National War Memorial

About

The National War Memorial of New Zealand (Māori: Te Maharatanga Pakanga o te Motu) is located next to the Dominion Museum building on Buckle Street, in Wellington, the nation's capital. The war memorial was dedicated in 1932 on Anzac Day (25 April) in commemoration of the First World War. It also officially remembers the New Zealanders who died in the Second Boer War, World War II and the wars in Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam. The war memorial consists of the War Memorial Carillon and the Hall of Memories. The tomb of an unknown New Zealand warrior was constructed in 2004, in front of the Hall of Memories. In the Hall of Memories, Rolls of Honour bear the names and ranks of 30,108 of New Zealand's war dead. Lyndon Smith's bronze statue of a family group in the Hall of Memories is the focal point for the complex. The carillon and the Hall of Memories were closed for earthquake strengthening and refurbishment in 2012. The Hall of Memories reopened in 2015 and the carillon in 2018, but both were closed again in February 2020 for further work and re-opened for the 2026 Anzac Day commemoration. Following the re-opening in 2018 after refurbishment, Wellington City Council reported that there...

In 1919 the Government created a National War Memorial Committee and allocated £ 100,000 for a National War Memorial in Wellington. Prime Minister William Massey said that any memorial "should be visible from any part of the city, and from ships entering the harbour".After much debate about what form a memorial should take – a road, a cathedral, an arch – it was eventually agreed to build a complex that included a national art gallery, museum, and war memorial in the central suburb of Mt Cook. Local people formed the Wellington War Memorial Carillon Society in 1926 to raise money for bells for a carillon, even though the government had not decided on a design for the war memorial. Another group, the Wellington Citizens War Memorial Committee, wanted a different type of memorial and had begun raising funds in 1922, leading to the eventual construction of the Wellington Cenotaph near Parliament. In 1928 the government agreed to the idea of a carillon. By this time the bells had already been cast in London, at the expense of the Carillon Society. A competition was held in 1929 for plans for the war memorial, and for the Dominion Museum and the National Art Gallery immediately behind it. The competition was won by Messrs Gummer and Ford.

Work on the carillon was completed in time for an Anzac Day 1932 dedication viewed by a crowd of 10,000 people. Various dignitaries gave speeches, Governor-General Lord Bledisloe switched on the Lamp of Remembrance on top of the tower, and then the carillon played the national anthem and several hymns, accompanied by the singing of the crowd. The Evening Post described the sound of the carillon as 'magic from the skies'.

The Dominion Museum opened behind the carillon in 1936, but construction of the Hall of Memories in the base of the carillon tower was delayed by the Depression, then the Second World War. The first plans were prepared in 1937, and Gummer and Ford forwarded a new set in 1949, but the project did not go to tender until 1960. When tenders closed, the Christchurch firm of P Graham and Son (the same firm that built the carillon tower) was chosen, its tender being £ 114,000. The Hall of Memories was officially opened by the Governor-General, Sir Bernard Fergusson, on 5 April 1964.

In 2004 the tomb of the unknown New Zealand warrior was added. Retired Army Colonel Andrew Renton-Green, who chairs the National War Memorial Advisory Council and the coordinating committee behind the tomb project, explained why it took so long:

The history goes back to the time (William) Gummer designed the National War Memorial, which was completed – not in its present form – in 1932. The original design was just the carillon tower and an avenue which led from the harbour to the tower, with what was then the National Museum behind. As part of that design Gummer actually made provision for a tomb, but all building other than the carillon tower was abandoned because of the economic situation at the time – the Depression.

So Gummer’s vision was still there; it was never fulfilled. In 1963 the Hall of Memories was added, and it was at this time that the RSA, and others, said wouldn’t it be a good idea if we had our own Unknown Warrior. There are not many people in New Zealand who can afford to pay their respects to one of their family by going to Westminster Abbey, where the Commonwealth tomb was put in the ground in 1923.

It’s just another step along the way, from Gummer’s original design of just the carillon, to the Hall of Memories being added in ’63, to this [the tomb] being added now – it shows that it’s actually a living thing, it’s not dead. It’s not about dead people at all, it’s about living people.

In 2011, structural engineers Dunning Thornton completed a partial seismic assessment of the carillon tower. A full assessment was not completed because the Ministry for Culture and Heritage wanted the tower to be refurbished in time for the 100-year commemoration of Anzac Day in 2015. Dunning Thornton advised the ministry that the 70 tonnes of bells in the carillon tower could fall down or destabilise the building in an earthquake, and advised the ministry to get the steel bell frames checked. The ministry did not do this, and instead went ahead with a planned earthquake strengthening and refurbishment project.

