Mitchell and Watt

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.

Mitchell and Watt entered into a partnership in 1892 as architects for the Auckland Education Board until at least 1905.

John Mitchell

John Mitchell (c.1859–1947) was born in Ramelton, Ireland, he trained as an architect in Ireland before heading to New Zealand in 1888. He was an early adopter of reinforced concrete and developed a baked earthenware block. In 1912 he went to England before returning to New Zealand a decade later. Mitchell spent the later years of his life in Rotorua, where he would die in 1947.

Robert Martin Watt

Robert Martin Watt (1860–1907) was born in Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Watt studied architecture in Glasgow under H & D Barclay before immigrating to New Zealand c.1878. Watt was a member of St Stephen's, Ponsonby, for which he designed an extension.

In 1906 Watt was elected as president of the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects Watt lived in a home he named Glencairn in Bayfield, Ponsonby. He died in April, 1907. Before his death he was appointed to judge designs of the Auckland Town Hall.

The two architects formed a partnership in 1892, previously they worked independently in Auckland. Later that year they were appointed to the Auckland Education Board. Mitchell and Watt designed multiple school buildings in the Auckland Province area. The pair also designed numerous residential, commercial, and religious buildings. Their partnership ended either c.1905 or 1907.

Mitchell was responsible for new works whilst Watt was responsible for existing works and extensions. The pair designed numerous school buildings across the Auckland Province area

In December, 1902, the pair received notice from the Board of Education that their employment was to be terminated in three months. The pair were given a hearing to justify the dismissal, where the board charged them with incurring excessive costs and delays, but public support for the architects resulted in the board members being voted out at the election with those who supported Mitchell and Watt being elected with a strong majority. The Auckland Star described the charges as 'utterly insignificant'.

The pair were likely inspired by Edward Robert Robson in their design of school buildings. Robson favoured the Queen Anne style as he believed Gothic architecture's association with religion was inappropriate for secular educational buildings. Education in New Zealand was secular and many of Mitchell and Watt's designs are influenced by the Queen Anne style, notable examples include Bayfield School and Onehunga Primary School.

Schools designed by Mitchell and Watt are 'held to represent an important phase in the architectural development of school buildings in New Zealand'.

Mitchell and Watt had innovative design techniques relating to ventilation, lighting, and heating. Examples include ventilation holes in the eaves, a patented stove, and large windows.

List of buildings

Name	Date	Note
Winstone Stables	1883	Only designed by Watt. Registered as a Category 1 building with Heritage New Zealand
Newton Council Chambers and Fire Station	1887–1889	Only designed by Mitchell. Registered as a Category 2 building with Heritage New Zealand
Kuaotunu School House	1892	Registered as a Category 2 building with Heritage New Zealand
Hukanui School	1893	Designed by either Mitchell alone or both Mitchell and Watt Registered as a Category 2 building with Heritage New Zealand
Greenhithe school building	1893	Registered as a Category B building with Auckland Council
Te Awamutu School	1894	Designed an extension for the school. Registered as a Category 2 building with Heritage New Zealand
Winstone shops on Symonds Street	1895
Bayfield School	1896 and 1904	Registered as a Category I building with Heritage New Zealand
St James Church, Pukekohe	1898	Possibly designed by Watt alone but may also have been work of both men. Building was relocated, current status is unknown presumed demolished
Church of Christ, Newton	1898	Demolished for the Auckland motorway
Epsom property	c.1898
St Paul's Church, Buckland	1898–1900	Registered as a Category B building with Auckland Council
St Peter's Presbyterian Church, Grey Lynn	1899	Only extensions and redesign of existing Church. Demolished c.1950
Methodist Church in Te Aroha	1900	Later became a Baptist Church and later became a private residence.
Mt Eden Congregational Church	1900	Registered as a Category B building with Auckland Council
Cambridge Primary School	1900	Designed an extension block
Riverhead school	1900
Onehunga Primary School	1901	Registered as a Category 1 building with Heritage New Zealand
Richmond Road Manual Training School	1903	Scheduled as a Category B building with Auckland Council
Newton East Manual Training School	c.1903	Demolished in 1959. Designed identically to Newmarket and Richmond Road Manual Training Schools
Newmarket Manual Training School	1903	Registered as a Category B building with Auckland Council
Australis House/Entrican Building	1903–1904	Registered as a Category I building with Heritage New Zealand
St Andrew's, Howick	1903–1904	Registered as a Category 2 building with Heritage New Zealand
Taniwha School	1904–1905	Registered as a Category 2 building with Heritage New Zealand
Dargaville school	1905	Designed an addition for the school
Te Mata school	1905	Registered as a Category B building with Waikato District Council
Maungatautari school	1905	Registered as a Category B building with the Waipa District Council. Closed in 2011
Leys Institute	1905–1906	Only Watt was involved with the Leys Institute. Registered as a Category I building with Heritage New Zealand
St Stephen's, Ponsonby	1906–1907	Only Watt was involved. This was just an extension to an existing Church building. Registered as a Category 2 building with Heritage New Zealand.
Karangahake School	1907	Addition designed by Mitchell. Registered as a Category I building with Heritage New Zealand
Seddon Memorial Technical College	1909	Only designed by Mitchell. Registered as a Category 2 building with Heritage New Zealand
Papakura School	1913	An extension which is now the main building was built in 1913 to a design from Mitchell and Watt. Registered as a category B building with Auckland Council
Helensville Manual Training School	1912	Likely the work of Mitchell and Watt but not confirmed
Cambridge Manual Training School	c.1903	Likely the work of Mitchell and Watt but not confirmed. Demolished.
Ponsonby Fire Station	1902	Attributed to Watt by John Stacpoole but other authors attribute it to someone else. Registered as a Category B building with Auckland Council

