Brutalist Freezing Works
On one of the furthest eastern points in the country a winding coastal road diminishes at the shore under the cliffs of Waimā (previously known as Hautanoa), at the northern end of Tokomaru Bay. Backed by steep Late Miocene (5-10 million years ago) sedimentary mud/sandstone hills, the Tokomaru Sheepfarmers’ Freezing Co Ltd was nestled amongst a spectacular setting for a freezing works in New Zealand.
The East Coast’s pastoral industry began to develop from the late 1880s when the bush was cleared, the short-lived fertility of the new pastures enabled the district to grow and prosper. Ngāti Porou having populating this area for centuries, welcomed settlers to take on farming blocks which later necessitated the industry that moved in. Farmers of this area were at first served by works at Gisborne but the long journey often resulted in weak stock on arrival at market. A company comprised of Sir Āpirana Ngata, William Busby and Te Whānau a Ruataupare pushed for the construction of the Tokomaru Bay Freezing Co Ltd in 1909, which was realised in 1911. The works were designed and built to last with solid construction employing one and a quarter million bricks and large reinforced concrete columns and walls. Now independent, Waimā rapidly become a force in the sheep and beef industry that paid New Zealand's bills for decades.
The short-fertility bubble gained from the initial nutrients of the burnt forest, popped. The East Coast saw stock numbers dwindle as the grass struggled and better prices were offered as competition grew across the country. Farmers were warned the works would close without their support and in 1952, the plant and machinery were dismantled as there was no shortage of buyers for the bricks, wooden beams, timber and iron. The building became a skeletal shell and everything that wasn’t nailed down was taken. The roof was even removed to lower the works’ capital value and therefore payable rates.
Now the ruins represent a concluded but not forgotten chapter in the story of the land and the people of Tairāwhiti, and in the fluctuating fortunes of 20th century New Zealand agriculture and economic development. Owing to the removal of the materials and roof, an emerging ecosystem of coastal forest has been claiming back the ruins for over half a century. Kohekohe (Dysoxylum spectabile), māhoe (Melicytus ramiflorus) and pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) are starting to form a lush canopy in the microclimate of the concrete ruins. Abundant fresh water was drawn from the Waihi Stream, which was channelised through the bottom of the structure for running machinery and the easy disposal of animal blood out to sea. A novel engineered riparian corridor flanked by coastal flax (Phormium cookianum subsp. hookeri) and kawakawa (Piper excelsum) now pierces through the brutal repetitive columns and orthogonal arches.
