MAKING THE NEW ZEALAND HOUSE 1792 – 1982 BY NIGEL PHILIP ISAACS A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington 2015 ABSTRACT A systematic investigation was undertaken of the techniques (materials and technologies) used to construct the shell of the New Zealand house (envelope and interior linings) between 1792 and 1982. Using census, manufacturing and import statistics with analysis of local and international archives and publications, principal techniques were selected and documented. A review of local construction and building publications provide a background to the development of construction education and training, as well as the speed of change. Analysis of census data showed that from 1858 to 1981 the majority of dwelling walls in terms of construction (appearance) were timber, brick, board or concrete, while the structure was timber frame. Analysis of import data for seven materials (galvanised iron, asbestos cement, cement, window glass, wood nails, gypsum and roofing slate) from 1870 to 1965 found the UK was a majority supplier until 1925, except for USA gypsum. For the rest of the period, the UK continued to play a preeminent role with increasing Australian imports and local manufacture. Examination of archival and published information on techniques used for the sub-floor, floor, wall (construction and structure), fenestration, roof and thermal insulation provide an overview of country of orign, decade of arrival, spread of use and, if relevant, reasons for failure. Forty materials (including earth and brick, stone, cement and concrete, timber and ferrous metals) and twenty-four technologies are documented. Revised dates of first NZ use are provided for eight of these e.g. the shift from balloon to platform framing occurred in the early 1880s rather than 1890s. Three case studies examine different aspects of the techniques (nails 1860 to 1965, hollow concrete blocks 1904 to 1910 and camerated concrete 1908 to 1920). The research shows that timber was the predominant structural (framing) material from 1792 to 1982. From the 1930s there was a shift away from timber construction (external appearance) to a wider range of products, including brick, board (asbestos- and more recently fibre-cement) and concrete. A new chronological classification of house development is proposed. i These techniques travelled in a variety of ways and at speeds which indicate over this time New Zealand was technologically well connected and supported an innovative construction sector. The techniques covered are: Boards: asbestos, and cellulose fibre-cement, particle, plywood, pumice, softboard, and hardboard; Bricks: double and veneer; Building paper; Cement and lime: local and imported; Concrete: hollow block, monolithic, reinforced, Camerated, Oratonu and Pearse patents; Fired earth: bricks and terracotta roof tiles; Floors: concrete slab, suspended, and terrazzo; Framing: balloon, braced, light steel, and platform; Insulation: cork, fibreglass, macerated paper, perlite, pumice, foil, and mineral wool; Iron and Steel: cast and wrought iron, steel; Linings: fibrous plaster, plasterboard and wet; metal tile, shingles and slates; Nails: cut, hand-made, wire and plates; Piles: concrete, native timber and stone; Roof: strutted and truss rafter; Roofing: aluminium, corrugated iron, ; Sub-floor: vapour barrier, walls and ventilation; Timber: air and kiln drying, glulam, native, pit-saw and preservative treatments; Wall constructions: earth, log, slab, solid timber, raupo and stone; Weatherboards; and Windows: glass, aluminium, steel and timber frames. ii Acknowledgements This research has used a wide range of New Zealand archival records, formal publications and contemporary newspapers. Each topic has been investigated in terms of published and unpublished materials such as catalogues, leaflets and other ephemera. In general, it has been found that much of the material of interest is beyond the lifespan of possible living respondents, so use has been made of contemporary reports, whether in newspapers, journals or books. Formal architectural and general history books have helped provide background, but principally original historical sources have been used – contemporary books, articles, newspapers, films and correspondence. The development over the past decade of internet accessible and searchable archive indexes, library catalogues, books, journals and newspapers has opened a rich resource for historical research, allowing the tracing of what would have once been impossible trails. Automated Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has provided powerful access to millions of pages of early newspapers, while the voluntary work of those involved in genealogy has opened