57-705: The Octagon may refer to: The Octagon, Christchurch , a former church in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand The Octagon, Dunedin , the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand The Octagon (Egypt) , the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of Defense in the New Administrative Capital of Egypt The Octagon House , Washington, D.C. The Octagon (Heidelberg University) , Tiffin, Ohio The Octagon (Roosevelt Island) , New York The Octagon at Amherst College , Massachusetts The Octagon (film) ,
114-472: A High Gothic Revival style. For this reason, the church has a large gallery at the northern end, so that the minister could be seen by all attending a service. Stylistically, the church shares many design elements with Canterbury Museum , which was also Mountfort's work and which was built in stages starting in 1870. The church began to be also used by the Pacific Islanders' Congregational Church in
171-490: A 1980 Chuck Norris movie The Octagon (album) , a 2020 album by Australian rapper Chillinit The Octagon, the trademarked name for the enclosure in Ultimate Fighting Championship#Octagon mixed-martial-arts bouts See also [ edit ] Octagon (disambiguation) Octagon Building (disambiguation) Octagon Theatre, Bolton , Greater Manchester, England Octagon Theatre, Perth ,
228-549: A business called 'The Church Brew Pub' (2023–present). The building is located on the south-west corner of Worcester and Manchester Streets. The three buildings on the south side of the section of Worcester Street leading into Cathedral Square are all registered heritage buildings and together, they form an important setting. The neighbouring buildings are the State Insurance Building, an art deco office tower designed by Cecil Wood and registered as Category II, and
285-553: A cottage in 1914 and a woolshed in 1927. After Rhodes' wife had died, Wood designed St Paul's Church—a small stone church in Tai Tapu —as a memorial to Lady Rhodes in 1929 (registered as Category I). In 1931, Wood designed the Tai Tapu library for Rhodes (registered as Category I). Strouts does not appear to have shaped Wood's architectural approach but Wood showed the same professionalism and integrity that he had observed in his teacher. As
342-522: A further partner, with the name of the firm changing to Hurst Seager, Wood and Munnings. Munnings was just a few months younger than Wood and they knew each other from Canterbury College where Seager had been their teacher, and Munnings then did his articles with his teacher. Afterwards, Munnings went to England and he worked for Leonard Stokes with Wood later also joined that firm. Munnings did some work on his own account in 1906 upon his return from England before joining Seager and Wood. The partnership between
399-617: A large office. Stokes designed churches, convents, education buildings, houses, and telephone exchanges. A devout Roman Catholic, the church was a major client for him. While Wood was in the office, Minterne House in Minterne Magna , Dorset , for Edward Digby, 10th Baron Digby was being worked on. Another project was the Gerrard Street Telephone Exchange in Gerrard Street, London . Stokes was difficult to work for as he
456-563: A new building: Farr, Benjamin Mountfort , William Armson and Robert Lawson . Although Farr was a Deacon of the Trinity Congregational Church and had designed the first church, the design of Mountfort was chosen, who was a devout Anglican . Farr's name is listed on the foundation stone as the church's Deacon. Mountfort was given the requirement of an open preaching space, which he met by choosing an Early French rather than
513-606: A partnership with William Clarkson (1863–1917). Wood joined them in 1899 as their draughtsman. The office had a wide range of building types to design. Their commercial designs did not shape Wood's architectural practice but their domestic work was later reflected in Wood's own designs. It is not known for certain what designs Wood worked on but it is assumed that he had input to the Canterbury Hall (1899–1900), which created much publicity for Ballantyne and Clarkson. Another project where Wood
570-573: A pencil sketch of the Runic in Port Melbourne on 13 March. Wood's uncle, Norman Shaw, had closed his office in 1896 but was still working and highly regarded. It would have been easy for Wood to get his uncle to give recommendations to other architects but Wood was too proud to ask for help. During his time in London, he visited his aunt and uncle just once and it was a social call. Wood found employment with
627-548: A small private school for 20 primary pupils, in Gloucester Street. From age 10, he attended Christchurch West School . When he was 12, he received a scholarship that allowed him to attend courses at the School of Art at Canterbury College in the evenings and on Saturdays. Wood finished at Christchurch West aged 15. At Canterbury College, he gained "excellent passes" for his freehand drawings in his first year. As an architect, Wood
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#1732855570546684-545: A theatre at the University of Western Australia Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title The Octagon . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Octagon&oldid=1117163379 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
