Plaques of Victoria University of Wellington
From the early endeavours of Sir Robert Stout and Victoria’s founding Professors Kirk, Easterfield, Rankine Brown, Hunter, Mackenzie, Laby, von Zedlitz and Cotton, through to the twenty-first century Nobel Prize winning genius of Professor Alan MacDiarmid, the international man of science, Victoria has named significant buildings and spaces to celebrate and commemorate the achievements of its people. The University also remembers those who served in both World Wars.
This register of plaques, located across the University, offers insights to those who have contributed to Victoria since it was established in 1897 to commemorate the sixtieth year of the reign of her Majesty Queen Victoria. These plaques do not include those that accompany art works.
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 Victoria Campus Plaques |
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These plaques do not include those that accompany art works.
- Kelburn Campus
- Karori Campus
- Pipitea Campus
- Coastal Marine Laboratory
- Te Aro Campus
- Halls of Residence
KELBURN CAMPUS
Hunter Building: Level 1, exterior near the Memorial Window on the Kirk Building Side
This stone was laid in memory of the members of this college who fell in the Great War 1914-1919.
Mortalitale relicta vivunt immortalitale induti
Hunter Building: Level 1, Inside Original Entrance Vestibule
The Hunter Building
Designed by F Penty and EM Black and constructed between 1904 and 1923, this historic building was saved from demolition through the efforts of the Friends of Hunter, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and the University. It was strengthened and restored between 1991 and 1994 by Victoria University with financial contributions from: Friends of Hunter Incorporated, New Zealand Lottery Grants Board, The Todd Foundation, Thomas George Macarthy Trust, the Sutherland Self Help Trust, Wellington City Council.
Architects: Ampersand Architects Ltd, assisted by Craig Craig Moller Ltd.
Services Engineers: Stephenson and Turner New Zealand Ltd.
Contractor: McKee-Fehl Constructions Ltd.
Structural Engineers: Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner Ltd.
Quantity Surveyor: Dean Murray and Partners Ltd.
Hunter Building Level 1, Lift Foyer
Foundation Campaign for Victoria University 1994. The significant support for the campaign of the following commercial suppliers to Victoria University is gratefully acknowledged: AESEC Association Electronic and Security Systems Ltd; Apple Computers; Craig Craig Moller; Damba Steel Furniture Wellington Ltd; Ericsson Communications Ltd; Feltex Carpets New Zealand; Fuji Xerox New Zealand Ltd; Haines Recruitment Advertising; OTC Office Supplies Ltd; P&O Crothalls; Stephenson and Turner New Zealand Ltd.
Hunter Building Level 1, Foyer
The first home of Victoria College resulted from a design competition won by F Penty and EM Blake. It was constructed by Alan Maguire in four stages opening in 1906, 1910, 1922 and 1923. Named in 1959 after Sir Thomas Hunter, the first fulltime Principal, the Hunter Building was deemed an earthquake risk and evacuated in 1974. The efforts of the Friends of Hunter saved it from demolition. In 1985 a new architectural competition was held and joint winners were Gordon Moller from Craig Craig Moller and Grahame Anderson from Ampersand Architects, who eventually won the commission in 1986. Construction by McKee Fehl took place 1991-1993. Unveiled to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the laying of the Foundation Stone by Leone Harkness, Chairman of the Friends of Hunter, on 27 August 2004.
Hunter Building Main staircase landing leading to Level 2
The Foundation Stone of this College was laid by the Governor of this Colony 27th August 1904. Sapientia Magis Auro Desideranda
Hunter Building Council Chamber, Level 2, under the Memorial Window
Inscribed below are the names of the members of this college who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-18
View names listed on this plaque
Brevis a natvra vita nobis data est at memoria bene redditae vitae sempiterna
Hunter Building Council Chamber, on Pillars (four plaques)
Members of the College who served in the Great War 1914 -1918
Hunter Building, level 2
Honorary Graduates and other awards
View names listed on these plaques
Hunter Building, Level 3, outside HU LT323
C3
Supporting Learning at Victoria University
This plaque commemorates the support of staff and alumni of Victoria University of Wellington who donated funds to help preserve the memory of the lecture theatre. The fund acknowledges the time that has been spent teaching and learning in the lecture space since the 1920s.
Led by the Chancellor at the time, Elizabeth Orr, donations to the fund were received over a number of years from 1994. The fund now provides scholarships for second year students from any discipline within the University.
