New Plymouth Fire Station (1965)

Located on the corner of Liardet Street and Courtenay Street this two-storey concrete framed building was opened on 25 September 1965. The New Plymouth Photo News published some photographs of the opening in their October edition. 

This station replaced the old fire station which was located across the road. This was then demolished to make way for a Shell Service Station (now branded Z).

The architect was Edgar T. Collins, the structural engineer, W.H.S. Nixon, and it was built by Boon Bros Ltd.

It is described in the 1995 NPDC CBD Heritage Study as "a good example of the functional ethic of modern architecture".

John Sutherland, an architect who worked on the project, provided the following information about the design of the building, which he describes as having four main components:

1)      The ‘on duty’ accommodation (bedrooms and ablutions) with stairs and ‘the pole’ behind and offices below. [Courtenay St facade)

2)     The drill hall above the appliances with access to the street so it could be hired out. The appliance doors were very special for the time.[ Liardet St facade]

3)      The workshop.

4)      The remote fire tower for drying hoses and training firemen.

A limited palette of modern materials were chosen from those available at the time. Concrete blocks, profiled aluminium laid horizontally on the fascia above the hall, industrial glazing bars around the workshop. The load bearing concrete block walls had to be capped with deep structural concrete beams. The concrete, particularly to Liardet Street was meant to have been vertical board marked and textured. This was changed to plywood during the construction phase.

In 2014, the issue of the suitability of the station for a modern fire service was raised. (Taranaki Daily News 28 February 2014) 

Further reading: 100 Years of Firefighting; The New Plymouth Fire Brigade, A.B. Scanlan. (TRCT993.482 SCA)