World War1 Memorial Beacon Quay Street view Patrick Reynolds
WW1 Memorial Beacon, Auckland
Project Info
The World War 1 Memorial Beacon is New Zealand’s earliest built monument to World War 1. It was erected on the Auckland city waterfront by the Auckland Harbour Board in 1915 to commemorate enlisted employees and to serve as a beacon to bring them home safely. The memorial was designed by the Auckland Harbour Board’s chief engineer, William Henry Hamer, and first lit up on 17 December 1915. It is an unusual example of a monument erected while World War 1 was in progress.
8 World War1 Memorial Beacon extra tiers Patrick Reynolds
World War1 Memorial Beacon spire and orb Patrick Reynolds
The monument was removed from its original waterfront location in the 1960s and the decorative spire and orb were lost while it was in storage. It was rescued from a Customs storage shed and re-erected in a diminished form next to the Maritime Museum in 2000 with a black stone orb in place of the original metal spire and glowing glass globe. Its ultimate restoration and return to a site near to its original position was undertaken as part of the Downtown Infrastructure Development Programme. DPA Architects' involvement required extensive historical research and documentation to re-create the memorial’s original design features that had been lost. These were recreated using 3D modelling technology combined with detailed analysis of historic imagery to ensure accuracy and authenticity. The Coromandel granite obelisk was restored, and an extra two tiers returned to the original four-step base. The interwoven bronze spire was re-created and a 500mm diameter hand-blown glass orb and LED lamp reinstated on top of the spire.

Photography: Patrick Reynolds
World War1 Memorial Beacon night view Patrick Reynolds
BEACON 8935
BEACON 8949