|
Who we are
SPC's Headquarters
SPC's
headquarters (shown in these pictures) are at Anse Vata in
Noumea, New Caledonia. SPC
also has a large regional office
in Suva, Fiji.
The
original buildings: The Pentagon 1947-1995
When the
American soldiers, sailors and airmen stationed in New Caledonia
from 1942 said farewell to the Territory at the end of World War
II, they left behind not just immortal memories, but also an empty
headquarters building standing just behind the Anse Vata
beachfront in Noumea.
This
building (facetiously nicknamed the 'Pentagon' by the Allies) and
the surrounding site both reverted to the French Government. In
1947 the building was offered by France to the South Pacific
Commission (SPC), as the new-born regional organisation was called
then. The French Government's offer of Noumea was gratefully
accepted, since it enabled the organisation to acquire a large
headquarters at little cost. The transfer took place on 5 March
1949. The agreement transferring the land and the 'Pentagon'
buildings stipulated that the site would revert to France if SPC
moved permanently to another location or ceased to exist.
These
historic buildings, which had been built from prefabricated
materials to last out the war,
required little renovation and served the SPC as its headquarters
until 1995. The comfortable wings of this building, in which US
Army messengers once rode up and down the corridors on bicycles,
provided a home for a constantly growing army of programme staff
until the building succumbed to termites and eventually also
became too small to contain the burgeoning needs of the oldest
regional organisation.
 Building a new SPC
As early
as 1949, doubts had been expressed about the potential life span
of a wooden building, originally built to be temporarily occupied
in wartime, in a climate where termites flourish. Nevertheless,
the architects agreed that careful restoration and regular
maintenance could extend its life span to 40 years or more.
In the
1980s, however, the Secretariat became increasingly concerned
about the state of disrepair into which the building had fallen,
despite constant maintenance work, and the high maintenance costs
and lack of space to accommodate a constantly growing workforce.
To rebuild or to renovate - such was the question which went
unanswered for a long time due to lack of funding.
In
October 1989, the Twenty-ninth South Pacific Conference finally
endorsed the principle of a now inevitable reconstruction. A
sub-committee was set up. It considered three possibilities:
rebuilding on the same site, on another site in Noumea or in
another Pacific Island country. The Territory of New Caledonia
wished SPC to remain in Noumea, but was also anxious to recover
the land it occupied, which it considered to be crucial for the
development of the tourism industry in its three Provinces. It
therefore offered two possible new sites under freehold ownership:
one lying along the Anse Vata beachfront near the former site, for
the new headquarters, and another at Receiving (a nearby
residential suburb) for staff housing.
A special
session of the South Pacific Conference in March 1992 made the
decision to rebuild the Headquarters and construct housing on the
two sites proposed by New Caledonia. This decision recognised New
Caledonia's wish to redevelop the former site for tourism purposes
and was made possible because of commitments from France, New
Caledonia and Australia to cover the full cost of reconstruction.
The total
project budget was approximately one billion six hundred million
CFP, making it one of the most ambitious projects ever
carried out in the Pacific Islands. The French contribution
(covering site preparation work and the cost of the architectural
competition) amounted to 7 I 1,636,000 CFP. New Caledonia
provided 43.75 per cent of the total reconstruction budget
(700,000,000 CFP). The Australian grant was 2.5 million
Australian dollars (or 175,666,666 CFP).
[Back to top]
 Architecture with a Pacific flavour
Once the
decision to reconstruct had been made, the design process was
initiated without delay. A steering committee was set up under the
chairmanship of the French Representative to SPC. Architects
from SPC member countries and territories were invited to take
part in an international architectural competition in 1992.
Architects Pacific from Fiji submitted the winning design, which
drew its inspiration from Pacific concepts of space and habitat
and the relationship of Pacific Islanders with their environment.
Marrying the modern and the traditional, its modular structure
also offered a wide range of prospects for change and extension in
the longer term.
