The Dux de Lux (), originally called Llanmaes, was a popular beer garden and restaurant in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, that was part of the

Arts Centre An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues fo ...

. The building, initially a private home, became the home of the student union of the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

at this central city site before the tertiary institution moved to the suburb of Ilam. It is listed as a Category II heritage building (register number 4907) by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

. The building was closed following the February

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

, with the restaurant and bar moving to various suburban premises.

Geography

The Dux de Lux is located in a stand-alone building, on the corner of Hereford and Montreal Streets in the central city. It is these days part of the Arts Centre that occupies that whole block and is thus located in the cultural precinct.

History

The merchant John Lewis commissioned the building with

Francis Petre Francis William Petre (27 August 1847 – 10 December 1918), sometimes known as Frank Petre, was a New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zea ...

as his private residence, and it was constructed in 1883, in a

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

style similar to Pinner House in Dunedin, another Petre design. Lewis gave it the Welsh name of Llanmaes, which means 'the church in the meadow'. The house changed ownership to Dr Colin Graham Campbell in 1899, who onsold it to Dr Charles Chilton in 1904. Chilton was a

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

, the first rector to be appointed in

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

, and the first person to be awarded a D.Sc. degree in New Zealand. He lived in the building until 1911 and sold it to Eliza Vincent. When Vincent died, the building was purchased by the university in 1926. For the next three years, the building was used as the rector's residence. Canterbury College, from which the University of Canterbury developed, was first established in 1872. Either in 1875–1876 on in 1877, the

Benjamin Mountfort Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (13 March 1825 – 15 March 1898) was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of the country's most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch's uniqu ...

-designed clock tower was the first building erected by the college on the block bounded by Worcester, Rolleston, Hereford and Montreal Streets. Llanmaes was the last building on the block purchased by the college. The Canterbury Students' Association was formed in 1894. An immediate issue was to find a suitable place for students to meet, but it was not until 1921 that a tearoom was set aside for this purpose. Regarded as a temporary solution, the students pursued the idea to have their own building. V. R. J. Hearn won a design competition with his entry in

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

, in keeping with the college's older buildings. The estimated cost of £30,000 proved to put this aim out of reach. The board of the university suggested that Llanmaes, which had just been purchased, could be used by the students. Although the Students' Association rejected the idea, the architects Collins and Harman were tasked with developing plans for extending the building. The architects were sympathetic to the original design and continued with the original style of English Domestic Revival style architecture. An addition, low brick walls around the street frontage, was made in 1928–1929 by Collins and Harman. From 1929, the building served as the Student Union. While a 1954 fire damaged much of the interior, construction in 1955–1956 added a dining room and three meeting rooms. After the student union had moved out, the building was converted into a bar, music venue, and restaurant. The Dux de Lux, which is Latin for ''Masters of the Finest'',Dux de Lux, Christchurch City - Eventfinda
/ref> opened in late 1978. New Zealand band

Salmonella Dub Salmonella Dub is a Dub music, dub/drum n bass/reggae/roots reggae, roots band from New Zealand. The band was formed in 1992 by Andrew Penman, Dave Deakins, and Mark Tyler. The band has toured extensively throughout New Zealand, Australia, the Un ...

will release the single ''Same Home Town'' in 2013 in honour of their 20th birthday. The single is dedicated to the Dux de Lux as their early Christchurch venue.

2011 earthquake

As a result of the 22 February

, the Dux de Lux closed due to structural damage. The wider Arts Centre was forced to close all its buildings due to severe damage, meaning the famous vegetarian and seafood establishment, alongside other tenants, was evicted. In late 2011 the music venue Dux Live! opened in Addington. Then 2012 saw the opening of Dux Dine in the neighbouring suburb

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scot ...

. The Dux Brewing Company continues to manufacture and supply craft beer, such as the Ginger Tom.

Architecture

The building's English Cottage style is Tudor influenced. There are several interconnected wings. At the west end, there is a 2-storey Brew Bar with offices above. At the north end, there is a single-storey Tavern Bar. In the northeast corner, there is a 2-storey plus part single storey wing, which includes a restaurant and Function Room. In the southeast corner, a 2-storey section contains stairs, amenities, and an office. Its construction includes slate tile roof cladding, timber rafters, and a timber framed flat roof. Both the first floor and ground floor are timber framed. The exterior load bearing walls, as well as some of the interior walls, are of double brick. The interior finishing is of lath and plaster. A brick chimney is situated in the west wall, while the north wall has a

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. A bow window is a form of bay with a curve rather than angular facets; an oriel window is a bay window that does not touch the g ...

. Other notable features are the stained glass windows, three large panels and three small panels, and brick arches at the north and south entries. In 1929, it had

rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a species of tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a dioecious evergreen conifer, reaching heights of up to , and can have a stout trunk (botany), trunk up to in diameter. It is endemis ...

panelling and wallpaper in 'quiet shades'.

Heritage registration

The Dux de Lux was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category II heritage building on 26 November 1981 with registration number 4907. It is an example of Francis Petre's domestic work, who is better known for the design of basilicas, including the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch. The building is significant, as it housed the student union of the University of Canterbury for four decades; it is thus considered part of the social fabric of the university by many alumni. Many consider the building to be the heart of the former university.

References