, including authorisation for the use of the Otara site for the main school and, in 1914, an architectural competition to design the school was won by Park and Savage. Shortly after the decision was announced the relocation was put on hold as the outbreak of the First World War (1914-18) led to difficulties in the Trust’s financial situation. Plans for the site were scaled back and the trustees decided to establish the Dilworth Ulster Institute School of Agriculture instead. Dilworth Ulster Institute School of Agriculture In 1915 Otara and the wider East Tamaki area was rural farm land. The Dilworth property was 272 acres and extended from the southern bank of the Otara Creek to East Tamaki Road. The property had some existing buildings on site which had been constructed by the Goodfellow family including Yendarra Homestead. Using these buildings, the agricultural school was established in 1915 under the management of Primrose McConnell who had previously managed New Zealand’s earliest Government training farm at Ruakura, near Hamilton. Described in 1912 as “one of the Dominion’s foremost scientific farmers”, McConnell had also conducted instruction at Ruakura before undertaking the job at Dilworth. During the initial years of the school McConnell lived at Yendarra and was responsible for purchasing the required livestock, crops and equipment needed to run and manage the farm. The trustees intended the school to be a model farm with expert teachers able to provide up-to-date scientific education for the boys being trained at the school. In contrast to Ruakura which offered training to any farmers or other member of the public who wished to attend, the Dilworth School of Agriculture was only open to existing students. Agricultural training was also available at Lincoln School of Agriculture, now Lincoln University, and at the Maori Agricultural College (MAC) near Hastings which was run by the Latter Day Saints for Mormon Maori boys. The trustees hired the architect Richard Atkinson Abbott (1883-1954) of Arnold and Abbott to be the school architect and design the Accommodation House and other buildings for the Agricultural College. Abbott was a New Zealand born architect who, after training England and travelling to France and America, designed buildings for schools and other public organisations in the Auckland region and was a founding member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. Abbott is credited with designing the Auckland Grammar Main Block, constructed 1916, in Spanish Mission style which was likely influenced by his time in America. Dilworth’s will required that the buildings that were designed and constructed for the school be substantial and have permanence and this is reflected in the materials and grandeur of the buildings at the Agricultural School. The first building constructed at the site was a large stable block in 1916 followed by the Accommodation House and separate laundry and urinal structures in 1917. Construction of the Dilworth School of Agriculture Accommodation House The Accommodation House was built to cater for domestic life at the school, allowing the boys to continue boarding as they would have at Epsom. The building as designed by Abbott shows the range of influences in Abbot’s training and experience with elements of Arts and Crafts as well as Spanish Mission style in its design. The brick building has an Edwardian influenced butterfly plan with a central two storey block with a tower and two long splayed front wings and two short rear wings. This plan was used so as to ensure that sunlight accessed all the dormitories and bedrooms. While the central block has a sense of grandness in its height, the wings are single storey and reflect the domesticity of the Accommodation House. The boys’ dormitories were in the northern front wing with the master’s bedroom connecting the wing to the central block and an additional dormitory room. The boys’ wing was extended with an additional dormitory to be the same length as the south wing shortly after the initial design and this room was likely constructed at the same time or very soon after the Accommodation House. The ground floor of the central block also had a common room and a sitting room for the boys. The southern wing was the staff wing with another sitting room, a bedroom, the beekeeper’s room, bathroom and the sick room. The rear wings were the service wings. In the rear back wing nearest the dormitories were the bathroom, boot room and polish room and the other wing contained a kitchen, pantry, scullery, coal room, and a servery connecting to a dining room. Opposite the kitchen were the stairs to the upper floor with the maids’ rooms, sewing room, linen room, storerooms, and another bedroom. The laundry and urinal buildings were single story structures located to the east of