Fletcher Construction completed earthquake strengthening and refurbishment of the Hall of Memories and carillon in 2012–2015, at a cost of $2.7 million. Work on the carillon began in March 2012 and was expected to take only three months, but more problems were found as work advanced, with the result that the project wasn't completed until the end of 2013. Work on the carillon included installation of new seismic bracing and walls in the clavier room, new floors, ladders and safety nets, repairing and repainting various areas, re-plastering the outside of the 51 m-high (167 ft) tower, and moving storm water and electrical infrastructure.

Strengthening and refurbishment of the Hall of Memories involved fixing buttresses to beams under the steps, to support the building, and fixing the stonework inside the building to the wall of the carillon with 300 steel rods. This had to be done as unobtrusively as possible, so the holes drilled for the rods were filled in with ground-up stone to make them hardly noticeable. The strengthened Hall of Memories attained 100% of the New Building Standard earthquake code and the building reopened in 2015.

Studio of Pacific Architecture Ltd won the 'Heritage' category of the New Zealand Institute of Architects national New Zealand Architecture Awards in 2016 for their work on refurbishing the Hall of Memories and carillon.

Work on the carillon building had caused concrete dust which damaged the instrument. Some of the large bells were able to be played at Anzac Day commemorations in 2015, and then between 2016 and 2018, 15,000 pieces of the instrument – the bells and organ – were taken apart and reassembled by carillonist Timothy Hurd. The carillon finally reopened on 30 May 2018, after a six-year closure.

Dunning Thornton had reminded the ministry again in 2015 and 2017 that detailed assessment of the bell frames was necessary, but the ministry only requested a full assessment of the frames in August 2019. Also in August 2019, Wellington City Council advised the Ministry for Culture and Heritage that an earthquake-prone building notice had to be put on the building, but the ministry did not make the information public and did not close the building until six months later. Although Dunning Thornton's full assessment was not completed until April 2020, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage closed the carillon on 20 February 2020. The ministry stated at the time that an engineering report had found that the structure was an earthquake risk, meeting only 15% of the New Building Standard earthquake code, without admitting that they had been aware of potential problems since 2011. The weakest part of the building was the frames around the heavy bells. The Hall of Memories closed at the same time because although it was no longer earthquake-prone, it could only be accessed via the carillon tower.

A peer review of Dunning Thornton's 2020 report was carried out by Holmes Consulting, who made further recommendations about the likely performance of the building during an earthquake. In December 2021 the Ministry for Culture and Heritage announced that it hoped to have strengthening completed by May 2027, in a project with six steps at an estimated cost of $7.2 million. The carillon and Hall of Memories were to remain closed until the work was completed. However, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage decided it would open the Hall of Memories for specific occasions. On 15 February 2023, Princess Anne and entourage entered the Hall of Memories and the Princess laid a wreath there. The media noted that this event took place only a few hours before a large earthquake shook Wellington and queried the decision to hold the ceremony inside the building. The carillon and Hall of Memories re-opened in time for the Anzac Day commemoration in April 2026.

In 2011, structural engineers Dunning Thornton completed a partial seismic assessment of the carillon tower. A full assessment was not completed because the Ministry for Culture and Heritage wanted the tower to be refurbished in time for the 100-year commemoration of Anzac Day in 2015. Dunning Thornton advised the ministry that the 70 tonnes of bells in the carillon tower could fall down or destabilise the building in an earthquake, and advised the ministry to get the steel bell frames checked. The ministry did not do this, and instead went ahead with a planned earthquake strengthening and refurbishment project.

Fletcher Construction completed earthquake strengthening and refurbishment of the Hall of Memories and carillon in 2012–2015, at a cost of $2.7 million. Work on the carillon began in March 2012 and was expected to take only three months, but more problems were found as work advanced, with the result that the project wasn't completed until the end of 2013. Work on the carillon included installation of new seismic bracing and walls in the clavier room, new floors, ladders and safety nets, repairing and repainting various areas, re-plastering the outside of the 51 m-high (167 ft) tower, and moving storm water and electrical infrastructure.

Strengthening and refurbishment of the Hall of Memories involved fixing buttresses to beams under the steps, to support the building, and fixing the stonework inside the building to the wall of the carillon with 300 steel rods. This had to be done as unobtrusively as possible, so the holes drilled for the rods were filled in with ground-up stone to make them hardly noticeable. The strengthened Hall of Memories attained 100% of the New Building Standard earthquake code and the building reopened in 2015.

Studio of Pacific Architecture Ltd won the 'Heritage' category of the New Zealand Institute of Architects national New Zealand Architecture Awards in 2016 for their work on refurbishing the Hall of Memories and carillon.

Work on the carillon building had caused concrete dust which damaged the instrument. Some of the large bells were able to be played at Anzac Day commemorations in 2015, and then between 2016 and 2018, 15,000 pieces of the instrument – the bells and organ – were taken apart and reassembled by carillonist Timothy Hurd. The carillon finally reopened on 30 May 2018, after a six-year closure.