My Space: Petra Zaleski

With its lanes of tall windows framing the trees outside, Maclaurin Chapel is surrounded by nature.

“It’s the light that I love,” says the Reverend Petra Zaleski of the chapel space, which is crowned by an hexagonal ceiling of golden timber. “It has a very organic feel.”

It’s a favourite place for Petra, who is part of a chaplaincy team that also includes a Roman Catholic and a Muslim chaplain.

The chapel, on Princes Street, was constructed following a gift from businessman Sir William Goodfellow. It was built in memory of his son, Lt Richard Maclaurin Goodfellow, a young pilot killed in 1944 while serving with the Fleet Air Arm.

Completed in 1964, the chapel actually bears the name of Richard’s uncle, Richard Cockburn Maclaurin, an alumnus and distinguished mathematician.

Alongside the chapel, the Maclaurin complex includes meeting spaces, a hall and kitchen, making it a regular meeting spot for student groups.

Petra is now in her third year at the chapel, and back at the University where she studied theology (her mother also studied with her). With a background working in social justice and addiction services, she “never thought someone like me could be a vicar”. However, she spent seven years as vicar at St Peter’s, an Anglican church in Onehunga, before coming to the Maclaurin Chapel.

Another of Petra’s favourite spaces in the complex is her office. It’s a little damp, giving it an “op-shop feel”, she says, but she loves the outlook.

On the other side of a wall of windows is a large Canadian oak, its branches spreading low across the ground, cocooning the office space and providing a constant companion.

It gives her a sense of continuity and history, she says. “You watch the seasons move through this tree; right now, it’s full of vibrant green, but then it will be autumnal red and as winter comes its leaves fall off.

“I love trees; the way they communicate with each other through their roots and help each other out, I’m really into that.”

Petra’s vision for the chapel is a space that welcomes the diversity of the University community and provides a place for prayer and contemplation.

Among her recent initiatives are ‘Tea ology’ events, where experts from across the University community, such as Dame Anne Salmond and Mere Roberts, have been invited to share their insights on the sacred in its many forms and across a range of cultural traditions.

It’s one answer, says Petra, to a question she often asks: “How can we translate the contemplative and hospitable aspects of this space to make it welcoming for all?”

– Caitlin Sykes