Biography

Paul Pascoe (1908-1976) was born in Christchurch. Named Edward Arnold, he was always known as Paul. He began his architectural training in 1927 and was apprenticed to the well-known Christchurch architect Cecil Wood.In 1934 he travelled to Britain, where he gained first-hand experience of the modernist movement, working for the New Zealand architect Brian O'Rorke; the Architectural Press (publishers of The Architectural Review); and the Tecton Group. Pascoe returned to Christchurch in 1937 and entered into a short-lived partnership with his former employer, Wood. In 1938 he began practicing on his own. Towards the end of the Second World War he was joined in practice by Humphrey Hall. Their partnership, Pascoe and Hall, became well-known for their domestic designs and their adaptation of modern architectural ideas to New Zealand conditions. Together they designed over 100 residential and commercial buildings and authored several architectural articles. By 1955 Pascoe had decided to practice by himself once more and was soon commissioned to design the terminal buildings at Christchurch International Airport.His design for this won him the New Zealand Institute of Architects gold medal in 1960. He also became involved in a number of eccelesiastical projects in Canterbury, including the remodelling of the chapel at Christ's College, the eastern extensions to Christ Church Cathedral and the interdenominational chapel at Arthur's Pass. Pascoe formed another partnership with Walter Linton in 1963, which became known for their domestic designs.This firm, now known as Pascoe Linton Sellers, still operates today. (Ana Robertson, 'Pascoe, Arnold Paul 1908-1976', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Vol. 5, 1941-1960, Auckland, 2000, pp.399-400)

Name

Pascoe, Paul

Type

Architect

Biography

Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (1825-98) trained as an architect in England, in the office of Richard Cromwell Carpenter, a member of the Cambridge Camden Society (later the Ecclesiological Society). He arrived in Canterbury in 1850. Mountfort was New Zealand's pre-eminent Gothic Revival architect and, according to architectural historian Ian Lochhead, 'did most to shape the architectural character of nineteenth-century Christchurch.' The buildings he designed were almost exclusively in the Gothic Revival style. During his career he designed many churches and additions to churches; those still standing include the Trinity Congregational Church in Christchurch (1874), St Mary's Church in Parnell, Auckland and the Church of the Good Shepherd in Phillipstown, Christchurch (1884). In 1857 he became the first architect to the province of Canterbury. He designed the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings in three stages from 1858 to 1865. The stone chamber of this building can be considered the greatest accomplishment of his career. He was involved in many important commissions from the 1870s, including the Canterbury Museum (1869-82) and the Clock-tower Block on the Canterbury College campus (1876-77). He was also involved in the construction of Christchurch's Cathedral and made several major modifications to the original design. Mountfort introduced a number of High Victorian elements to New Zealand architecture, such as the use of constructional polychromy, probably first used in New Zealand in the stone tower of the Canterbury Provincial Government Buildings (1859). Overall, his oeuvre reveals a consistent and virtually unerring application of Puginian principles including a commitment to the Gothic style, honest use of materials and picturesque utility. The result was the construction of inventive and impressive buildings of outstanding quality. He died in Christchurch in 1898. A belfry at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Phillipstown, the church he attended for the last ten years of his life, was erected in his honour.

Name

Mountfort, Benjamin Woolfield

Type

Architect

Biography

Robert Speechly (1840-84) trained as an architect in London and worked for several leading Gothic Revival architects including William Slater and Alfred Waterhouse. In 1864 he was appointed resident architect to supervise the construction of the Christchurch Cathedral and he arrived in September of that year. However, lack of money halted construction shortly after the foundations were laid in late 1865. Speechly then used his four year contract in New Zealand by acting as architect to the Church Property Trustees, supervising all buildings undertaken by them. In this capacity he was involved with the design of a number of churches, houses and schools in the Canterbury settlement. Speechly was assisted by William Fitzjohn Crisp who had arrived in New Zealand in 1861. He was Speechly's pupil until 1866 and his partner until May 1868. Buildings designed under the partnership name include Christ's College Chapel (1867), St Mary's Church, Merivale (1866), St Mary's Church, Addington (1867), St John's Parsonage (1866) and St Luke's Vicarage (1867-68).

Name

Speechley & Crisp

Type

Architectural Partnership