Birkenhead War Memorial

PROJECT ARCHITECT

PROJECT TEAM

Peter Reed

Sarosh Mulla, Nicola Hsu

In 2009, North Shore City commissioned Salmond Reed Architects to restore the War Memorial in Birkenhead’s Nell Fisher Reserve in conjunction with the erection of the new Library building behind it. The brief was to restore the memorial to its original condition and appearance.
The monument, which has a category A listing, had been unveiled in 1927 as a memorial to the soldiers killed in WWI. It was constructed from granite slabs supported on a concrete plinth and topped by a cast bronze filigree ensemble incorporating cast bronze laurel wreaths.
This structure in turn, supported an electrically illuminated sphere and the memorial plaques were attached to the middle granite section.
The monument also originally included a drinking fountain or water feature.

Over the years it had fallen into disrepair. Decay to the mortar jointing of the granite allowed water into the structure, causing misalignment of the granite slabs.
The original water feature had been abandoned and the original granite catchment bowl filled in with concrete. The concrete plinth was badly cracked and vandals had attacked the monument and stolen the bronze filigree work.
The repair works involved completely disassembling the monument to allow access for assessment of the plumbing works and the state of the concrete plinth and to repair/replace the various components, including the full replacement in cast bronze of the entire top portion as a reproduction of the original casting.
The result, on its completion in early 2010, has been a positive enhancement to the revitalized reserve area.