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Story: Building trades

Criterion Hotel, Ōamaru

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Criterion Hotel, Ōamaru

The Criterion Hotel in Ōamaru was one of many buildings designed and erected by Thomas Forrester, who was originally a plasterer. In colonial New Zealand a man who had not been trained as an architect might still break into the profession. Forrester progressed from plasterer, to draughtsman working for Dunedin architects, to independent practitioner in Ōamaru in the 1870s.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Building trades – Early construction, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/24682/criterion-hotel-oamaru (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 26 February 2010.