The
architectural design, with its strong Pacific symbolism and
outstanding breadth of vision, is evocative not only of the
overriding importance of the ocean and its resources for Pacific
Island peoples, but also of the great Pacific seafarers who
explored the whole of this vast ocean in their ancient voyages of
discovery. The lines of white coral and sand that crisscross the
site between the buildings and in the central garden, fringed by
coconuts and tall New Caledonian pines, are not just footpaths -
they are also a symbolic representation of the
navigational charts used by Micronesian seafarers. Traditionally
made from narrow bamboo slats bearing small cowrie shells to show
islands, these rudimentary charts were used by Marshallese
sailing-canoe pilots, to whom they gave precious information on
ocean routes, island positions and currents. Visitors walking
these sand or coral pathways thus follow unknowingly in the wake
of these great Pacific Island navigators.
The
buildings accommodating SPC's programmes and support services,
interconnected by paths and overhead walkways, are laid out around
a central garden dominated by the complex's main building, which
houses the Library and Conference Centre. The coral beach and pool
around this building are unmistakably suggestive of the nearby
ocean. The curving roof of the central building represents the
hull of a canoe upturned on a beach. The columns supporting the
far end of the library call to mind the masts of these traditional
vessels. These design elements all flow from the ocean and the
canoe.
Within
the Conference Room itself, part of the main wall was built using
a technique skilfully handled for centuries by Micronesian canoe
builders. A large panel in the wall consists of coconut planks
stitched together with coconut-fibre cords and caulked with
coconut-husk fibre, using an ancient Kiribati technique permitting
the construction of vast ocean-going canoes with perfectly
watertight hulls. This link with the past, with Pacific traditions
and with the Ocean blends perfectly with the present in this
impressive modern Conference Room equipped for simultaneous
interpretation. Over and above its sheer beauty, the reflections
of the sunlight off the reflecting pool under the glass floor at
the bottom of the wall and dappling the coconut timber give the
room life and genuine meaning. Visitors may feel they are sailing
on the great Pacific Ocean itself, visible beyond the tall
vertical louvres covered in white tapa which conjure up visions
of white sails on the sea. On this canoe have embarked all of
SPC's programmes.
Considerable
resources had to be mobilised to do justice to the vision of
Architects Pacific from Fiji. It was a complex task that involved
carrying out a large project designed in an English-speaking
Pacific country, in a French Pacific Territory. This was done in
compliance with
French and New Caledonian regulations, on behalf of a regional
organisation enjoying international privileges and immunities,
within a set timetable and budget. All parties took up this
challenge with considerable flair and imagination. The project's
very character meant that it had to associate many local
construction and service companies with suppliers of materials and
equipment based outside New Caledonia. The fact that the project
involved 2945 m3 of cement and 4035 m2 of concrete blocks gives
some idea of its huge size. It also used 1981 m2 of plaster
dividing walls, 6222 m2 of corrugated iron for the roofs and 728
m3 of construction timber. The complex required 21,259 m2 of paint
and more than 1700 light sockets. The Conference Room roof alone
used 2553 m2 of copper sheathing. The reconstruction began with
preliminary site preparation work and the laying of the foundation
stone on 28 May 1993, in the presence of representatives of member
Governments and Administrations at their May committee meeting. It
was completed in July 1995, when almost fifty years of history
were loaded into the removal vans. During the move, which lasted
almost two weeks, more than seven tonnes of documents of various
kinds had to be thrown away.
The SPC's
staff have now settled into their new offices and can continue
working for the development of the region with the enthusiasm
generated by their new environment, which is as peaceful as the
ocean whose name it bears, as bold as the seafarers it evokes, and
combines modernity and respect for the island traditions embodied
in its design.
[Back to top]
 The meeting house of the Pacific
While
seafaring is the central theme running through the architectural
design, the headquarters buildings themselves, and especially the
Conference Room, symbolically represent the Meeting House of all
the Pacific Island people. The site, over which SPC holds full
freehold ownership, enjoys special diplomatic status. It no longer
belongs to the Territory of New Caledonia but to each and every
one of the SPC's 27 member countries and territories.
This
Meeting House is integrated into three complementary key
components: communication and dialogue, information collection and
dissemination, and the representation of Pacific culture.