741-661: Is a double barrel vault , which is regarded as an elegant solution to roofing over such a floor plan. The overall appearance of the building is in the Gothic Revival style. The building was registered as a heritage building by Heritage New Zealand on 2 April 1985 with registration number 306 classified as B. With the change of the classification system, the building later became a Category I listing. [REDACTED] Media related to Trinity Congregational Church, Christchurch at Wikimedia Commons Cecil Wood (architect) Cecil Walter Wood (6 June 1878 – 28 November 1947)
798-479: Is a good balance of features, gables and chimneys... Wood spent two years with Schultz and learned the importance of good planning, the choice of materials appropriate for the location and task, and how to work in with craftsmen so that a high quality of construction can be achieved. In 1905, Wood moved to the office of Leonard Stokes . Like Schultz, he was a leading architect in the Arts and Craft movement and he also had
855-470: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Octagon, Christchurch The Trinity Church or Trinity Congregational Church designed by Benjamin Mountfort , later called the State Trinity Centre , is a Category I heritage building listed with Heritage New Zealand . Damaged in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake and red-stickered after
912-603: Is likely that Wood would have worked on Totterdown Fields , the first of the London County Council cottage estates . It was the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1900 that allowed local councils to create cottage estates. It was not just a stimulating working environment where Wood was surrounded by young and progressive architects, but also a highly political field where many of the underlying ideas of how to deal with
969-677: Is remembered for his artistic plans, where perspectives were drawn freehand and many regard his plans as art in itself. It is unclear why Wood chose architecture but it is assumed that the career of his uncle, the noted British architect Norman Shaw , was a consideration. His father's sister Agnes had married Shaw in Hampstead in 1867. In June 1893, Wood's father paid NZ£ 100 to the architect Frederick Strouts for Cecil Wood to be articled to him. Strouts had qualified as an architect in England in 1869 after having emigrated to Christchurch in 1859. Strouts
1026-601: The New Zealand Institute of Architects in 1914, a fellow in 1926 and was elected the President in 1937. He was one of three prominent New Zealand architects in the inter-war period; the others were W. Gray Young (Wellington) and William Gummer ( Auckland ). From 1907 to 1909, Wood lived at The Spur in Sumner in one of the houses designed by Hurst Seager. On 22 December 1909 at St Luke's Church , Wood married Iris Bruce,
1083-460: The Southern Hemisphere . In 1906, Wood had produced an early perspective for the project but this is considered a reflection of his skill in preparing drawings, with Munnings credited as being the architect in contemporary reporting by The Press . Other projects where Wood had at least some input are the building for James Hay on the southwest corner of Bealey Avenue and Durham Street and
1140-720: The 1960s, and the congregations formally merged in 1968. In 1969, the Congregational church and the Presbyterian church combined throughout New Zealand as part of a worldwide trend under the auspices of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches . In Christchurch, the Trinity-Pacific Congregational Church joined with the Presbyterian congregation of St Paul's Church in Cashel Street. Financial pressure led to
1197-774: The Arts and Craft movement and a member of the Art Workers' Guild . Schultz believed in sound craftsmanship and wanted every architect to start their apprenticeship with a builder. He rejected academicism and for that reason, he never joined the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Wood passed the RIBA Intermediate Examination in November 1904 while employed with Schultz and that would have allowed him to become an Associate, but he did not apply until 1919. It might have been Schultz's influence that Wood did not apply at
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#17328555705461254-612: The Ashburton War Memorial. Wood received a commission from Harry Knight to design a homestead for his property at Racecourse Hill near Darfield . The English Domestic Revival house was finished in 1912. In 1922, Wood was one of two architects nominated by the Institute of Architects for judging designs for the Auckland War Memorial Museum; the other architect was Reginald Ford of Wanganui . In 1924, Wood
1311-614: The Convent Chapel in Barbadoes Street and a church in Merivale . Work was plentiful and Seager asked in April 1907 that the commission for the church be revoked. The vestry asked him to reconsider and Seager instead suggested that Munnings carry out the design. The church project was later abandoned. The chapel, however, was built and was considered the only Byzantine Revival architecture in
1368-537: The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake , the building was threatened with demolition like most other central city heritage buildings. In June 2012, it was announced that the building would be saved, repaired and earthquake strengthened. The building, post its church status, has housed some commercial operations, including the State Trinity Centre; 'The Octagon' (2006–2010); and later, following earthquake repairs,
