Building the Bath House

“Dr A.S. Wohlmann is very anxious to at once proceed with the inauguration of a new era of things at Rotorua, and proposes that immediate steps be taken to construct a new bath house.”
T.E. Donne, Superintendent, Dept of Tourist and Health Resorts, 1902.

“The building site selected is almost ideal. Close to the centre of town, with a large open lawn in front, gay flower-beds, lakelets and winding paths, a belt of trees behind hiding the springs and mud pools, beyond this the blue expanse of Lake Rotorua, and circling all the green and russet and purple hills.”
A.S. Wohlmann to T.E.Donne, 1902

taking-the-cure-story-2-2 In 1901 responsibility for the spa and the administration of the small town of Rotorua was taken over by the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts and in 1902 they appointed Arthur Stanley Wohlmann as the first Government Balneologist.

By late 1902 plans had been drawn up by Wohlmann and the Inspector of Works for the Tourist Department, architect B.S. Corlett, for a grand new bath house. W.J. Trigg assisted and J.W. Wrigley helped complete plans. The successful tenderer was W. Hutchinson of Auckland with a bid of £25 750 pounds.

Wohlmann urged that the “homely timbered buildings of Nauheim [Germany]” be imitated rather than “the cold glory of [English] marble palaces.”

taking-the-cure-story-2-3 Building techniques were innovative. Lightweight and probably revolutionary pumice concrete slabs were prefabricated for walls, and barbed wire was embedded to reinforce walls and floors. The building sits on 1.8m high arches made of pumice concrete, which give ventilation and easy access to pipes and drains. Kauri, totara, matai and puriri were milled and used in the project.

taking-the-cure-story-2-4 Initial plans (never completed) included eight deep baths, 12 mud baths and 42 shallow baths along with large massage and Turkish baths, two electrical bathrooms, and four vapour and hot air rooms.

Equipment purchased by Dr Wohlmann was varied and modern. Given a free hand in its selection, he purchased up-to-date hydrotherapy products and experimented with bath design, tile types and colours.

Despite disagreements over design between Wohlmann and Corlett and disputes over materials, the building was ready to open on 31 May 1908.

taking-the-cure-story-2-5 Arthur Stanley Wohlmann

M.D. Lon.,L.R.C.P., B.Sc.(Hons), M.R.C.S., Eng
The drive and vision of the first Government Balneologist, Arthur Stanley Wohlmann, are all-important in the story of the Bath House.

After graduating from Guy’s Hospital, London in 1891, Wohlmann worked for several years at the Royal Mineral Water Hospital in Bath, England.

In 1902 he arrived in Rotorua faced with the challenging task of improving spa facilities in Rotorua, and assessing other spas throughout New Zealand. Within a year he had prepared a concept that “would do credit to the most famous spas in Europe”.*

Until 1919, when he and his family returned to England, Wohlmann maintained an enthusiasm for his job and an ardent belief in the benefits of thermal waters. He wrote a number of authoritative books on the subject.

Wohlmann responded to anti-German prejudice during the First World War by changing his name to Herbert. From 1920 until his retirement he practised privately in Kensington, London.

Arthur Stanley Herbert died on March 3rd 1944 aged 77.

*Source of quote: Balneologist’s report to Department of Tourist & Health Resorts, 1907

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Building the Bath House