The Work of John Scott Hawkes Bay Architect

Te Ao Hou, September 1959, Page 36

The Work of John Scott Hawkes Bay Architect by Louis Johnson Among those younger-generation architects whose work is attracting considerable attention—and who should prove of special interest to readers of Te Ao Hou—is John Scott, the centre of whose activities is Hastings, though his work is moving farther afield. John Scott, of part-Maori extraction, lives at Te Awanga near Hastings, and his work includes, besides family houses, schools, churches and plans for an ambitious Maori Community Centre for Palmerston North. Mr Scott was educated in Hastings schools and his first job, after leaving school, was shepherding on a Hawke's Bay farm. He was for six months in the R.A.F. and after being demobilised became a student at the School of Architecture at Auckland University which he attended from 1946 to 1950. Following this, to gain experience, he went building with a group of fellow students. They were fired with the idea that they could build factories more cheaply than anyone else. They did. And their loss was terrific. (“It's taken years to pay it back,” said Mr Scott ruefully.) For a while he was a member of Group Architects in Auckland, and finally, some six years ago, set up in his own practice in Hawke's Bay. “How would you describe the aim of your work?” I asked him. Mr Scott's reply was prompt and practical: “To give the most for the money.” Pictures are more eloquent than words in describing how much that “most of the money” means, and on these pages, are a number of examples of Mr Scott's work, most of which I have been fortunate enough to inspect. They range from highly individualised homes put up on very low budgets, to some of the most striking and admired schools in the district.