Waikato’s agricultural industry started to flourish at the beginning of the 20th century, marking the turning point for the region’s economy. New developments in soil research led to increased productivity and this had a spill-over effect on the local economy. As the dairy industry began to grow, associated infrastructure, such as milking stations, dairy factories and freezing works, was necessary, along with architects and engineers to design them. Many long-standing architectural practices began from these agricultural demands while others grew through architects travelling to the region looking for opportunities. The origin of Hamilton firm Angus, Flood & Griffiths (AF&G) encapsulates these typical traits of mid-century Hamilton practice as well as others such as the inclusion of an engineer as a practice partner, and the innovative use of concrete and steel, the archetypical agricultural (read inexpensive and long-lasting) building material.

Established architect Ernest Gillman, who specialised in the design of dairy factories around Waikato and Taranaki, moved to Hamilton just before the Second World War. In 1948, he was joined by Doug Angus, originally from Napier, and the two formed the partnership of Gillman & Angus. Both would eventually form their own practices but this partnership was the beginning of a flourishing architectural legacy, with Angus, Flood & Griffiths one of the more innovative post-war Hamilton practices to emerge from it.

The presence of an engineer as a partner was typical for many Hamilton firms of the time. Colin Fraser was the engineer in Leigh, de Lisle and Fraser, and Rex Clapp the engineer in Gillman, Garry, Clapp and Sayers. An engineer in the firm was useful when tendering for large projects, by providing clients with assured design capability and, potentially, some innovation. Structural engineer Tom Flood joined Doug Angus in 1961 having previously worked in New York for Ammann and Whitney, a civil engineering firm whose founder Charles S. Whitney designed many innovative structures, including collaborations with Eero Saarinen on the TWA Terminal building (1962). While there, Flood worked on the John Deere Centre (1964) and brought to Hamilton Whitney’s techniques for designing thin-shell concrete structures.

AF&G would go on to design hundreds of innovative buildings in New Zealand and some overseas as well. Many of these buildings were firsts for the region, and some were firsts for New Zealand. However, several factors curtailed the workload of Hamilton architects from the 1980s onwards. Competition from out-of-town architects, notably demonstrated by the JASMaD-designed Waikato Museum (1987), the removal of set fees by the New Zealand Institute of Architects and the disestablishment of many Crown entities, such as the Ministry of Works and the South Auckland Education Board, meant that many local practices could not survive. Staff members dispersed to go out on their own, retire or leave the region altogether.

Angus was the first to retire, moving to Auckland to supervise the firm’s projects there until about 1978. Flood retired around 2000, mainly as a result of poor health, and John Griffiths retired a few years later.

AF&G was a prolific firm with work throughout the North Island and overseas, and this survey represents just a fraction of its output. Its portfolio includes Catholic churches in Whakatāne, Hamilton and Morrinsville, 10 supermarkets across the central North Island, sports clubs, hotels, medical centres, banks, grandstands and dozens of award-winning residential projects.

Many of its seminal buildings have survived but, as with projects of most firms of that era, many have been demolished. The most notable loss is St Joseph’s Church in Morrinsville (1964): the closest Waikato came to Brazilian modernist architecture.

THE ITINERARY

1. ca 1955 – Riverlea Cabaret
83 Riverlea Road, Hamilton

This was an early project for Angus, who had gone out on his own in 1954. Designed as a cabaret, the building is still in use today as a working theatre and is largely original. The building’s construction of pre-cast, tilt-up concrete panels, tied together with small steel flat sections, makes this possibly the first tilt-up panel building in New Zealand. Angus was beginning to employ concrete construction in innovative ways, as well as specifying a canvas canopy enclosing a courtyard; at the time, it was the largest of its kind in New Zealand.
See Home and Building June 1956. 

2. 1958 – St Peter Chanel Catholic Church
125 King Street, Whakatān

This was another early project for the firm at a time when it employed just one (its first) staff member: Dick Mercer, an alumnus of the Christchurch Atelier. The building is perhaps a reference to the veil and bandeau of a nun’s headpiece. This is one of many projects to come to Angus through the Catholic Diocese; later, significant work in the education sector was included. Mercer was responsible for encouraging his classmate John Griffiths to join Angus in 1958; however, in 1961, Mercer left the firm to establish his own practice in Hamilton.

3. 1958–1974 – Kimiora Cultural Centre
Tūrangawaewae Marae, 29 River Road, Ngāruawāhia

Angus established a long and creative relationship first with Princess Te Puea Hērangi around 1958 and, later, with the Tainui Māori Trust Board. The design of the Kimiora building centres around engineer Tom Flood’s favoured use of structural ring-trusses to free up floor space below, and dormer windows to provide vertical internal light. A fibreglass pole penetrates the ceiling and glass-capped, pyramid-shaped roof and is topped by a carved miniature canoe prow. The building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II during a royal visit to New Zealand in 1974.