1425-573: The February earthquake, had run out of funds and had reluctantly applied for the building to be demolished. In June 2012, it was announced that the building was saved, repaired and earthquake strengthened. In the 2012 Canterbury Heritage Awards, the building won the Heritage Retention Award, and the Supreme Award. In March 2013, Christchurch City Council's community, recreation and culture committee voted to give NZ$ 1 million towards
1482-586: The Housing Branch of the Architects' Department of London County Council . The branch was headed by the architect William Riley and their task was to create social housing so that the slums could be removed from central London. When he arrived, the group had just delivered the design for the Millbank Estate and this project was under construction. When he joined, the group started designing cottage estates. It
1539-599: The Old Government Building designed by Joseph Maddison and registered as Category I. The Congregational church was brought to New Zealand by Barzillai Quaife . Congregationalists had their first meeting in Christchurch in 1861. Meetings were held at Bonnington's Hall until July 1864, when that property changed hands and was no longer available. A society was formed, four members raised funds ( Samuel Farr , Mr Gee, James Jameson and Mr Lewis) and members bought
1596-700: The building for Norman Lindsay Macbeth in Wairarapa Terrace in Merivale; for both the buildings, the drawings are in Wood's style and/or have his handwriting. Opportunities for Wood and Munnings to gain experience arose when Seager travelled to Europe in March 1907, putting the partners in charge of the firm's projects. For Wood, this was likely what encouraged him to become independent. The Press reported in November 1908 that Seager and his wife expected to be back in Christchurch on 22 January 1909. And on 30 January 1909,
1653-469: The building in 1993 while on holiday in Christchurch. The owner of a wedding business in Australia already owned several churches, but he was awed by the internal beauty of the Trinity Congregational Church, especially the timber ceiling. His wife described the spontaneous purchase as one undertaken "by a guy with a big heart and very little brain". Restoration work took 13 years in total and in 2006, they opened
1710-494: The daughter of W. Bruce, with the ceremony performed by vicar William Sedgwick . The Woods had no children. In 1911, Wood designed a house for his wife and himself at 74 Richmond Hill Road in Sumner. This was one of the first houses in the 1910 Richmond Hill subdivision; it was located above the cliff behind Nayland Street. They lived there from 1911 until 1922, when they moved into the central city . The area, including this property,
1767-408: The designs, which lacked typical elements that were common at the time and present in the other 20 houses. The New Zealand Mail labelled their design "The Blot" and described it as "unsatisfactory throughout" and "a grave mistake": erecting "one of them would have been too many." Seager would have had a greater involvement in the design than Wood as he had designed timber cottages since 1900 when one
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1824-638: The end of April. Wood initially worked by himself but had employed Andrew Reese (1887–1917) as a draughtsman by February 1910. Reese worked for Wood until 1914 and on 1 March 1915, he entered into a partnership with George Hart. Wood took on trainee architects and the three early ones that are known of are Heathcote Helmore (who started after he finished his education at Christ's College in 1912), Guy Cotterill (started 1 February 1915), and Shirley Blackburne from 1915. Later trainee architects were Paul Pascoe and Miles Warren . Wood never entered any architectural competitions once in private practice but
1881-561: The property on the south-west corner of the Manchester and Worcester Streets intersection for a church. Farr was chosen as the architect for the original church and the affairs were progressed by the first minister, William Habens . The original church, built in stone, was opened with a series of opening services starting on 23 November 1864. By 1870, the church had become too small for the congregation, and there were problems with ventilation. Four architects were invited to provide designs for
1938-415: The restaurant. It was both a restaurant and a training venue for music students. The students worked at the restaurant, trained in music during times the restaurant was closed, and performed for the diners while the restaurant was open. The restaurant's name, The Octagon, makes reference to the octagonal floor plan of the church. The former church was damaged in 4 September 2010 Canterbury earthquake and
1995-399: The restoration and strengthening costs. Mountfort had designed other stone churches previously, but Trinity Congregational was the first to be built. Stone rubble walls are contrasted with Oamaru stone , which results in a striking juxtaposition of building materials, with most visual impact on the saddleback tower. The floor plan of the church is octagonal . The timber roof structure
