Leys Institute | |
---|---|
![]() The Leys Institute Gymnasium (left) and Leys Institute Public Library (right) | |
General information | |
Status | Closed for seismic strengthening |
Type | Gymnasium and library |
Architectural style | Edwardian Baroque |
Location | Three Lamps |
Address | 14–20 St Marys Road, Ponsonby |
Town or city | Auckland |
Country | New Zealand |
Coordinates | 36°50′47″S174°44′41″E / 36.8465°S 174.7446°E |
Named for | William Leys |
Year(s) built | 1905–1906 |
Renovated | 1991, 2024 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Robert Martin Watt |
Designated | 11 November 1981 |
Reference no. | 612 |
Designated | 11 November 1981 |
Reference no. | 613 |
The Leys Institute comprises two early-20th-century public buildings in Ponsonby,Auckland,the Leys Institute Gymnasium and the Leys Institute Public Library. Both have category 1 heritage listings.
The Leys Institute was founded by the will of William Leys and designed in an Edwardian Baroque style by Robert Martin Watt.
The Leys Institute buildings are both Edwardian Baroque with the library being two storeys tall and the gymnasium being a single storey. The windows are very narrow and have pilasters separating them. Each pediment has a volute on both sides,which is similar in style to a Dutch gable. [1]
The first floor of the library contains the library itself,whilst the second floor contains a room for recreation,a lecture hall,and a meeting room. [1]
The gymnasium bears the Latin inscription mens sana in corpore sano (a sound mind in a sound body). [2]
The Leys Institute was founded by the will of William Leys following his death in 1899. William wished to found a library and mechanics institute,but his will did not have enough funds for it. His brother Thomson Wilson Leys negotiated a deal with Auckland City Council that he would contribute half the funds and the council the land for the institute. The Council agreed to this. [1] Additional funding came from the estate of William Mason,a local resident;and two mayors of Auckland. [2]
Both buildings were designed by the architect Robert Martin Watt. In March 1905,mayor Edwin Mitchelson opened the Leys Institute Public Library. The Leys Institute Gymnasium opened on 4 July 1906 by Thomson Leys. [3]
The Leys Institute was run by the Leys family,with Thomson as the first president. Thomson donated his personal collection to the library and established a memorial fund for his wife,which resulted in the Hilary Lays Memorial Wing extension. Thomson was succeeded by his son,ir Cecil Leys. In 1965,with no beneficiary to inherit the institute,it passed to Auckland City Council and became part of the Auckland Public Library system. [1]
The library building was expanded as both the local population and collection increased. In 1909 the library added a new room,and in 1922,a basement was added. A rear addition and basement extension were done in 1939,and in 1958,the Hilary Leys Memorial Wing,a two-storey children's library,was constructed. [1]
The gymnasium had a two-storey extension built by Auckland City Council in 1967 and 1968,but this was later demolished during the 1991 renovation,when the main gymnasium area was extended. [2]
In 1991,John Gummer led a restoration funded by the William Leys Trust. [1]
Since 2019,the Leys Institute has been closed due to being earthquake-prone. Auckland Council has since committed $9.6 million to strengthen the building. [4]
The Leys Institute has served as a library and gymnasium but also as a community centre with artistic and sporting groups utilising the facilities. [1]
Heritage New Zealand described the Leys Institute as a "nationally significant ... monument to the Victorian ideals of education and self-improvement,and the philanthropic ideals of sections of the Victorian middle class" and said that it contributes to the streetscape of the Three Lamps area,along with the Ponsonby Post Office. [1]
Ponsonby is an inner-city suburb of Auckland located 2 km west of the Auckland CBD. The suburb is oriented along a ridge running north–south,which is followed by the main street of the suburb,Ponsonby Road.
Saint Marys Bay is an inner suburb of Auckland,New Zealand.
The Auckland Town Hall is an Edwardian building on Queen Street in the Auckland CBD,New Zealand,known both for its original and ongoing use for administrative functions,as well as its famed Great Hall and separate Concert Chamber. Auckland Town Hall and its surrounding context is highly protected as a 'Category A' heritage site in the Auckland District Plan,registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category I Historic Place.
The Auckland Ferry Terminal,also called the Downtown Ferry Terminal,is the hub of the Auckland ferry network,which connects the Auckland CBD with suburbs in North Shore,West Auckland,and South Auckland,and islands in the Hauraki Gulf. The terminal is on the Auckland waterfront,at the north end of Queen Street,across Quay Street from the Waitematārailway station,which is the hub for local buses and trains.
