Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

's Sir Geoffrey Peren Building, or Old Main Building as it was previously known, is located on the Manawatū campus of the university. At the time of its completion the building was known as the Agricultural Science Building, often shortened to Science Building. It was also referred to as the Main Building, and later as the Old Main Building. In 2010, it was renamed in honor of Sir Geoffrey Peren, the first principal of the university's forerunner,

Massey Agricultural College Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

History

Constructed from 1929 to 1931, the building was designed to serve as the administration and teaching building of Massey Agricultural College by American architect Roy Alstan Lippincott, who had settled in Auckland. Lippincott was the brother-in-law of

Walter Burley Griffin Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He is known for designing Canberra, Australia's capital city and the New South Wales towns of Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith and ...

and had earlier been involved, along with Griffin, with the planning of

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. On 4 December 1929 the

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

of the Science Building was laid by the Governor-General Sir

Charles Fergusson Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet, (17 January 1865 – 20 February 1951), was a British Army officer and the third Governor-General of New Zealand. Early life and military career Fergusson was the son of Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet, ...

. The official opening of the building by then Governor-General Lord Bledisloe, took place on 31 April 1931. Designed primarily in the

Spanish Mission style The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

, the building contains a mix of features from several architectural styles. In addition to

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

features, the building is an early example in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

of indigenous cultural and natural design elements being incorporated into

modernist architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

- some design motifs mimic

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

carvings and natural elements such as plants and animals of New Zealand. The building was constructed of reinforced concrete and the roof was covered with red

Marseilles tile Roof tiles are designed mainly to keep out rain, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as terracotta or slate. Modern materials such as concrete, metal and plastic are also used and some clay tiles have a waterproof ...

s. It is protected as a 'Category I' historic place by

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

. For most of its history the building served as a teaching, research and administrative space for the college and later the university. During World War II its served for a few years as the New Zealand Army Staff College. The initial

layout Layout may refer to: * Page layout, the arrangement of visual elements on a page ** Comprehensive layout (comp), a proposed page layout presented by a designer to their client * Layout (computing), the process of calculating the position of obje ...

of the building included

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

s for staff,

lecture room ''Lecture Room'' is a Chinese television programme hosted by China Central Television (CCTV), in which scholars from various disciplines are invited to provide lectures. It was first broadcast on 9 July 2001 on CCTV-10. In its early days, feature ...

s, a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

and twelve

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

for agriculture and science. Since those early days, several modifications have been made to the building to suit the needs of its occupants. In 1962 the

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

, which had a

level Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights *Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *Canal pound or level *Regr ...

floor, was converted into a

lecture theater A lecture hall (or lecture theatre) is a large room used for instruction, typically at a college or university. Unlike a traditional classroom with a capacity normally between one and fifty, the capacity of lecture halls is usually measured in ...

with a sloping floor. The laboratories and research spaces used by agriculture and science staff made way for seminar rooms and

studies Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Observational study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study (art), a drawing or series of drawin ...

between 1978 and 1980 when humanities staff and the Centre for Extramural Studies moved in. A top story was also added then to the side wings. From 2012 to 2015 the building underwent a major upgrade when it was refurbished and seismically strengthened. This refurbishment saw the building restored to its original condition and the project won the Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute or Architects' Western Architecture Award for Heritage in 2016. Since this refurbishment, the building has been used by staff of the university's College of Humanities and Social Sciences. In 2021 a process was started to award heritage status to the area encompassing the Sir Geoffrey Peren Building, the Refectory, McHardy Hall, the Old Registry Building, Tiritea House and the Oval. This area is now known as the Turitea Historic Area.

References

{{Reflist \ Buildings and structures in Manawatū-Whanganui Massey University Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Manawatū-Whanganui