2052-446: The sale of Trinity Congregational Church in 1974 to State Insurance , who owned the building immediately to the west of the church. The insurance called the building the State Trinity Centre. The renamed State Trinity Centre was used as a performing arts centre for the community. The new owners undertook significant earthquake strengthening, with the walls internally extended by adding a layer of reinforced concrete. Consent to have
2109-562: The three architects announced that they dissolved their partnership effective that day, with existing commissions remaining with Wood and Munnings at office No. 13 in the building, with Seager retaining his office No. 14. Leopold Atkinson, who had been with the firm for eight years, left at the same time and became an independent architect in Wanganui . Despite the newspaper advertisement that existing work would remain with Munnings and Wood, Munnings soon returned to England, leaving New Zealand at
2166-564: The three architects was dissolved in January 1909, with Munnings returning to England and Wood starting his own practice in the same building – the AMP Building in Cathedral Square. It is uncertain whether Seager gave his junior partners much of an opportunity to develop their own architectural concepts. Two of the designs produced between 1907 and 1909 are credited to Munnings without doubt:
2223-505: The time he became eligible. In his designs, Schultz paid close attention to the relationship between houses and their gardens. While Wood worked for him, Schultz had five or six assistants, but he never delegated any design work to them. One of the tasks that Wood performed for Schultz was to draw perspectives. Two designs that show Wood's initials are for Beaumonts in Four Elms , Kent , and for How Green House near Hever, Kent . Beaumonts
2280-410: The tower braced with an external steel structure; it was a much photographed item for its decoration with mannequins. Within two months, the restaurant was operating again. The building suffered further damage by the strong aftershock on Boxing Day of that year that was centred underneath the central city. Within two days, the restaurant opened again. In the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake ,
2337-684: The tower collapsed. The engineer who had designed the 1975–76 strengthening work had only recently warned that the tower was "severely compromised". Slade blamed that the consenting authorities, the Christchurch City Council and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust , were responsible for much of the loss of Christchurch's historic buildings due to their bureaucratic attitudes, which prevented much earthquake strengthening work from going ahead due to it being too intrusive. Slade, who had spent NZ$ 500,000 on remedial work prior to
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2394-517: The tower earthquake strengthened was declined by the Historic Places Trust, as it was necessary to temporarily remove the tower's roof. The modified building opened to the public on 22 November 1975. For years, Christchurch pupils would sit their piano exams at Trinity. Ownership later changed to private individuals and the building was used as a wedding chapel for Japanese tourists who wanted to get married in Christchurch. Alan Slade bought
2451-406: The underclasses of society were based in socialism. From 1902 to 1904, a fellow New Zealand architect in the office was Basil Hooper from Dunedin. In 1903, Wood joined the practice of Robert Weir Schultz , with the office located at Gray's Inn Square . Schultz, who had worked for Shaw from 1884 to 1886 and was heavily influenced by Shaw's chief clerk William Lethaby , was a leading proponent of
2508-682: The upcoming International Exhibition, which was to be held in North Hagley Park from November 1906. The Liberal Government had passed the Workers' Dwelling Act 1905, with the same philosophy as the projects that Wood had worked on in London. They won the South Island section of the competition for a model workers' house and their design was built on the exhibition grounds. After the International Exhibition closed in April 1907, their building
2565-498: Was red-zoned after the earthquakes. In October 1944, Wood designed a retirement house for his wife and himself. The building, at 16 Helmore Road (since renamed to Helmores Lane), is located in Merivale and was finished in 1946. The façade facing Rhodes Street has a steep pitch and this design element was adopted by other local architects for domestic buildings. Wood died at his home on 28 November 1947. His wife died more than three decades later in 1979. Their ashes were interred in
2622-608: Was a New Zealand architect. He was the dominant architect in Canterbury during the interwar period. Wood was born in Christchurch , New Zealand, in 1878. At his birth, the family lived in Cashel Street West near Antigua Street. His father, Robert Wood, was a timber merchant and later a Christchurch City councillor (1889–1895). His mother was Margaret Amelia (Amy) née Tribe . His parents had married in 1865 and Cecil
2679-606: Was designed for John Macmillan Brown in Cashmere . The Petone houses are nearly identical to cottage No. 2 at The Spur in Clifton, Christchurch . Two of the houses in Petone are registered by Heritage New Zealand: 16 Patrick Street is a Category II entry and 19 Patrick Street a Category I entry. In addition, there is a Historic Area registration covering much of the social housing project. In February 1907, Joseph Munnings (1879–1937) became