the Accommodation House and constructed from brick in a similar style. After primary education at Epsom, Dilworth boys had the opportunity to continue on at Otara for practical training before taking up work in farming. Before 1915, able students were already supported by the Trustees to continue their studies at Auckland Grammar School and at Seddon Memorial Technical College and the agricultural school extended these educational opportunities. At Otara the boys learned a variety of agricultural skills including animal husbandry, crop farming and hay making. Thirteen boys attended the school before 1919 when due to a lack of students and the difficulty of recruiting and retaining teachers it was closed. At this time agricultural education was being picked up by public schools which were able to offer better pay and conditions to experienced teachers. After the government declined to purchase the farm, the livestock, equipment and removable buildings were sold in 1919 and the Dilworth Trust Board retained the land. The Trust leased sections of the land, bringing in income for the running of the main school, and slowly sold these sections in the next decades. The Trust Board continued to support students to take up training in agriculture on working farms and maintained a continued interest in the boys who had left for such work. Use as the Mardella Stud The Accommodation House and 21 acres of the surrounding land was leased to horse racer Betham Pater Edwards from the late 1920s and was used for the Mardella stud farm. The stud farm made use of the stables and fields to accommodate the horses placed by their owners for breeding. A number of ex-racehorses were stabled at the farm during its operation. The Edwards family converted the southern front wing of the Accommodation House into their living space and used the remaining space for storage. After Betham Edwards' death in 1929 the lease and business were transferred to his daughters Nancy and Marjory Edwards, who in 1948 were the only women running a thoroughbred farm in New Zealand. Images show the phoenix palm is well established to the front of the building by these years. The sisters operated the stud until 1950. In 1950 the Dilworth Trust sold their remaining land at Otara to the Government who wished to use the land and buildings as the Otara Research Station of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). At broadly the same time as the DSIR started to use the complex for fertiliser research, the surrounding land was being subjected to extensive state housing construction as part of the suburb of Otara. DSIR – Otara Research Station The DSIR converted the interior space of the Accommodation House into offices, meeting rooms, workrooms, laboratories and a library. The DSIR had multiple locations around the country and the Otara site was leased as the headquarters of the Fertilizer Manufacturers’ Research Association (FMRA) and was also the N.Z. Geological Survey Otara District Office. The FMRA, established 1947, was a non-profit research organisation comprised of the DSIR and the major fertilizer manufacturing companies. The usability of the Accommodation House and other buildings for research purposes was an important factor in the department’s choice of location as well as the types of soil that could be used for research. The FMRA was formed to concentrate on the problems associated with fertiliser usage, and research that was conducted at Otara during the 1960s included investigations into DDT effectiveness. Annual industry conferences and symposiums were regularly held at the station. The north wing was renovated in 1966 to provide office space and a physical chemical laboratory. Manukau Institute of Technology The Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) took a lease of the Accommodation House in 1987 in response to the changing needs of the students and local community. MIT had been established in 1970 as part of a national network of polytechnics. Due to higher than expected student numbers more space was required for MIT and the Otara Research Station, 250m north of the existing campus, was chosen as the best location for expansion. The new campus was planned to be low rise and incorporated the Accommodation House as a principle building for the campus. In 1990 the land was gazetted for a technical institute and a new title to the property was issued to the Crown for a technical institute in 1991. MIT used the Accommodation House for staff and tutors offices before undertaking a complete refurbishment of the building, including seismic strengthening, to convert it into the Executive Offices which was completed in 2006. The building was renamed The Dilworth Centre upon re-opening and the ceremony was attended by the Dilworth Trust Board. In 2017 it is still in use by MIT management.
