Registration Type
Historic Place Category 1
Register Number
5390
Date Registered
25-Jun-1992
Legal Description
Lot 5 DP 338864 (CT 160137), Canterbury Land District
Extent of Registration
Extent of registration is the land described as Lot 5 DP 338864 (CT 160137), Canterbury Land District, and the structure known as Addington Water Tower thereon, and its fixtures and fittings
City/District Council
Christchurch City
Region
Canterbury Region
Summary
The following text was prepared as part of an upgrade project and was completed 28 November 2001.
Addington Water Tower was built in 1883 to provide a high pressure water system for the Addington Railway Workshops. These workshops were established in 1879 - 1880, replacing the first railway workshop in New Zealand, which had been established by the Canterbury Provincial Government in 1863. The water tower was designed by Peter Ellis, the then Chief Draughtsman for the Railways Department. Ellis's brother was the foreman during its construction and prison labour was used to build it.
The tower is 21.9 metres high and is built of steel reinforced concrete and cast iron. It is significant within the history of engineering as one of the earliest structures in the world to be made from reinforced concrete. This significance was acknowledged by the Institute of Professional Engineers, New Zealand (IPENZ) in 1990, which provided a plaque for the tower.
The tower stands on a three-step pedestal, and is visually divided into three sections. The bottom section is built of reinforced concrete and is square in plan. There are arched recesses on each of the four sides, and circular windows are set in the top of each recess. On the north-east face there are two wooden doors. The middle section, also of reinforced concrete, and the top section, which consists of the cast-iron water tank, are both octagonal in plan and are separated by a projecting cornice. Health and safety slogans, such as 'Safety Week Starts Every Monday', once decorated every second face of the tank. Inside the tower there are timber floors on both the ground and first floor level, with a steel ladder providing access to the latter. The pumping mechanism is situated on the ground floor. As the tower was constructed on a base of quicksand and clay, it had sunk approximately 22 centimetres (9 inches) by the time it was completed (as predicted by Ellis), and now rests on a slight angle.
The primary significance of the tower is the method and materials used in its construction. Today Addington Water Tower is also important as the last remaining physical link to the Addington Railway Workshops, which had 'once been the largest industrial concern in the South Island'. The buildings of the workshops were demolished during the 1980s and a new railway station now stands on this land. The tower remains as a prominent and distinctive feature of this landscape.
Historical Significance
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. The following text is from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration.
The water tower is centrally located on the site of what was once the largest railway workshop development in the country.
Physical Significance
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. The following text is from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration
ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY:
Although it is an engineering structure the Addington Water Tower is not without architectural pretensions. The arched forms of the lowest section and the general proportions of the tower as a whole give the structure a coherence of design which elevates its appearance above that of the purely functional.
Peter Ellis' use of reinforced concrete in the construction of the tower was highly innovative in 1883. The water tower "is one of the world's first structures in reinforced concrete" (IPENZ commemorative plaque, laid June 21 1990). The structure is also the first reinforced concrete water tower to have been erected in the world, predating the first such structure built in England by eighteen years (1900 - G G Thornton ms). Erected during the experimental period of concrete construction in New Zealand (Ibid.), the tower is also noteworthy because of its foundations and because it was designed to withstand earthquakes by having a very low centre of gravity (NZ Building Progress, 1906?).
TOWNSCAPE/LANDMARK VALUE:
The water tower may be regarded as the focal point of the Addington Workshop complex. As demolition proceeds, however, it will lose its architectural context and thus its townscape significance will be reduced. In the meantime it provides a vertical accent amidst the predominantly horizontal workshop buildings.
The water tower is an industrial landmark within Addington, close to the south-west corner of Hagley Park. It can best be appreciated from the nearby Blenheim Road overbridge, for elsewhere the flatness of Christchurch tends to undermine its landmark value. Demolition of the railway workshops should remedy this situation to some extent, however.
Construction Professionals
Historical Narrative
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. The following text is from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration.
DESCRIPTION:
New Zealand's oldest railway workshop was established by the Canterbury Provincial Government in 1863. Having been taken over by Central Government in c.1872 this workshop soon became too small to handle the demands of the provincial railway system and so it was re-established at Addington in 1879-80. The water tower was erected to supply the Addington Railway Workshops complex with a high-pressure water supply.
Built by prison labour, and supervised by the engineer's brother, the water tower had sunk nine inches at the time of its completion and today it rests on a slight angle. At the time of its construction the Public Works Department was evidently sceptical of Peter Ellis' design and sole responsibility for it was vested with the engineer (Ibid.).
Despite the demolition of the railway workshops it is intended that the water tower will be retained and used to augment the domestic water supply in the area. In June of 1990 the Institution of Professional Engineers, New Zealand recognised the significance of this structure when it installed a commemorative plaque at the site.
Notable Features
The tower's construction is its most noteworthy feature.
Construction Dates
- Original Construction: 1882 (circa) - 1883 (circa)
- Modification: 1964 (circa)
Construction Details
Steel reinforced concrete, cast iron and timber.
Other Information
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration.
Report Written By
Melanie Lovell-Smith
Report Completed
28-Nov-2001
Information on
this page is correct to the best of the Trust's knowledge. If you have any additional
information you would like to share with the Trust, please
contact the Registrar.
You may wish to contact the Trust to view our paper records.