MAURICE AND I

JANE
My father was Maurice Mahoney, the not-so-well-known other half of the ‘iconic’ architectural partnership Warren and Mahoney.
As a child I remember he would often be asked, “Why is it that Miles Warren get’s all the credit? ...all the publicity? ...the recognition? ...the knighthood?”
Maurice’s reply was always the same - genuinely non-plussed, he would brush it off, “Oh, he can have it! I’m quite happy to be in the background. I much prefer it here!” Maurice was shy, modest, hardworking, and a man of few words. In making this film I have come to understand that he was also (he’d be squirming now), a genius.

RICK
I first caught a glimpse of the potential for this documentary back in 2010 when I I had the honour of meeting and interviewing Sir Miles Warren for another project.
It would be fair to say that Sir Miles was then, and arguable still is, New Zealand’s most well-known architect. Over the course of our interview, we talked about the design and build of the Christchurch Town Hall – from its conception in 1966, to its completion in 1972. Throughout the interview Sir Miles regularly prefaced his statements with “Maurice and I…” this, and “Maurice and I…” that. It soon became apparent that this remarkable building wasn’t the achievement of just one man but was very much a collaboration between Sir Miles and his much less well-known partner, the somewhat enigmatic Maurice Mahoney (and as I now know, the eminent acoustician Sir Harold Marshall).
I was intrigued to find out more about this ‘silent partner’ who had clearly played a key role in bringing Sir Miles’ creative visions to life. Soon after this initial interview with Sir Miles, the Christchurch Town Hall story was to take an unexpected twist.

JANE
On 22 Feb 2011, in less than forty seconds, the people of Christchurch had their lives turned upside down. The 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck at 12.53pm on a Tuesday. It was shallow, incredibly powerful and centred close to the city's CBD.
In its aftermath it was difficult to find anyone in Christchurch who hadn’t been badly affected – whether through physical injury, trauma or bereavement. A huge proportion of the population were displaced and/or were faced with repairing or rebuilding their homes - dealing the inevitable insurance woes and myriad complications for years to come.
While grappling with our personal losses we were also dealing with the hugely disorientating loss of our central city. Over 1800 buildings in the CBD were demolished, landmarks gone, and with them the embedded memories of a shattered community.
I had been working at an advertising agency at the time of the earthquake but a couple of years later I found myself in the middle of ‘the action’, working at the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), the government agency tasked with coordinating the rebuild of our city, infrastructure and communities.
My role in the communications and marketing team was to oversee the production of a variety of documentary projects about rebuild, and various community-led recovery initiatives.

RICK
It was in this setting that I first met Jane. My company, Belmont, was commissioned to produce some of her CERA projects. Discovering that she was Maurice Mahoney’s daughter, I had mentioned my idea of a documentary about the Christchurch Town Hall. By that time the Town Hall’s fate hung in the balance – having sustained major damage to its foundations the ‘powers that be’ were preparing for its demolition.
Then in 2018 Jane popped into the studio to let me know that Maurice had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was expected to only last a few months. This was our cue to stop talking and get started! Wasting no time, we launched into filming interviews with Maurice at his home, and with Sir Miles and Maurice together at Miles’ home Ohinetahi – it was to be their final interview together, Maurice died only a couple of months later in October 2018.
Without knowing at that stage what form the film would take, we continued gathering interviews over the ensuing months, with those who had been involved in the original Christchurch Town Hall build – Sir Harold Marshall and Barry Dacombe – through to those who had lobbied for its restoration post-earthquake.

JANE
As our cast of characters grew, each bringing their own experiences and insights, it soon became clear that this story was so much more than the story of a successful architectural practice, and more than the story of the fate of a significant building hanging in the balance.
MAURICE AND I explores the universal themes of respect, love and loss. It's a story of the creative power of true partnership, of craft, passion and innovation, and the transformative power of architecture.
On a personal level, it has been incredibly satisfying to shine a light on my father Maurice and his essential contribution to the Warren and Mahoney partnership. In life he was content to work away in the shadows, more than happy for Miles to be the frontman and take the accolades ...but it’s Maurice’s name in lights this time.