Studio One Toi Tu

by Celia Walker

The warm brick and colourful paint finish on the Studio One Toi Tu building at the southern end of Ponsonby Road softens the impact of this imposing edifice that was originally the Newton Police Barracks.

Built in the early years of last century, it was an intentional police presence to help create order in what was seen as the crime-filled area of Newton, with nervousness over the crowded area’s boarding houses and workers in strengthening trade unions. The connection to Newton Gully itself has been partially severed by the incursion of the North-western motorway, and many decades of gentrification mean the area is no longer the seedy underbelly of the city that it once was thought to be.

Prolific Government architect John Campbell left his mark across the main centres, the flamboyant Queen Anne style of this building echoing other designs of his such as the Dunedin Law Courts and adjacent Dunedin Prison. His characteristic style can also be found closer at hand at the Ponsonby Post Office building at the northern end of Ponsonby Road.

Converted to an arts facility by Auckland Council in the 1970s, the building has undergone a few makeovers and name changes along the way, the names Outreach and Artstation both still resonating with many from the local arts community. The current incarnation, Studio One Toi Tu still offers a range of art workshops and classes, as well as curated galleries hosting a continuously changing array of fresh exhibitions. The meandering layout of small rooms and heritage features makes for quirky exhibition spaces, a feeling backed up by the shows themselves, which cover a spectrum from emerging artists to more established names.

Messy play can be had in the ceramics studio building out the back, with open access days and kiln facilities available in addition to the tutored classes. Former police cells out the back now house studio spaces, retention of a few elements such as bars on the windows and weighty iron hinges on the door still paying a nod to its former role. The elaborate roof tiles and other finishing details on some of the smaller buildings in the rear courtyard, reminiscent of Australian Federation buildings of that same era, make a wander around the back worthwhile if heritage architecture is more your thing than the art facilities themselves.

The tiny patch of wild and abundant native garden in the south-eastern corner is an excellent antidote to the surrounding city busyness, a place to stop and breathe.

Image Credits: Celia Walker