Sarjeant Happenings: Mataī floors carefully restored in gallery redevelopment work

The 105-year-old Sarjeant Gallery has beautiful mataī floors, which span out from under the 14-metre-high dome.

Among the most beautiful features of the iconic Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery are the honey-coloured mataī floors in the heritage building.

The floors were laid in the initial build period between 1917 and 1919 and have since been sanded and polyurethaned many times.

In 2020, the redevelopment’s principal construction contractor, McMillan & Lockwood, started lifting the floors in preparation for the earthquake-strengthening and the restoration project.

Workers lifted and numbered each timber plank of the tongue and groove floors and then removed the supporting joists beneath, fully exposing the basement foundations below. The mataī floorboards were stored off-site and, one by one, each was inspected and nails removed.

Wherever possible, any damaged boards have been repaired but some were unsalvageable and needed to be replaced. McMillan & Lockwood went to some trouble to source replacement boards of a similar age and size. These were found in the South Island in an old warehouse and shipped to Whanganui.

The floorboards have been now been reinstated zone by zone in their original layout, which splays out from a hexagon-shaped piece directly under the dome and out across each of the gallery spaces.

The final step was to give the floorboards a light sand to bring them all back to an even level then apply a new polyurethane coat, leaving them glowing and pristine. They have been carefully covered with protective carpets ready to be revealed when the gallery opens in November.

“The floor of the heritage gallery is one of its most beautiful features and offers a tremendous light quality to the interior,” redevelopment director Gaye Batty said.

“A great deal of care and attention has been taken in ensuring the floorboards have been lifted and returned in as near perfect condition as possible.”

Watch this short film about the floor project which was completed last month. Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery opens to the public on Saturday, November 9.