Special Lady wins architecture award | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

Havelock North's iconic Lady has aged well - it has been recognised with a national architecture award.

Our Lady of Lourdes, which celebrated its 50 year jubilee last month, won the New Zealand Enduring Architecture Award at the 2010 New Zealand Architecture Awards.

Designed in 1959 by architect John Scott, the church was described by the awards jury as "a major work by one of New Zealand's most significant architects".

Father Patrick Cooke, who has been the priest at Our Lady of Lourdes since 1994, said the church was a wonderful gift for Havelock North.

"People are very proud of it. It has been refurbished recently so it looks as John Scott would have wanted. It shows it has stood the test of time."

The design was ahead of its time, he said, and he believed that people at the time regarded it as a wonderful building and design.

"The poetic form and originality of this church shows the hand of a master architect," said jury convenor Gerald Parsonson.

The building suited the site it was on and its context as a church, Mr Parsonson said.

"A great sheltering roof intersects effortlessly with the towering pyramid spire. Shafts of vibrantly coloured glass enliven the atmospheric interior."

It is a fusion of Maori and European styles, Mr Parsonson said, and he praised the simplicity of the design.