The impetus for the fund was sparked by the restoration of the Hunter Building in the 1990s, which reminded many alumni and staff of their close connection with one of the key rooms in the University’s early history, renowned for the steepness of its tiered seating.
The South wing of the Hunter Building was constructed in 1923, originally to provide teaching space for the Physics Department. The lecture theatre, now known as HU LT323, was originally known as, as each level of the Hunter Building was labelled alphabetically.
One of the supporters of the fund was Sir Frank Holmes, Emeritus Professor in the School of Economics and Finance at Victoria.He taught his first lectures in in the 1950s and remembers being very nervous and slighted daunted by the looming tiered room before him: “Most students were part-time, and the majority of classes were held after 4pm. Sometimes it was difficult to capture their attention in the 7-8pm classes on Fridays.”
The architects for both the North and South wings of the Hunter Building were Swan, Lawrence and Swan, who worked in practice together from 1915 until Lawrence’s death in 1933. Buildings by all three architects still remain in Wellington, with John Swan, in particular, designing a number of landmark Wellington buildings, including Erskine College and the former Clarendon Hotel on the corner of Courtenay Place and Taranaki Street.
C3 Fund
Janice Campbell
Edith Campion
Professor Margaret Clark CMG
Colin Blair OBE
Douglas Fraser OBE
Bernard Galvin CB
Emeritus Professor Ian Gordon
Sir Frank Holmes
Professor Patrick Hutchings
Margaret Jeffries
Emeritus Professor Stuart Johnston
Elizabeth Orr CNZM
John Perham
William and Margery Renwick
Dr Eddie Robertson
The Hon Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan ONZ
Beverley Wakem CBE
Peter Young
C3 Professors and Students
Adam Art Gallery, via Gate 3, exterior near the entrance
Adam Art Gallery Te Pätaka Toi
Opened by His Excellency,
The Rt Hon Sir Michael Hardie-Boys, GNZM, Governor
General of New Zealand, on 22 September 1999.
Chancellor: Douglas White QC
Vice-Chancellor: Professor Michael Irving Athfield Architects Ltd, LT McGuinness Ltd
Student Union Building, main staircase between Levels 2 and 3
The construction of the Student Union Extension was a joint venture between the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association Trust and Victoria University. Opened by Her Excellency Dame Catherine Tizard, GCMG, DBE Governor General of New Zealand on May 13, 1992.
Architect: Athfield Architects Ltd
Building Contractor: Mainzeal Construction Ltd.
Student Union Building, Level 2 - Atrium
New Zealand Institute of Architects National Award for Architecture 1993 Student Union Extension Victoria University of Wellington
Architect: Athfield Architects Ltd
Student Union Building, Level 2 - Atrium
Sapienta Magis Auro Desideranda
George Finlay Dixon CBEA
Foundation student who during 50 years has continuously given unsparing service in advancing the welfare of this College and its students. He has done much to incorporate the spirit of unselfish devotion in the tradition of the College. Students of 1899-1949 hereby record their gratitude and esteem.
Student Union Building, track below the building South end of Mount St
In Living Memory of Anne Butler, S.B.S. Technician, 1900-1991
Kelburn Parade, Located on the footpath facing 18 Kelburn Parade
Hunter Building, In the Courtyard under a tree
Celebrating the life of John R. McCreary
Professor of Social Work 1971-1982
Lest auld acquaintance be forgot.
Murphy Building, North end planter
Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins
1962 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
Born Pongaroa, 1916. Lived here at 30 Kelburn Parade as a boy.Received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Francis Harry Compton Crick and James Dewey Watson, “for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significant for information transfer in living material.”
In 1945 Maurice Wilkins decided to study the molecular structure of genes. In 1947 he began studying genes in living cells, DNA, and viruses using new types of optical microscopes. In 1950 he concentrated on x-ray diffraction of DNA with Raymond Gosling and Alexander Stokes, and they discovered that DNA was helical. In January 1951 Rosalind E. Franklin (1920-1958) joined the work at King’s College, followed by Herbert Wilson in September 1952, and their work considerably aided the X-ray studies. In April 1953, Nature published the Watson Crick model of DNA. The crystallographic data supporting the model appeared in the same issue in two separate papers by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.