Current Description Context The Dilworth Ulster Institute Agricultural College Accommodation House is located at Otara, Auckland. Otara is a residential suburb in the south-eastern part of the Auckland conurbation, and contains housing predominantly erected after the Second World War. The Accommodation House forms a central part of the otherwise modern campus, which mostly consists of low buildings to the east and south of the Accommodation House. Immediately to the southeast of the campus is a surviving stable block (1916) that also formed part of the 1910s agricultural college and subsequent stud farm. This is identified in the Auckland Council Unitary Plan as a scheduled historic heritage place (01353, Stables, Cat B). The site The site of the Accommodation House is irregularly shaped and lies on the east side of Otara Road. The Building is located in the south-eastern corner of the site and is highly visible from Otara Road. It contains a substantial brick and plaster building with a concrete path around the building. The building has a grassed area to the front and plantings around the structure, including a large Phoenix Palm. The site includes a carpark on its west side and a generator building on the east side. Accommodation House - Exterior The Accommodation House has a butterfly plan layout with a mixture of Spanish Mission and Arts and Crafts influences in its visual design. It incorporates a central two storey block with a central tower and four splayed wings of single-storey height extending in a broadly symmetrical design. It is constructed from brick with rough plaster rendering, a clay tile roof and concrete foundations. Arts and Crafts influences are present in the use of polychrome brickwork for decorative effect in the exterior walls and on the chimneys, timber joinery, and buttressed corners on each wing. The phoenix palm in front of the building links to the use of Spanish mission elements. It is largely visually unmodified since initial construction other than the enclosure of porches and verandahs. Front Elevation At the centre of the building is a ground floor faceted bow window with wide prominent dormer windows on either side. Above the windows is a tower that accentuates the centrality of design. On either side of the bow window are informal long, low arches with recessed off-centre doors and two windows. The design of the arches is accentuated through the use of darker coloured bricks in the keystones. The central block also has a chimney at each end of the main roof in a continuation of the symmetry. The single level splayed wings extend forward at a diagonal angle from the central block and each have a number of windows. Some of the windows on the southern wing are a different design to the rest and are located in the formerly open porch that has been enclosed. The darker bricks are used to form a diaper pattern on the brick walls of the wings and also on the chimneys. The roof has deep eves that overlap where the central block meets the wings. North elevation Narrow windows are located along the front wing that reflects the use of the wing as the dormitory in their wide spacing. A long dormer window with rough stucco around the windows is located in the roof above the dormitory windows. A side door opens from the junction of the front and back wings with a covered path extending from the side that links to the neighbouring building. The gable of the front wing uses an arts and crafts half-timbering motif along with the diaper pattern in the brick below the gable. There is planting along the wall of the building. Rear elevation The two parallel back wings of mostly single-storey height extend a short way from the two-storey block and they each have a small brick storage room (shown on 1917 architectural plans as a cool room and heater room) in the centre of the back wall of each wing. Beside the wall of the southern wing is a wheelchair ramp leading to the rear entrance. A single dormer window extends the length of the upper floor below tower level. The half timbering motif is continued in the gables of the back wings. South elevation The single-storey south wings have windows along the side and show a continuation of the diaper pattern in the end wall beneath the half-timbered gables. Along the long diagonal wing and rear wing walls is an area of dense planting. Tower The Spanish Mission-influenced three tiered concrete tower uses the same pattern of windows and openings on each of its four sides. Lowest is a semi-circular window within a rectangular base above which is a bullseye window. This window sits below a pronounced decorative cornice above which is an open belfry. The top of the tower is capped with a lead cupola roof with a flagpole. Accommodation House - Interior The implied symmetry from the outside belies the lack of internal symmetry. While modifications have been made to the configuration and layout of some rooms on the ground floor, the overall circulation and planning of the interior of the accommodation house remains intact. Each of the two main entrances in the front elevation opens onto hallways that are connected by a central passage behind the two front rooms. Side corridors into each of the four wings open off these entrance hallways. Rooms forming the initial layout have generally been preserved, and are currently used as offices, meeting rooms and as storage space. Doors which are no longer used for room access are still present although sealed shut and the fireplaces have been covered by diagonal walls. The organisation of the two central rooms between the entrances has been rearranged, with the division on the opposite side of the bow window to that shown in the architectural plans. The verandas in the original plans have been enclosed and are used for additional office spaces, in the southern front wing the original porch walls have