Existing Completed Buildings

The present buildings (excluding the Science Building and the Te Aro Gymnasium, which are still under construction) comprise the main Arts, Science and Library Building, the Biology Building, the Administration Building, the Little Theatre Building, two steel huts on Kelburn Parade, a small wooden hut on Kelburn Parade, six steel huts (the Geography and Geology huts) on city land near Kelburn Park, the old Gymnasium, houses at 20 and 48 Kelburn Parade, and the caretaker's cottage.

The main Arts, Science and Library Building was started a little before 1906 and built in stages, the final stage being completed in 1923. In 1924 it was housed about thirty-three members of full-time staff. In 1955 the corresponding number page 5 was seventy-six. The building contains 75,231 sq. ft. of space (outside measurements).

The Biology Building consists of three floors. The ground and first floors were built in 1938-39. They contain laboratories, classrooms, museums, staff rooms and the incidental offices of the Departments of Zoology and Botany and also part of the Royal Society's Library. The third floor was built in 1953-54. It contains staff rooms for Arts staff and one member of the Zoology Department, classrooms, a stack-room for the Royal Society's Library, and incidental offices. The total space in this building is 29,760 sq. ft. Only a small part of the space on the third floor of this building is a net addition to the College accommodation. The greater part of this floor was merely a replacement of the space of five temporary huts which were demolished to make way for the Science Building, together with a relocating of certain activities which could no longer be carried on in the two remaining huts, because of the unavoidable noise and disturbance caused by building operations on the Science Building.

The Administration Building was built in 1937-39. It contains two floors, each of about 2289 sq. ft., and a mansard-roofed floor of about 1200 sq. ft., which was originally used as a caretaker's flat. This floor was taken over for administrative staff in 1951. The staff housed in the two lower floors (4578 sq. ft.) in 1939 was nine. The staff housed in the whole building (5778 sq. ft.) in 1955 was twenty-two.

The Little Theatre is a one-floor temporary building of wood. It was built shortly after the war to assist the College and the Training College to meet the post-war enrolment of returned servicemen. It continues to be shared between the College and the Training College. It originally contained a small hall, four class rooms, five staff rooms and incidental offices. One of the class rooms has since been divided into five staff rooms and three staff rooms have been cut off another class room. The building contains 8700 sq. ft.

The two steel huts on Kelburn Parade, and the six on city land near Kelburn Park which house the Geography and Geology Departments, are buildings of the most unsatisfactory and temporary sort. They were surplus U.S. Army equipment and were erected very shortly after the war. They have virtually reached the end of their useful life. Each is about 1,000 sq. ft. in area.

The old Gymnasium is a wooden building opened in 1909.

The other buildings are the small wooden (ex-army) hut on Kelburn Parade whose 812 sq. ft. contains three staff rooms and a store; the house at 20 Kelburn Parade (2500 sq. ft.), which contains a caretaker's flat on the ground floor and five staff studies on the top floor; the house at 48 Kelburn Parade (less than 2000 sq. ft.), where there are five staff studies on the top floor, the ground floor being used by the Training College; and the caretaker's cottage (1200 sq. ft.), situated to the east of the Biology Building.