up the fine details of many archives. These improvements are far from perfect, so although the breadth of resource has improved, research time and skills have not changed. For example, in Papers Past (paperspast.natlib.govt.nz), the character string "&c" (commonly used in advertisements to indicate other products are available) is often converted through OCR to "ice", confusing any research exploring early use of thermal insulation. However, electronic access has not yet replaced the careful examination of library and archive resources including hard copy archives, newspapers, microfilm and microfiche, books and journals which provide access to material that is unavailable in electronic or online format. Thanks are due to the many building owners, archivists, librarians, owners of second hand bookshops, sellers of old New Zealand material on Trademe, heritage architects, observant builders as well as the staff of local museums, Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand) and today's building industries from around NZ and the world who have helped provide much of this material. iii Geo-location maps have been generated using BachGeo (www.batchgeo.com). Acknowledgements for assistance, guidance and resources are due to: Archives NZ: Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington & Auckland BRANZ: to all of my former colleagues but with special thanks to librarians Andries Labuschagne and Suzanne Lester; scientists and engineers Mark Bassett, Graeme Beattie, Ian Cox-Smith, John Duncan, Graeme Hughes, Ian Page, Roger Shelton, Harry Trethowen, and Colleen Wade BUILD magazine: editors Wendy Harding and Annemarie Crampton and reviewers of my History of Building Technology articles City Archives: Dunedin, Christchurch, Hutt City, Wellington & Auckland Encyclopaedia: Te Ara, Dictionary of NZ Biography, Dictionary of Sydney Family and friends: Jim Bowler, Leigh & Jenny Briars, Paul Grimwood Fletcher Trust Archives: Dorothy Neilson Heritage Architects: Jeremy Salmond, Peter Reed, Ian Bowman; Chris Cochran; Antony Matthews, Jane Matthews Historic organisations: including Heritage NZ (formerly New Zealand Historic Places Trust), Historic Houses Trust (NSW) House owners and occupants: of various houses I have asked for information and who without exception have been supportive of this work International Libraries: Library of Congress, British Library, National Library of Australia, State Library of Victoria, State Library of NSW, Historic Houses Trust (Sydney) Caroline Simpson Library. Museums: Te Papa, local museums including: Appleby Fire Museum, Central Otago, Nelson, Motueka, Otago, Puke Ariki New Plymouth, Wellington's Museum of City & Sea. NZ Libraries: Parliamentary Library, National Library, Alexander Turnbull Library, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington & Auckland city libraries as well as local libraries in Hutt City, Westport, Whangarei National Library of New Zealand and Alexander Turnbull Library online resources: PapersPast, AtoJsOnline, Matapihi, Tapuhi, IndexNZ, DigitalNZ, NZ Libraries Catalogue, Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961 Online & electronic resources: NZ Electronic Text Centre (VUW), New Zealand Gazette Archive, NZ Society of Genealogists, New Zealand Legal Information Institute, University of Auckland's Early New Zealand Statutes, Statistics New Zealand Yearbooks, GeoNet Patents: Oliver Dickie (Ellis Terry: Terry IP), Mark Luiten (IPONZ) Researchers & Industry – International: Chris How, Chery Kemp, John Johnson, Miles Lewis, Kevin Newhouse, Helen Pearson, William B. Rose, Michael Tutton, Alex Warren Researchers & Industry – New Zealand: Wendy Adlam, Brian Armstrong, David Barnard, Rob Bishop, Karen Cheer, John Coster, William Cottrell, Lianne Cox, Paul Cummack, Andrew Cunningham, Carl Davies, Ken Cuttle, Kit Cuttle, Richard Deakin, Paul Diamond, Jeanette Drysdale, Michael Findlay, Christopher Kay, Helen Leach, Alan Malaquin, Willie Mandeno, Geoffrey Mew, Richard Moore, Ned Niha, Graham Nist, Mary O'Keeffe, Ashwell Palmer, Noel Richards (deceased), Graeme Ross, Bernie Salmon, James Sherman, Euan Smith, William (Bill) Smith (deceased), Katherine Watson, Max Warwick, Denis West, Ken Wheeler, Arthur Williamson, David Young, Robert Young, iv Sounds Historical: Radio NZ's Sunday night history programme prepared and presented by Jim Sullivan, with support from Alison Lloyd-Davies, Ruth Beran Students in BBSC 271 (2005-2009) then BILD/SARC 251 (2010-) History of Building Technology: their comments on my research are gratefully acknowledged. University libraries: the main and specialist libraries and librarians: VUW including the Beaglehole Room, Auckland, Otago including the Hocken Library and Waikato