Fergus George Frederick Sheppard (1908 – 1997) was a New Zealand architect, who served as the chief government architect from 1959 until his retirement in 1971. During his time in this capacity he was involved with the design of the

Beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...

, among hundreds of other public buildings.

Personal life

Fergus Sheppard was born in 1908 in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, the youngest of two, and son of bootmaker Lewis George Frederick Sheppard and Lillian Gertrude Sheppard (née Green), both first generationers to be born in New Zealand. He attended

Auckland Grammar Auckland Grammar School (often simplified to Auckland Grammar, or Grammar), established in 1869, is a state, day and boarding secondary school for boys in Auckland, New Zealand. The school has produced more national rugby team members than a ...

, and then studied at

Auckland University The University of Auckland (; Māori language, Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the Unive ...

. In 1938, he married Marjorie Joan Targuse (1912 – 2008), daughter of Violet Targuse. They had four sons, one of whom was also an architect. During World War Two, he served as a sapper (a combat engineer) and 1st lieutenant in the 4th Works Company. He died in 1997.

Professional career

Sheppard was appointed as acting Government Architect with the Ministry of Works in February 1959, following the sudden death of Gordon Wilson, and fully assumed the role in May 1959. During his tenure there was a boom in construction of state owned buildings, and one estimate is that Sheppard was responsible for approximately 900 building projects, including many government buildings, educational buildings, and state housing. During this period, government architects designed buildings in a post-war modernist style. According to Duncan Joiner, the last to hold the title of Government Architect, "Many of the government buildings of this period are elegantly simple in concept, and economical in their use of materials and services, reflecting a New Zealand architectural design response to stringent import controls. It was a period of inventiveness, and during this time New Zealand engineers and architects established their international reputation for seismic design." Sheppard produced the detailed architectural drawings of the

, the executive wing of the New Zealand parliament, from the original concept designs by Scottish architect Sir Basil Spence, who is quoted as having remarked "It is not a Spence building, it is a Sheppard Building." Sheppard retired in 1971. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Architects in 1969, held public roles as the President of the Royal Society of Arts, and as a member of the Historic Places Trust. He was chairman of the Wellington Branch of the Institute of Architects and went to hold key roles with the New Zealand Institute of Architects at national level. The "Sheppard collection" held by the Architecture and Planning Library of the University of Auckland, was originally compiled by Sheppard in an effort to collect information on every New Zealand architect.

Selected Works

Among the buildings which Sheppard personally designed, collaborated on, or supervised the design of are:

Legacy

In 2021, the former Putāruru Post Office (1970) was the recipient of an "Enduring Architecture Award" in the

New Zealand Institute of Architects Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) is a membership-based professional organisation that represents approximately 90 per cent of registered architects in Aotearoa New Zealand and supports and promotes architecture in ...

(NZIA) Waikato Bay of Plenty Architecture Awards. In 2024, the University of Canterbury – Puaka-James Hight (Central Library) Building (1969-1974) received the "Enduring Architecture Award" in the NZIA Canterbury Region Architecture Awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Fergus 20th-century New Zealand architects 1908 births 1997 deaths Architects from Auckland Modernist architects University of Auckland alumni