4. 1964, demolished 2014 – St Joseph’s Catholic Church
1 Victoria Avenue, Morrinsville

This impressive design combined architecture and engineering in a simplified parabolic concrete shell. Composed of prestressed concrete ribs with in-situ concrete panels in between, Flood’s design recalls Oscar Niemeyer’s Church of Saint Francis of Assisi (1943) in Brazil, which was published in the Journal of the NZIA in 1951 and described as “one of the best church designs our generation has produced”. Irregular-shaped fenestrations on the front wall mimicked those at Le Corbusier’s famous chapel at Ronchamp in France and were designed and hand blown by artist Martin Roestenburg. See Home and Building April 1969.

5. 1966 – Hamilton Rowing Club
154 Grantham Street, Hamilton

Steeply pitched, asymmetrical roof forms and dormer windows demonstrate recurring themes of the firm’s work. Both Angus and Flood were active rowers, with Angus having rowed in the Auckland University College Eight. Flood was approached by the Hamilton Rowing Club with a sketch plan already prepared; however, Angus provided an alternate scheme which was later accepted. The building is as close to the river as any building in Hamilton can be; the ground level is designed to accept flooding when the river rises rapidly. The firm also designed the Waikato Rowing Club building (1980) further down Grantham Street.

6. 1968 – St Matthew’s Catholic Church
Silverdale Road, Hillcrest, Hamilton

The severe and somewhat featureless exterior form of this church building is softened by the addition, in 1984, of a new entry vestibule, sympathetic to the existing roof. The large interior floor space is free of columns except for just two below the ring-truss. The ceiling follows the pyramid-shaped main roof, which provides vertical height and drama. The difference in form between this and St Peter Chanel Catholic Church (1958) in Whakatāne demonstrates the difference between the hands of Mercer and those of Angus. Angus was known to allow staff, including Tom Flood, a certain amount of freedom in their designs.

7. 1971 – Doctors’ Rooms
17 Hill Street, Hamilton

This building was designed originally for two private orthopaedic medical practitioners. The prominent high roof design and irregular roof planes are typical of the practice and, here, provide useful mezzanine storage space. This was one of many healthcare facilities that Angus completed, indicating a specialist skill inherited through working with Ernest Gillman, whose son Frank Gillman would eventually work almost exclusively in that field as Gillman, Garry, Clapp and Sayers. The building is still in use as a medical centre today and is almost completely original.
See Home and Building February 1973.

8. 1972 – Kempthorne Prosser & Co Ltd
11–17 Somerset Street, Frankton, Hamilton

This warehouse and showroom for goods sold to medical and pharmaceutical customers features thermostatically controlled underfloor heating. An enormous canopy stretches out from the main building beyond the usual setback required by Council; however, the transgression was permitted thanks to the added visual street amenity and its service to the public. The canopy seems to hover above the car park on just a single steel piloti housed in a brick pier. It earned an NZIA Waikato/Bay of Plenty Branch Bronze Medal in 1972.
See Home and Building Nov 1972 and NZIA Journal February 1973.

9. ca 1974 – Marist Brothers Grade School
Atu‘u, Tutuila Island, American Samoa

This was the first of two schools built in American Samoa by the firm; both feature innovative natural ventilation systems. The building had a specially designed roof with a small opening acting as a lid to allow air to escape, drawn from the outside, thus creating a venturi stack effect. On a dull day, students had to put their jerseys on because it got too cold, according to Flood. The ease of construction and choice of materials was a significant factor in the design, as both had to allow for local unskilled labour. There was no mechanical lifting equipment used and, interestingly, when scaffolding was used, it was erected on the inside, not the outside, of the structure.

10. ca 1975, demolished ca 2000 – Marist Brothers High School
Malaloa, Pago Pago, American Samoa

The second of the two schools built in American Samoa also uses natural ventilation systems. Its location is more remote than that of the Grade School, so much of the construction was carried out in New Zealand, disassembled for shipping to Pago Pago and then reassembled on site by crane. It received an AHI Environmental Award in 1976, the first project to achieve this award upon its establishment the previous year. Both schools were built of durable low-maintenance materials that have had to withstand both heavy rainfall and hurricanes.

11. 1978 – World Rowing Championships Facilities
Lake Karāpiro

AF&G acted as consultants for all planning and all facilities for the 1978 World Rowing Championships at Lake Karāpiro; included were a major temporary grandstand for 6000 spectators, the Race Tower and the Water Sports Centre. Flood visited a number of overseas world rowing events in preparation for the Karāpiro project. The Water Sports building (on right in photo) was demolished in June 2009 to make way for new facilities to host the World Rowing Championships in 2010. The original Race Tower (on left in photo) was demolished a few years later.

