Lillian Chrystall

Lillian Jessie Chrystall OBE (née Laidlaw; born 1 March 1926) is a New Zealand architect.[1] She was the first woman to receive a national New Zealand Institute of Architects award.[2]

Biography

Chrystall was born and raised in Auckland, and attended Bayfield School in Herne Bay as a child, followed by Auckland Girls' Grammar School. She studied architecture at the University of Auckland and after graduating was appointed the School of Architecture's first woman instructor.[1] From 1950 to 1954, Chrystall worked in England and France, then returned to New Zealand and started her own architecture practice, Lillian Laidlaw Architects. In the late 1950s her husband joined the practice and the business was re-named Chrystall Architects.[1]

Chrystall also served on community organisations and was a founding member of the Auckland Zonta Club.[3] She was the first woman on the Board of Trustees at the Auckland Savings Bank (ASB) and in 1983 became the first female President of the ASB Board.[2][3][4]

Recognition

In 1967 Chrystall won a Bronze Medal from the New Zealand Institute of Architects for the Yock House in Ngāpuhi Road, Remuera, which she had designed in 1964.[2] In 2013 she received an Enduring Architecture Award in the Auckland Architecture Awards for the same building.[5] Architecture + Women New Zealand named one of their annual excellence awards, the Chrystall Excellence Award, in her honour.[6]

In the 1989 New Year Honours, Chrystall was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for public services.[2][3][7]

Personal life

Chrystall married David Chrystall, also an architect.[1] The couple had three children.[3]

References
  1. "Mid-century gem by pioneering female architect Lillian Chrystall up for sale". Stuff. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  2. "A+W NZ Interview with Lillian Chrystall | Architecture + Women NZ". www.architecturewomen.org.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  3. "Prominent Member History: Lillian Chrystal". Zonta International District 16. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  4. "ASB Bank | Business History | Timeline". www.businesshistory.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  5. "NZIA Auckland Region awards announced". Architecture Now. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  6. "Chrystall Excellence Award | Architecture + Women NZ". architecturewomen.org.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  7. "No. 51580". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 31 December 1988. p. 34.
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