Sir Ian Charles Athfield was a New Zealand architect. He was born in Christchurch and graduated from the University of Auckland in 1963 with a Diploma of Architecture. That same year he joined Structon Group Architects, and he became a partner in 1965. In 1968 he was a principal partner in setting up Athfield Architects with Ian Dickson and Graeme John Boucher. Athfield died in 2015 due to complications from a routine procedure which resulted in pneumonia, at the Wellington Hospital, where he was being treated for prostate cancer.
Athfield in 2013
Wellington City Library
Arlington Council Flats, Wellington (demolished 2021)
Buck House, Te Mata Estate
Wellington Central Library
Wellington Central Library is a public library building in the central business district of Wellington, in New Zealand. It is owned by Wellington City Council and is listed as a Category 1 historic place by Heritage New Zealand. The building was opened in 1991 and was a key element of Wellington’s municipal centre, Te Ngākau Civic Square. It served as the main hub for the municipal library service, Wellington City Libraries.
Main entrance in Victoria Street in 2007
1940: Rongotai College boys carrying books from the old library into the new building.
Wellington Central Library under construction ca 1991, showing the curved glass wall facing Civic Square. The former library is to the right.
The curved wall of the library facing Civic Square, with the mezzanine entrance to the library at left.