The Beehive
September 11th, 2012 at 11:00 am by David FarrarTom Hunt at Dom Post reports:
Press gallery life member Richard Griffin remembers the early days of derision, including walking through the atrium with Mr Muldoon at the opening.
The prime minister looked at a piece of carpet covering the central pillar of the main atrium, designed by leading artist Guy Ngan with large holes exposing the marble beneath.
“He looked at it and said, ‘Heh, it looks as if the moths have been at the carpet already’,” Griffin remembers.
Classic.
While the building – at least in some people’s minds – was attractive from the outside, inside was a “disaster”.
For one, MPs were distanced from each other by a building not designed for casual encounters.
This is actually a big thing. Parliament House is the best of the three major parliamentary buildings. The long corridors means you are often seeing colleagues, and you’d be amazed at how many major decisions get made in corridors!
Bowen House is next best. You get a bit of interaction on your floor. Last is the Beehive where you basically never casually bump into people except in the lifts.
Some say the tensions in the 4th Labour Government would not have got so bad, if it were not for the Beehive design, as you got the 7th floor at war with the 9th floor.
In early September 1979, journalist Richard Long managed to get the press gallery banned from the top three floors.
While the Cabinet – including a security- mad Mr Muldoon – were out for lunch, Long caught a lift to the Cabinet room and walked in.
He did not touch the confidential documents on the table but left his business card, illustrating the security lapse of unlocked lifts opening directly into a Cabinet room strewn with secret documents. It made the lead story in the following day’s paper.
Heh, that is very Richard Long.
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September 11th, 2012 at 11:24 am
I agree. Having worked in all three: the Beehive, the Old Parl. and Bowen House, the Beehive was a terrible bldg to work in, although where I’d most like to be in an earthquake. I would HATE to be in Bowen Hse. The Old Parliament is a great building to work in and its refurb has been masterful. I also worked at the top of Willbank Court (NZ HQ, now called the “Service Centre”) and this building used to sway in wind, so not somewhere I would like to be even in an aftershock.
The design was inspired by several other buildings designed after Beehives, but ours is I think unique.
Vote:September 11th, 2012 at 11:25 am
Ohhh Horse Manure, DPF..
Rob Muldoon was not security mad. On the contrary. I waked into his office after hours, unannounced, many, many times. Never got reamed out. It was the bureaucrats, pissed off by Ministerial / PMP Secretary leaks to the media, that promoted the separation and security BS (which exceeds that in US Senate or HoReps.).
I several times took the “cage” to the third floor, knocked on the back door to Keith Holyoake’s suite, and entered for a fruitfull chat. No problems.
But the Muldoon/Long scrap ? Suffice to say that RDM lost the plot on Richard Long.
Vote:September 11th, 2012 at 11:37 am
If my memory serves me well a group of Gallery jornos also once carried a suitcase,labelled ” BOMB ” up to the 9th Floor of the Beehive and left it there.To test the bevel of security in place at the time !!
Vote:September 11th, 2012 at 11:50 am
It looks awful. Can we not get rid of it? Take the opportunity and finish off the other half of Parliament House.
Vote:September 11th, 2012 at 11:57 am
here here FE!
Vote:September 11th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
That was a different Richard Long then. Nowadays he is a mouthpiece for the National Party.
Vote:September 11th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
I worked in the main building and just loved it in a way I have never loved a building before or since. The long corridors the strange nooks and hidden places. The photos and the history running into famous people. Just lovely.
Vote:September 11th, 2012 at 12:28 pm
FE Smith>It looks awful. Can we not get rid of it? Take the opportunity and finish off the other half of Parliament House.
Oh yes!!! It is a pity that it is the one building that seems sure to survive a large earthquake. Maybe we can strengthen other buildings areound Wellington, but structurally weaken the Beehive to make it more prone to catastrophic collapse? Maybe remove half the columns or something.
Vote:September 11th, 2012 at 7:56 pm
I thought once the Queen B Helen had gone the workers would have moved on.
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