Basil Spence's first pencil impression of the Beehive

This is the first pencil impression of the Beehive concept in Sir Basil Spence's notebook.

In the 1960s the government decided to complete Parliament House, which had only been partly built between 1912 and 1922. Prime Minister Keith Holyoake had wanted to complete the original plan, but the government architect persuaded him to put up a modern building. The British architect Sir Basil Spence was rumoured to have whipped up his design for what would be known as the Beehive on the back of a napkin during dinner with Holyoake in 1964. However it came about, the rough design got a mixed reception when it was unveiled in the House in August 1964. One opposition Labour MP, Basil Arthur said it was 'a shocker and should be scrapped', but the Labour leader Arnold Nordmeyer praised it. Both parties hoped that a new building might 'become a source of national pride and international interest'. The government architect who got the job of turning Spence's sketch into something practical may have been less happy; it was not easy to make efficient use of a circular design with a central 'drum' core, and today, strangers to the Beehive easily lose their bearings.