To commemorate the 50 th anniversary of the publication of the discovery, this plaque was unveiled on 11 February 2003 by the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry who together discovered and developed conductive polymers: Professor Alan J Heeger, Professor Alan G MacDiarmid (Victoria University of Wellington alumnus), Professor Hideki Shirakawa.
Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins
Nobel Laureate
Von Zedlitz Building, Level 1 exterior - South side of building, left of the entrance steps
Te Herenga Waka Marae, behind 46 Kelburn Parade
Kirk Building, Level 3 Foyer
Harry Borrer Kirk, first Professor of Biology, appointed 1903.
This building is founded upon his great services to Victoria College which stands enriched by his inspiration and example.
Colleagues and students of 1903-1940 hereby record their gratitude, affection and esteem.
HE TAUMATA * HE WHARE NUI
Kirk Building, Level 2
Kirk Building, Level 5
Kirk Building, Level 3, Ilott Cafe
Jack Ilott B.Com 1940
Student, after retirement, from 1982
Generous benefactor of the university and donor of this coffee lounge in 1985.
Old Kirk Building, under a tree on steps leading up to the Quad
In memory of Jan Pinborg, 1937-1982.
Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Copenhagen.
This tree was planted by his friends at Victoria University.
12 Wai-te-ata Road, seat in top garden
Presented by Mrs A Danilow in memory of her husband Dr Nicholas Danilow who pioneered the teaching of Russian at Victoria University of Wellington from 1942-1967.
12 Wai-te-ata Road, seat in top garden
For my Dad
Ron Thwaite
Head Carpenter & Locksmith here at Vic for 32 yrs
1963 - 1995
“Died on the job”
4 October 1995
Cotton Building, Northeast courtyard
Easterfield Building, Level 0, main entrance
Sapienta Magis Auro Desideranda
Easterfield Building, Level 0, main entrance foyer
This stone was laid on 15 th May 1956 by
The Rt. Hon. S.G. Holland C.H M.P
Prime Minister of New Zealand Gray Young Morton & Calder Architects
Fletcher Construction Company Limited Contractors
Laby Building foyer
Victoria University of Wellington Te Whare Wananga o te Upoko o te Ika a Maui
School of Chemical and Physical Sciences
Professor Alan MacDiarmid is a New Zealander and an alumnus of Victoria University of Wellington where he studied Chemistry and Physics and graduated from the University of New Zealand.
Professor MacDiarmid is a co-recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in conducting polymers.
Laby Building, Level 1, foyer
Victoria University of Wellington Te Whare Wananga o te Upoko o te Ika a Maui
The Extensions to the Laby Laboratories of the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences
Te Wänanga Matü were opened on 22 July, 1999, by Alumnus Professor Michael Kelly, FRS, FREng
Chancellor: Douglas White, QC
Vice-Chancellor: Professor Michael Irving
Head of School: Associate Professor James Johnston
Half-way down steps from Te Puni Village to Devon Street, via Gate 7
This Kowhai Tree commemorates the founding of the Speech Communication Association (NZ)Inc following a meeting held on this campus in October 1952.
Presented by The New Zealand Speech Board November 1992.
Cotton Building, Northeast courtyard
Cotton Building, Level 5, Beacon Room, CO508
Beacon Room
The Beacon Room is named in honour of Professor Peter Barrett (The first Director of the Antarctic Research Centre from 1971 - 2007)
In recognition for his work on the Beacon Supergroup, a succession of Devonian to Triassic (420-200 million years old) sedimentary strata that stretches the length of the Transantarctic Mountains.
Peter’s discovery of the first vertebrate fossil remains in Antarctica highlighted the environmental significance of the Beacon Supergroup, and his continued research has been fundamental in promoting a better understanding of the Antarctic environment and its role in the global climate system.
Carpark between the Wai-te-ata Apartments and the Boyd Wilsom clubrooms
In Memorial
This plaque commemorates an oak tree that graced this site for forty years. It was felled by the bureaucracy in December 1990 to make space for one more car.
