ANGLICAN CHURCH FOR PUKAKI

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29984, 20 November 1962, Page 7

ANGLICAN CHURCH FOR PUKAKI

An Anglican church planned for the Lake Pukaki settlement will have a magnificent view from the altar window straight up the lake to Mount Cook.

The vicar of St. Stephen’s Church, Fairlie (the Rev. A. Georgantis) said that the new church would probably be named after St. Christopher, the patron saint of travellers.

"The parishioners at Pukaki are now holding their service in a schoolroom,” he said. "Pukaki is 63 miles from Fairlie, and my parish is 90 miles long.

“The new church at Pukaki is sorely needed now, and Pukaki is going to expand greatly in the next few years. The church will be a great tourist attraction because of the magnificent view from the altar window.

“We are looking to friends outside the parish, in Canterbury, the South Island, and all over New Zealand to help us to finance the building of this magnificent new church, which will fit so splendidly and naturally into its setting of plains, lake, and mountains,” Mr Georgantis said. "The basic conception of the design is that of a square building sitting four-square on the Mackenzie Plain.” said the architect (Mr Paul Pascoe).

“Apart from the fact that that altar window will give a magnificent view of Lake Pukaki and Mount Cook, another consideration caused the design to be in the form it is. This is that, in the wide sweep of the plain, the designers wished to let the church stand as a steeple upon the plain.

“In view of the extraordinary strong winds that sweep the plain, the roof was formed with ’ its four planes to give not only a steeple effect

but also to give an expression of shelter. "If those interested would compare the design sketch with the belfry roof of St. Michael’s Church, in Christchurch, which was designed about 1870, they would see how one design has influenced the other,” Mr Pascoe said.

The seating capacity of the new church at Pukaki will be 54, but this will easily be increased for special occasions. TYiere will be an entrance lobby with two sets of double doors to keep the winds from the interior. A

small vestry will be at the rear of the nave. The floor of the church and the core of the walls will be of reinforced concrete. The walls will be faced with local boulders. Steel joists will support the roof angles. The roof outside will be lined with ridged iron and inside with boarding clear-varnish-ed to emphasise the natural quality of the timber, which will contrast with the -white walls.

The floor area will be 1024 sq. ft., and the church is so designed that an extension would not upset the harmony pf the design.