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From issue: August 2000

Gentle Art of Persuasion

by Rodney Grater

Oamaru hopes its newly adopted Design Guidelines will see more achieved by way of co-operation rather than compulsion.

In 1999, on the recommendation of its Planning and Environmental Committee, the Waitaki District Council adopted the Oamaru Central Design Guidelines as a Council Policy Document. In so doing the Council took a quantum leap forward in supporting the concept of Historic Oamaru.

Lower Thames Street, Oamaru, in the late nineteenth century. Photo: Alexander Turnbull Library*

The explanatory note to the Guidelines says it all: "Oamaru is recognised as New Zealand's capital of Victorian Architecture. The purpose of the Design Guidelines is to assist owners and developers of buildings in the Business I and Business H zones of Central Oamaru who want to renovate, alter or redevelop their properties" to ensure compatibility with "neighbourhood buildings and the historic character and feel of Oamaru, and to meet the objectives of Council." The Guidelines not only refer to building facade treatment but also deal with all other building elements visible from the street such as side walls and roofs, elements important to the over-all streetscape appearance of a building, which should be addressed in an appropriate and sympathetic manner.

Why a Design Guide? Oamaru has a vast array of Victorian and Edwardian buildings and studies commissioned by the Council to assess the heritage values of the area and to formulate strategies for its redevelopment, revitalisation and promotion for tourist and commercial purposes have highlighted the need for coherence of design ideas. This needs to be applied both in the renovation of existing heritage buildings and in the construction of new buildings so that "all development is sensitive and enhances the existing visual streetscape and townscape qualities of the town."

Harmony in colour and proportions of adjacent buildings on Thames Street. Photo: Rodney Grater

The Design Guidelines operate on three levels. First as an identification and description of the main features of the town's heritage buildings; second, as a guide and reference for developers and designers to encourage them to prepare sympathetic designs for new buildings or alterations or renovation of existing ones; third as a measure so the Council can assess how well the design of development properties meets the objectives, policies and rules of the Waitaki District Plan. The Guide does not prescribe; rather by illustration and example it distinguishes acceptable from unacceptable facade treatments. It suggests what is appropriate, as opposed to the obligatory criteria contained in the District Plan, and the Council "recommends that building owners and developers contemplating renovation or redevelop ment of their properties contact an architect or professional designer to obtain design services or colour schemes".

A discordant element was introduced on another block on Thames Street when a building was painted in what many considered an inappropriate colour. Photo: Rodney Grater

The individual buildings of Oamaru's historic areas do not exist by themselves. Each individual façade or building is part of the total streetscape in which it stands. The key elements of architectural form such as scale, bulk, proportions, vertical and horizontal elements, materials, textures and colours must all be respected if a building is to succeed in context. The approach fostered is a blending of carefully selected architectural forms in a modern and innovative way
to enhance the visual integrity of the area.

In the Guidelines a short history of Oamaru is followed by a list of visual characteristics, all comprehensively illustrated with examples of appropriate and inappropriate treatment. These sections of the Guidelines deal with streetscape and context, materials, window ornamentation, parapet and skyline elements, verandahs, colour, signage, facade restoration and conservation, and building preservation. In the Guidelines there are also detailed schedules of buildings classified under the Historic Places Act, buildings listed in the District Plan and a separate Guidelines register of further buildings of streetscape significance, the facades of which it is thought desirable to retain as they are.

Since the draft of the Guidelines was released for public comment, they have proved to be of considerable significance in signage and facade redecoration in Lower Thames Street. The North Otago Branch of the Historic Places Trust anticipates that this will continue. Sadly, however, we have to sound caution. A recent Council decision consented to the use of what seems to many an entirely inappropriate yellow on a large commercial building close to the South African War memorial in Lower Thames Street. It is clear that given the voluntary nature of the Guidelines, the will of the Council and of owners and developers to ensure the spirit, rather than merely the letter, of the Guidelines is honoured is all important. Only through co-operation and persuasion will Oamaru and the Waitaki District receive full value from the Guidelines as a significant aid to historic preservation.

But we can conclude on a positive note. The New Zealand Planning Institute announced at its conference held in Christchurch in May that the Waitaki District Council has been awarded the Institute's 2000 Project Award for "its heritage building protection initiatives". The Guidelines were specifically referred to in the citation as important.

Rodney Grater chairs the North Otago Branch Committee of the Historic Places Trust.