12. 1979 – National Mutual Life Association Building
312 Victoria Street, Hamilton

AF&G acted as both architect and structural engineer for this 11-storey office building. Construction of the tower was of poured concrete, rather than prestressed concrete, which, at the time, was the prevailing technique, saving the project both time and money. Cooperation with the owners of the neighbouring Waikato Savings Bank building and Hamilton City Council, enabled a pedestrian link through the building from Victoria Street to the river-bank and the Waikato River beyond; this was the first of its kind in Hamilton. See Home and Building March 1981.

13. 1980 – Embassy for the Federal Republic of Germany
90 Hobson Street, Thorndon, Wellington

AF&G was originally engaged to carry out the architectural design but, after initial meetings with the client, the firm’s services increased to include engineering. The three-storey ($2-million) German Embassy took three years to complete, as the initial design brief was not appropriate for the Wellington climate, nor its seismic demands, necessitating significant redesign. The client provided the basic layout and specifications, but the overall design and interior design were completed by the architects. Client requirements also included cladding to have bulletproof capabilities for armour-piercing ammunition at certain ranges.

Photography: Russell Fricker/SBI Productions (01); University of Auckland Archive, the Sheppard Collection, Doug Angus (A595) (02); John Griffiths estate (03–06, 09–11 and 13); Matt Grant (07, 08 and 12).

OTHER ADDRESSES

1958 –Angus, Flood & Griffiths Office (former)
1088 Victoria Street, Hamilton
The former Angus, Flood & Griffiths Office was the first purpose-built architectural office in Waikato and, possibly, in New Zealand.

1958 – Federated Farmers Building
71 London Street, Hamilton
One of the first post-war multilevel commercial projects in Hamilton.

1960 – Eight Shops
58–74 Masters Avenue, Hillcrest, Hamilton

1972 – Townhouse Development
Cnr Wellington Street and Franklin Road, Freemans Bay, Auckland
An entry into an invited competition by Auckland City Council, this scheme of 33 townhouses was successful, based on criteria that included access, privacy and liveability.

ca 1973 – Grisham Clinic
Cnr Bank Street and Vaile Street, Te Awamutu

1979 – Huntly West Rugby Club: Grandstand and Sports Pavilion
Alexandra Street, Huntly

1974–1981 – Waahi Paa: Main Hall, Site Development, all Residential and all Service Facilities
Harris Street, Huntly

1987 – Bank of New Zealand
501 Pollen Street, Thames

BIOGRAPHY

Douglas Haig Angus (1918–1986) was originally from Napier, and the younger brother of modernist painter Rita Angus. Before moving to Hamilton in 1947, he had worked in Auckland for Benjamin Charles Chilwell (1879–1950). Thomas Clendon Flood (1930–2006) graduated in 1954 but left New Zealand in 1958 to study civil engineering at Columbia University as a Fulbright Scholar. While in New York, Flood worked for Ammann and Whitney, an innovative civil engineering firm. He returned to New Zealand in 1960 and, the following year, joined Angus to become Angus & Flood. John Alexander Griffiths (1930–2014) studied architecture at Auckland University College. After graduating in 1954, he stayed in Auckland and worked for Sargent, Smith & Partners. He joined Doug Angus in 1958 and, in 1966, became a partner. Kevin Findsen joined AF&G in December 1969 and became a partner in late 1982 but would leave in 1989 to work as a sole practitioner. The 1987 stock-market crash resulted in a significant downturn of work and AF&G went from a staff of around eight to just two. The business was finally wound up in March 2002.

SOURCES

Despite being widely published at the time, and achieving numerous architectural and engineering awards, Angus, Flood & Griffiths has not yet received a survey the practice deserves. Fortunately, directors Tom Flood and John Griffiths were interviewed during the Architects’ Oral History Project by Hamilton City Council in 1999, and that testimony has informed much of this research. I interviewed John Griffiths during 2013 and this has also informed this survey. Useful published sources include: Andrew Barrie and Jade Shum’s ‘A Guide to Waikato Architecture’, published as Map No. 5 in Block: The Broadsheet of the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects nos 1/2 (2020); Ross Hill’s Hamilton, Hub of the Waikato 1864–1964 (Auckland: Commercial Publicity Ltd, 1964); and David Sayers’ The Goodwill Years: The Remarkable Story of a Professional Partnership (Hamilton: SFT Books, 2010). I have also written on Hamilton architecture previously, in ‘A Visual Survey of Hamilton Architects and Waikato Architecture 1935–55’, Master of Architecture thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 2024. Hamilton City Libraries’ Oral History Programme, ‘Back to the Drawing Board: Abstracted Interviews from the Architects’ Oral History Project’ (1999–2000), is an invaluable source.

The Itinerary series is supported by Dulux Colours of New Zealand. Dulux Colour Specialist Davina Harper has selected a Colours of New Zealand palette based on this itinerary. See the full range and order colour samples here.