Source: Radio New Zealand
After a million hours of labour, Te Rua – Archive New Zealand’s brand new Wellington building – is now open.
The 10-level, $290 million building is described as one of the world’s most technologically advanced archive protection facilities and forms part of Te Kahu, a new heritage campus.
The campus, which sees Archives New Zealand and the National Library physically joined, includes Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision and the Alexander Turnbull Library in its wider net.
Delivered on budget and on time, Te Rua has been held up as a win for public-private partnerships, but where the nation’s archives will ultimately be stored – and how much it will cost to do so – remains unclear.
Supplied / Jason Mann Photography
Preserving windows into the past
Under the bright lights of the brand new Te Rua facility, research archivist Shaun McGuire points to a cluster of carefully laid out black and white photographs of the 488 Squadron.
“It was a fighter squadron that was sent to Singapore prior to the outbreak of hostilities with Japan. As you can see from their general posture, they’re green as grass and not particularly military,” he said.
“This chap here playing in the puddle – because it’s monsoonish – is Pete Gifford and the fellow playing with him is Len Farr. They’re both pilot officers.”
McGuire said the Brewster Buffalo planes they flew were outdated by World War II, and while Peter Gifford survived the war, others were not so lucky.
The photographs of the young men are but a taste of the historical material that will eventually be housed in Te Rua.
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The bronze-accented state-of-the-art archive facility – boasting more than 19,000sqm of floor space and 90km of storage under tightly controlled environmental condition – will ultimately be home to millions of photographs, films and records, documenting the nation’s political, cultural and social history.
According to Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden, the new facility could not come soon enough.
“I think it’s a really awesome day for New Zealanders because it means that our nation’s history will be preserved. And I have to tell you, a couple of years ago when I went to visit the old archives building I could feel for myself that it was damp and that it was falling apart.”
She said it was “wonderful” that country will have preserved archival material for centuries to come.
“For all our children’s children.”
Supplied / Jason Mann Photography
A public-private partnership
Van Velden, who is also deputy leader of the ACT Party, heralded the facility as a win for public-private partnerships over successive governments, with the contract signed under the previous Labour government.
While the taonga within the building and its fit-out is publicly owned, the building base and land belongs to Canadian Mutual Fund, PSPIB/CPPIB Waiheke Inc. and is managed by Australasian real estate assets manager Dexus – also the developer.
The 25-year lease agreement with the Crown has the option to extend for another 25 years.
Supplied / Jason Mann Photography
A spokesperson for the Department of Internal Affairs said the rent has been fixed – with yearly increases agreed upfront and budgeted for – but the amount can’t be made public due to commercial sensitivity.
Van Velden said given the building’s specifications it would be unlikely for the lease not to be renewed.
She said collaborations between business and the public sector, highlighted the private sector’s expertise.
“Government has a lot of interest and expertise in particular areas, but they’re not building things all the time. They’re not experts in seismic strengthening.”
Dexus portfolio manager for New Zealand Phill Stanley said the Kaikoura earthquake in 2016 was a “learning curve for everyone”.
Supplied / Jason Mann Photography
The site, which previously housed the quake-damaged Defence House, now featured a building on 36 base isolators that could drift up to 1.3m horizontally and up to 300mm vertically, during an earthquake, he said.
In order to meet UNESCO standards, climate control within the building must hold within ±1°C for at least 48 hours in the event of a power failure.
“In layman’s terms, we have built the most beautiful chilly-bin on base isolators.”
He said the project had been a career highlight and hinted at more partnerships with the Crown in the pipeline.
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Space for taonga unknown
The relocation of more than 150,000 containers of historical material from the Mulgrave Street facility is currently underway.
A massive undertaking, that chief archivist Poumanaaki Anahera Morehu hoped would be completed by December this year.
However, Te Rua won’t be able to hold all the material – and how much it can take remains to be seen.
National Librarian Te Pouhuaki Rachel Esson said while there were estimates, they won’t truly know until the material has been shifted.
“Part of the process of bringing things over is we’re rehousing them. So some things have been in boxes that aren’t quite as good as they could be, so they’re being put in new boxes.
“Sometimes things have been crammed into a box so they might be split out into two. We’re just not quite sure yet exactly.”
Morehu said the new facility was never going to house everything contained in Mulgrave Street and anticipated the wider heritage campus – Te Kahu – would absorb overflow.
She said access to the archives was just as important as preservation.
“It’s all good to preserve it and hold on to it, but it’s no good if nobody’s got access to it.
“This is creating that opportunity and the campus is creating that opportunity, while it opens the doors to other facilities to think about how we play a role as archives and libraries in making this more collaborative and sharing.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