Edwardian architecture usually refers to a Neo-Baroque architectural style that was popular for public buildings in the British Empire during the Edwardian era (1901–1910). Architecture up to 1914 is commonly included in this style.
Auckland Council Libraries,usually simplified to Auckland Libraries,is the public library system for the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created when the seven separate councils in the Auckland region merged in 2010. It is currently the largest public-library network in the Southern Hemisphere with 55 branches from Wellsford to Waiuku. Currently from March 2021,the region has a total of 56 branches.
The Ponsonby Ponies are a rugby league club based in Ponsonby,New Zealand. The club was founded in 1908 and was originally named Ponsonby United. The Ponies compete in the Auckland Rugby League competition and are the oldest rugby league club in NZ.
Gummer and Ford was an architectural firm founded in 1923 in Auckland,New Zealand,by William Gummer and Charles Reginald Ford. It was among the country's best-regarded architectural firm of the first half of the 20th century,designing numerous iconic buildings,including the former National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum in Wellington and the old Auckland Railway Station. Eighteen of the company's buildings have been registered as significant historic places by Heritage New Zealand. In 2006 an exhibition of their work was staged at The University of Auckland's Gus Fisher Gallery,and in 2007 the firm was described as 'the best architectural practice of all time in New Zealand'.
Thomson Wilson Leys was a New Zealand journalist,editor,newspaper proprietor and philanthropist. He was born in Sneinton,Nottinghamshire,England on 23 April 1850.
William Alfred Holman was a New Zealand architect and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects who designed prominent commercial and residential buildings in Auckland as well as Whangārei,Hamilton,Gisborne and Christchurch.
Soldiers Memorial Hall is a heritage-listed memorial at 149 Herries Street,Toowoomba City,Queensland,Australia. It was designed by Hodgen &Hodgen (Toowoomba) and built from 1923 to 1959 by Smith Bros (Toowoomba). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 17 December 1999.
Stockport Central Library is a Carnegie library in Stockport,Greater Manchester,England. It was built in 1913–15 to designs by Bradshaw,Gass and Hope in the Edwardian Baroque style and as of 2023 continues to serve as Stockport's largest library.
Riccarton House is an historic building in Christchurch,New Zealand. It is part of the Riccarton estate,the first area in Christchurch lived in by British settlers,after which the suburb of Riccarton is named. The house was commissioned by Jane Deans,the widow of Canterbury pioneer John Deans,and finished in 1856. It was twice extended;first in 1874,and the work carried out in 1900 more than doubled the size of the house. The Riccarton estate has in stages become the property of Christchurch City Council and Riccarton House itself was sold by the Deans family to the city in 1947. Damaged by the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011,the repaired and renovated building was reopened in June 2014. Riccarton House is used as a restaurant and for functions,and a popular market is held on Saturdays in front of it.
The Oamaru Opera House and former Town Hall in Oamaru is a historic building and current performance venue in Oamaru,on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The building is classified as a "Category I" historic place by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga,previously known as the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
Carlile House,formerly Costley Training Institute,is a former boys' home and training centre in Grey Lynn,Auckland,built in 1886. It was enabled by a bequest of £12,500 from Edward Costley. It was originally bequest to the Kohimarama Training School;however,the Kohimarama Training School had since closed. The trustees recommended that a training institution should be established and Sir Robert Stout prepared a Bill that passed without opposition,entitled "The Costley Training Institution Act,1885".
The Ponsonby Post Office is a historic post office in Ponsonby,Auckland,New Zealand,listed as a category 1 building. Designed in 1912 by John Campbell with an Edwardian Baroque style. The post office remained in use until 2002 when the building became to be used for hospitality and other commercial businesses.
Hove Library is a public lending library serving Hove,part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. The "highly inventive" Edwardian Baroque/Renaissance Revival-style building,a Carnegie library designed by the architects Percy Robinson and W. Alban Jones of Leeds,opened in 1908 on Church Road,succeeding a library founded in 1890 in a house on the nearby Grand Avenue. The building has been listed at Grade II by Historic England for its architectural and historical importance.
John Mitchell and Robert Martin Watt were a pair of New Zealand architects who designed numerous buildings,primarily educational buildings,several of which have been heritage listed.
John Farrell (1868–1938) was a New Zealand architect,businessman,and politician who served as mayor of Grey Lynn from 1904–1907 and as the Auckland Education Board architect from 1907–1924.
The Old Choral Hall is a historic choral hall located on Symonds Street,Auckland,New Zealand. It is registered as a category 1 building by Heritage New Zealand.
Media related to Leys Institute Library Ponsonby at Wikimedia Commons