2736-624: Was exhibited at the Royal Academy and then loaned to be displayed at the 1906–1907 International Exhibition in Christchurch, New Zealand. Wood's perspective of the How Green House was featured in the magazine British Architect in May 1906 and received a favourable review. The view of the garden front, cleverly drawn in coloured chalk, shows how a house may be broadly treated and well bound together in line and mass, whilst being very picturesque. There
2793-796: Was held in high regard by the profession as evidenced by the fact that he was appointed judge at the three largest competitions during his time: for the Auckland War Memorial Museum (1922), the Auckland Civic Centre (1924), and the National Art Gallery and Museum in Wellington . The two other competitions that he judged were for the Wellington Public Library (now used as the City Gallery Wellington ) and
2850-451: Was likely involved was a large domestic house on the corner of Salisbury Street, then known as Scott House but today mostly referred to as Ironside House. By 1901, Ballantyne and Clarkson had little work and that may have contributed to Wood's decision to go to England to further his career. Wood had received architectural training from both Strouts and Seager under the English tradition and it
2907-698: Was moved to 52 Longfellow Street in Sydenham where it still stands today. The house is registered with Heritage New Zealand as a Category II item. They also entered the North Island competition for model workers' houses and their design was one of the chosen ones; 5 houses were built in Petone where an initial 25 houses were built by the Liberal Government. Compared to the other social houses, they were simpler and more intimate in scale. The local media reacted badly to
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#17328555705462964-548: Was on the competition panel for the Auckland Civic Centre alongside Walter Bush (Auckland's city engineer), W. Gray Young (architect from Wellington ), George Baildon and John Dempsey (the latter two both councillors for Auckland City Council ). He designed many heritage buildings in New Zealand including Wellington Cathedral of St Paul and the Memorial Dining Hall at Christ's College . He became an associate of
3021-682: Was one of the founders of the Canterbury Association of Architects in 1871. When Wood joined the firm, Strouts had just made Robert Ballantyne (1866–1936) a junior partner. Two major commissions that the office worked on during Wood's time were the Hyman Marks block of Christchurch Hospital and the homestead for Sir Heaton Rhodes , Otahuna . Strouts had a longstanding association with the Rhodes family and after Strouts retired, Wood received many of that family's commissions. At Otahuna, Wood designed
3078-724: Was quick-tempered, and both his staff and clients "often felt the whip of his tongue". He was acknowledged and admired for his rational design approach and for his original designs. His work showed a good sense of scale and he paid attention to detail. Wood spent some months only at Stokes' office but was much influenced by him, and later designs for education buildings and houses drew inspiration from Stokes' designs. On his return to New Zealand, Wood stopped over in Wellington in February 1906 to visit two of his brothers. Effective 12 February 1906, he became partner to Seager in his office in Cathedral Square , with their firm known as "Hurst Seager and Wood". Wood and Seager turned their attention to
3135-574: Was their sixth child. Shortly after childbirth, his mother died on 27 September 1885 (the infant daughter had died two days prior); Cecil was seven at that time and affected by his mother's death. His eldest sister Amy was subsequently in charge of the younger siblings until his father remarried—to Elizabeth Anne née Freeman —when Cecil was 13. The Wood children did not welcome their new mother and Cecil felt loneliness and resentment, to both his father and his stepmother, which lasted into adulthood. Wood started his education at Miss Leete's School,
3192-491: Was thus a logical step for him to at some stage go to England himself to become more familiar with this genre. Once again, he received financial assistance from his father for this next stage of education. He left from the Port of Lyttelton on board SS Rotomahana for Wellington on 21 February 1901. From Wellington, he left for Sydney on 2 March on the SS Monowai . In Sydney, he took the SS Runic on its maiden-return journey to England, leaving on 8 March. Wood produced
3249-692: Was usual at the time, tertiary education was undertaken in the evenings and on Saturdays. Wood took a four-year diploma course at Canterbury College from 1894, where Samuel Hurst Seager was his teacher. Seager introduced Wood to Arts and Crafts architecture . In his first year at the college, Seager encouraged Wood to enter one of his designs to a competition run by the magazine The Australasian Builder and Contractors' News . Wood won third prize. Wood finished his apprenticeship with Strouts and once Strouts retired in 1899, meaning that he only worked for existing clients or on follow-up projects, he finished his employment there. Ballantyne also left Strouts and set up
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