Isaac Luck was a New Zealand architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 born in 1817 in Oxford, England. A professional builder, he arrived in Lyttelton

Lyttelton, New Zealand

Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....

 on the Steadfast in 1851. Luck co-designed with his brother-in-law and business partner Benjamin Mountfort

Benjamin Mountfort

Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of that country's most prominent 19th century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch's unique architectural identity and culture, and was appointed the first official Provincial...

 Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings in Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

 between 1858 and 1865. The council building is considered to be the finest Gothic building in the southern hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

. Luck and Mountfort formed their partnership circa 1857 when they made a bid to gain the contract for designing Government House, Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

.

In 1861 the duo designed the Christchurch Club which was probably New Zealand’s first club

Club

A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...

. Luck seems to have been the less dominant half of the partnership as credit for their joint work is generally given to the better known Mountfort.

Like Mountfort, Luck was committed to the Gothic revival style, particularly when adherent to the Anglo-Catholic, Oxford Movement

Oxford Movement

The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...

 ideals inspired by such architects as Augustus Pugin

Augustus Pugin

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was an English architect, designer, and theorist of design, now best remembered for his work in the Gothic Revival style, particularly churches and the Palace of Westminster. Pugin was the father of E. W...

 and Richard Cromwell Carpenter

Richard Cromwell Carpenter

Richard Cromwell Carpenter was an English architect. He is chiefly remembered as an ecclesiastical and tractarian architect working in the Gothic style.-Family:...

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