been retained as internal walls in their original condition. Modern suspended ceilings are present in many of the offices and meeting rooms, concealing earlier arrangements. The north front wing, formerly the dormitories, has been substantially modified. The former back porch at the rear of the central hallway is currently used as a reception, and includes an exit on its southern side. Repeating hallway arches through the central corridor show Spanish mission influences in their design. The first arch at the north end is a chamfered arch and the south end has a double door with a fan light. The hallways also incorporate a hard-wearing, glazed brick wall suitable for institutional use to dado level with a projecting brick dado rail with plaster above. The serving hatch between the former servery and the former dining room (now a meeting room) has been retained although it is no longer operational. The stairs to the upper floor are located off the hallway in the southern back wing and have a stepped glazed brick dado continuing the hallway design. The upstairs rooms have a similar configuration to the original architectural plans with three rooms to the front of the building and two rooms to the back; one of the back rooms was formerly two rooms. At each end of the upper floor are storage rooms which have access to the roof cavity. Structural timbers in the southern roof cavity show signs of being affected by fire at some time and an emergency ladder beneath a trapdoor is located in the northern storage room. In the both ends of the central corridor the upper floor is a hatch for roof access and in the centre of the corridor is access to the tower, which has had seismic strengthening. In the former linen room are a set of shelves that may date from its use for linen storage while it was in use by the Dilworth Ulster Institute School of Agriculture. A number of door handles and window fittings throughout the building appear to date from an early period in the use of the building. Comparisons Institutions solely for Agricultural Education Collectively the Accommodation House and the nearby stables at Dilworth Agricultural College are believed to be the earliest surviving buildings associated with dedicated agricultural education for children in New Zealand. The residential, administration and teaching building, Ivey Hall (List No. 273, Category 1 historic place) at Lincoln University was opened in 1878 for the college, which was then a branch of Canterbury University, and taught agriculture to adult students. The government began the experimental farm at Ruakura, Hamilton in 1901 and took on adult students from 1912 onwards. There is one building of this early period remaining on the site which was used for teaching and had dormitory space. The Maori Agricultural College in Hastings was established in 1913 to teach farming skills to Māori children. The building was destroyed in 1931 in the Hawke’s Bay earthquake. The farm now known as Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre was bequeathed to the Crown to become a training farm for returned soldiers in 1919 and Smedley Station was similarly bequeathed for teaching agriculture and opened in 1931. Flock House (List No. 7576, Category 1 historic place) was repurposed to teach agriculture in 1924. The next purpose built agricultural educational facility was Massey University in 1926. Schools which also provided Agricultural Education Secondary schools took up agricultural education shortly after the closure of the Dilworth Ulster Institute School of Agriculture. These schools included Rangiora High School, which added a school farm in 1920, and Feilding Agricultural High School, which was opened by the Department of Education in 1922. In Auckland, Mt Albert Grammar school acquired neighbouring land for a farm in 1932. Butterfly Plan Design The butterfly plan design is a feature used in a number of Arts and Crafts buildings including domestic homes such as Ngahere (List No. 4501) in Epsom, Auckland and Plas Mawr (List No. 146) in New Plymouth. This plan was also used for the main building at Iona College, constructed 1913, a girls’ school at Havelock North.
Completion Date
3rd March 2018
Report Written By
Alexandra Foster
Information Sources
Stone, 1995
R. C. J. Stone, James Dilworth, Auckland, 1995
Clark, 2002
Clark, Jennifer A., East Tamaki: Including the Adjoining Areas of Flat Bush and Otara, Papatoetoe, 2002.
Willyams and Netherton, 1996
Willyams, Bob, with Jan Netherton, Manukau Institute of Technology: The First 25 Years, Manukau Institute of Technology, 1996
Wilton, 2007
Wilton, Murray, The First One Hundred Years of Dilworth School 1906-2006: The Dilworth Legacy, Dilworth Trust Board, 2007.
Report Written By
Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions. Archaeological sites are protected by the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, regardless of whether they are entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero or not. Archaeological sites include ‘places associated with pre-1900 human activity, where there may be evidence relating to the history of New Zealand’. This List entry report should not be read as a statement on whether or not the archaeological provisions of the Act apply to the property (s) concerned. Please contact your local Heritage New Zealand office for archaeological advice. A fully referenced New Zealand Heritage List report is available on request from the Mid-Northern Office of Heritage New Zealand
Current Usages
Uses: Education
Specific Usage: Technical Institute
Former Usages
General Usage:: Accommodation
Specific Usage: House
General Usage:: Education
Specific Usage: School Dormitory
General Usage:: Education
Specific Usage: Staff housing
General Usage:: Forestry
Specific Usage: Agriculture - other
General Usage:: Research
Specific Usage: Scientific building/ laboratory