References

^ Francesco, Cara (October 2016). "Heritage Evaluation - Richmond Manual Training School" (PDF). Auckland Council Heritage Unit.
^ Cox, Elizabeth (6 June 2015). "Leys Institute". Heritage New Zealand.
^ Williams, Lynette; Henry, Gail; Pattison, Linda (7 July 2010). "Te Awamutu School (former)". Heritage New Zealand.
^ Caddigan, Elise (May 2017). Historic Heritage Evaluation - St Paul's Church (PDF) (Report). Auckland Council Heritage Unit.
^ "Council Chambers and Fire Station (Former)". Heritage New Zealand.
^ "Obituary". New Zealand Herald. Vol. XLIV, no. 13462. 15 April 1907. p. 6.
^ "St Stephen's Church (Presbyterian)". Heritage New Zealand.
"Board of Education and the Architects". Auckland Star. Vol. XXXIV, no. 67. 19 March 1903. p. 4.
"The Education Board Elections". Auckland Star. Vol. XXXIV, no. 191. 12 August 1903. p. 4.
^ Reynolds & Associates. "Heritage Evaluation - Newmarket Manual Training School" (PDF). Auckland Council Heritage Unit.
^ Foster, Alexandra (5 May 2019). "Onehunga Primary School (former)". Heritage New Zealand.
Jones, Martin (8 August 2001). "Stables (Former)". Heritage New Zealand.
^ "Part 4: Schedules and appendices / SCHED1 – Historic heritage items" (PDF). Waikato District Council.
McEwan, Ann (3 February 2017). "Memory box". Waikato Times.
"Untitled". Auckland Star. Vol. XXVI, no. 237. 4 October 1895. p. 5.
Derbyshire, Noel William (2016). Serving the Community: a history of the Pukekohe Anglican Parish. Wily Publications. ISBN 978-1-927167-30-4.
"Church of Christ". Auckland Star. Vol. XXIX, no. 177. 29 July 1898. p. 4.
Auckland Motorway. Auckland Library. May 1964. p. 118.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
"Sports, Pastimes and ... Pleasure Grounds". Auckland Star. Vol. XXIX, no. 284. 1 December 1898. p. 4 (supplement).
"Ecclesiastical". New Zealand Herald. Vol. XXXVI, no. 10979. 6 February 1899. p. 5.
"New Wesleyan Church at Te Aroha". Thames Star. Vol. XXXIX, no. 9817. 13 December 1900. p. 2.
Preston, Nikki (25 March 2018). "Historic church, complete with baptism pool, on the block to be someone's home". New Zealand Herald.
"Riverhead". Auckland Star. Vol. XXXI, no. 216. 11 September 1900. p. 3.
"Mitchell and Watt". New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Heritage New Zealand.
"St Andrew's Church (Presbyterian)". Heritage New Zealand.
Akuhata, Karla (2 March 2012). "Waikato classrooms sitting idle". Waikato Times.
"B List Historic Buildings". Cambridge Museum. Cambridge Historical Society. 12 May 2017.
"Karangahake School". Heritage New Zealand.
Francesco, Cara (August 2017). "Historic Heritage Evaluation Papakura Old Central School and Memorial Peace Oak Tree" (PDF). Auckland Council Heritage Unit.
Roelants, Deidre (3 April 2015). "Ponsonby Fire Station". Ponsonby News. p. 27.

Notes

The Auckland Education Board's boundaries are equivalent to the former Auckland Province and not the modern Auckland region or urban area.
Watt's obituary states his partnership ended two or three years before his death. Modern sources state the partnership lasted until 1907. Watt's known work after 1905 was independent of Mitchell and Mitchell has no recorded work after 1905 until after Watt's death.
One source attributes the building to Mitchell and another source attributes it to both Mitchell and Watt
One source credits both men for St James but another states only Watt was involved.

Category:

New Zealand architects