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The building's design was settled through a competitive
process in 1915.
The assessor for the competition was Samuel Hurst Seager,
a prominent architect and lecturer in architecture at
the Canterbury College School of Art. In 1912 Hurst
Seager had published an article on "The Lighting
of Picture Galleries and Museums" in the Royal
Institute of British Architects, in which he advocated
a "Top-Side-Lighted" method of lighting galleries.
This system, written into the competition specifications,
has since been a key element in the Sarjeant's considerable
reputation.
Otago born Donald Hosie, aged 21 and articled pupil of the important
Dunedin-based architect Edmund Anscombe, was announced
winner in 1916. Just a year later Hosie died in action and was buried in Passchendaele, Belguim. In 1917 construction of the
building began, and in September 1919 the Sarjeant Gallery
was opened by the Prime Minister, William Massey. The
building is in the form of a Greek
cross with a central
dome. The style is classical with restrained decoration.
Both form and style are enhanced by the external cladding
of cream Oamaru stone.
The interior is similarly classical and restrained,
with off-white walls and polished natural wood floors.
The Sarjeant Gallery has a Category 1 listing, the highest
possible under the New
Zealand Historic Places Trust Act of 1993, in recognition
of 'such architectural quality that its permanent preservation
is regarded as essential'.
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more about the planned extension.
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