Communication
and dialogue underpin the well-known Pacific system of consensus.
The heart of this component is the Conference Room, where the 27
member countries and territories gather. This room represents
their Meeting House, where they can articulate their needs, listen
to others, exchange points of view and take common decisions for
the good of Pacific Island communities. For many members, it is
only here they can meet their Pacific brothers and
sisters on an equal footing, since SPC is the only
organisation which is open to all Pacific Island countries and
territories regardless of their social, political or economic
development status. As well as purely administrative meetings such
as that of the Committee of Representatives of Governments and
Administrations (CRGA), or high-level gatherings such as the
Conference of the Pacific Community, this hall also plays host to
programme meetings. From these discussions, in which the
representatives of all members play an active part, emanate the
recommendations that give impetus and direction to the various SPC
programmes and activities.
The
information collection and dissemination component finds its
expression in SPC’s practical tasks. In the buildings set around
the central garden work the staff of the various programmes and
support services. People from all over the world work alongside
many Pacific Islanders in this shared environment to carry out the
activities requested by the member countries and territories in
areas such as fisheries, agriculture, health, socio-economic
statistics as well as community education. This component meets
the communication and dialogue component in the projecting part of
the main building which overlooks the central garden and houses
the library. The library is open to both staff and other
interested researchers and specialists. It offers bibliographic
and information services not only from its own rich resources,
including an extensive Pacific collection, but also by tapping
into regional and international sources, often via computer
networks.
The
representation of Pacific culture underlies the whole complex. It
provides a mooring point for the canoe and the foundation of the
meeting house. It supplies both a link with the past and a pathway
to the future, firmly anchored in Pacific traditions. Traditional
tapa cloth covers the giant louvres in the Conference Room;
furniture made from Fiji coconut timber graces this room and the
Library; kohu wood from Solomon Islands and Vanuatu lines the
ceiling of the main building; the Micronesian navigational chart
has been reproduced on the walls of the Conference room and on the
ground throughout the site; the coconut stitched wall assembled by
Kiribati craftsmen gives a distinctive note to the Conference
Room; the river pebbles and coral give an authentic flavour of New
Caledonia. A variety of artefacts from through-out the region are
also gradually adding their unique identity to rooms and offices.
But this Meeting House is shared also by the founding fathers, the
metropolitan countries. They too have contributed materials to
this representation: Australian sandstone on the centre of the
Conference Room floor; the specially-woven carpet from New Zealand
designed from an aerial photo of a lagoon; the glued and laminated
beams from the Vosges area made to measure in France, and each
different from its neighbour; and the chair for the Conference
chairperson, specially carved in the land of the long white cloud,
a gift from the Government of New Zealand. Others have made
indirect contributions to this project: let us not forget the
building workers themselves and their wide range of ethnic
backgrounds.
However
the finest recognition of this representation of the Pacific
culture, which prevails in every corner of the Meeting House, can be
seen in the eyes of each visitor and each staff member as they
admire this historic project and experience the reassuring feeling
of being at home, firmly rooted in their culture and their
society. These three components sit together In harmony in the
Meeting House. Footpaths and first-floor walkways surround the
central garden, joining the Conference Room and Library to the
Management wing, the programmes and the support services. A road
runs around the perimeter and car parking is also located around
the edge of the site. The special relationship of these concentric
elements is highly reminiscent of a traditional house, with its
pillars demarcating the central space and wooden slabs and coconut
leaves or straw around the edge. The projecting part of the main
building has been intentionally designed to break into the
symmetry of the site, giving a dramatic effect to this symbolic
Meeting House, whose immense glass walls face the sea, a window
and a threshold to the outside world.
A
visitor stepping across that threshold must be aware that he or
she is entering the Meeting House of all the Pacific Island
people. Visitors must be conscious of the fact that this house,
which enjoys diplomatic privileges, immunities and courtesies, is
a place for dialogue, knowledge and traditions. Here, close to its
rich past, the Pacific of tomorrow, our children's Pacific, is
being built.
[Back to top]
|
]