Rankine Brown, Garden bed outside
This University Sucks
Cotton Building, Level 5, Antarctic Research Centre, CO505
Antarctic Research Centre
Benefactor
Lee Seng Tee
Endowed Development Fund
Silver Sponsors
2004
Antarctica New Zealand
Webster Drilling & Exploration Ltd
Peter Barrett
Warren Dickinson
2005
Austral Pacific Energy Ltd
Bronze Sponsors
2004
Tony Allen
Richard Barwick
Dave Bennett & Jenni Lean
Ray Dibble Michael & June Hannah
Robin & Feriel Falconer
John Gamble
James & Diana Kennett
Harry Keys
Barry Kohn
Barrie McKelvey
John Nankervis
Bryan Sissons
Tim Stern
Daniel Zwartz
2005
New Zealand Sea Ice Programme
Colin Bull
George Grindley
Michael & June Hannah
David Kelly
Cotton Building, Level 5, Antarctic Research Centre, CO505
On the occasion of the 50th year of Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expeditions (VUWAE)
We recognise with gratitude:
Professor Bob Clark, Professor of Geology from 1954 to 1985 and founder
And the first students and staff to participate on VUWAE:
Barrie McKelvey and Peter Webb
Dick Barwick and Colin Bull
This 30th day of June, 2007
Peter Barrett, Director of Antarctic Research Centre
Pat Walsh, Vice Chancellor, Victoria University of Wellington
Cotton Building, West side in garden bed via Gate 6, Kelburn Parade
BC 53
18 years dedicated service
May the fish always bite
May your horse come in
May the beer always be cold
Tennant Bloack, Level 3, foyer adjacent to the main meeting room
Teachers College Crest 1880-2005
Tennant Block, Level 3, foyer opposite the main reception
Foundation of the Teacher’s College 1980
Founded in Thorndon in 1880 the Wellington Teachers’ Training College moved from Kelburn to this site in 1970. In 1988 the College became the Wellington College of Education and in January 2005 the College merged with Victoria University to become the Victoria University of Wellington College of Education.
Karori Quad
Presented by staff and students of the Teacher's College 1997
Panckhurst Block, WJ Scott Education Library, Level 0
Staff and students who went to World War I and II and Allen Ward, a recipient of the Victoria Cross
Theatre Block, outside THK 4 Theatre above stairs Level 0 to 1
This plate marks the completion of the main buildings of Wellington Teachers College following two contracts begun in 1966 and 1973.
The architects were Toomath Wilson Irvine Anderson and Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner were the structural engineers.
Stage One was built by Walsh Construction Ltd and Angus Constructions Ltd build
Stage Two The first contract was carried out for the Wellington Education Board and the second for the Wellington Teachers College Council.
Bunny Street, Lambton Quay. Affixed to boulder in the garden at the South/East entrance of the building
So named to commemorate New Zealand’s most famous scientist Baron Rutherford of Nelson, O.M., F.R.S, (1871 - 1937) whose research laid the foundations of modern nuclear physics.
Rutherford House, headquarters of the New Zealand Electricity Department, was officially opened by -
The Rt. Hon. Norman Kirk, Prime Minister of New Zealand, on 26 November, 1973.
396 The Esplanade, Island Bay. Attached to wooden 'ribs' of the building
These “Architectural Elements”, conceived as part of the landscape design, were constructed partly using timber recycled from the original Victoria University Marine Laboratory by school of Biological staff Alan Hoverd and John van der Sman with assistance from students and and Master boat builder, Bernie Perano. September - November 2008
396 The Esplanade, Island Bay. Attached to wooden 'ribs' of the building
Kaitiaki (guardian) for the centre TE TOKA TU MOANA
Carver: Tamatea Kopua
March - 2009
Faculty of Architecture and Design, Dunlop Terrace. Outside the main entrance
1995
School of Architecture and Design
Craig Craig Moller
Vivian Street Building, Level 1
Wellington Unipol Ltd
Architect
Craig Craig Moller
Engineer
Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner
Quantity Surveyor
Knapman Clark & Co
Contractor
Fletcher Construction
Building Re-Construction Completed
February 1994
Te Puni Village via Gate 7, Kelburn Parade inside the dining room
Opened By
The Hon. John Key
The Prime Minister of New Zealand on 23 February 2009
Chancellor: Emeritus Professor Tim Beaglehole
Vice Chancellor: Professor Pat Walsh
Campus Living Villages
Architectus
Hawkins Construction Ltd
Victoria House, 282 The Terrace, right side of main foyer
Isabel Pope House
This building was opened by her Excellency Dame Catherine Tizard GCMG DBE Governor-General of New Zealand on 28 February 1993 being 86 years to the day that the original house was opened
Architects - Bulleyment Fortune
Contractor - Maycroft Construction Ltd
Victoria House, 282 The Terrace, left side of main foyer
Providing accommodation for students in the spirit of “friendship – community – success”