The site and buildings of Avondale College started as an American Naval Hospital in 1943 – U.S. Naval Mobile Hospital Number 6.
At that time the United States was preparing for an extended World War II battle in the South Pacific, and Auckland was chosen as one of a few New Zealand cities for hospitals to tend the wounded army and naval personnel.

The facility was designed by Tibor Donner (then in the NZ Public Works Department) and was built by Fletcher Construction.
The Department of Education had some of the site planned for a new secondary school to cope with the overcrowding of Auckland secondary schools.
The hospital was given first priority, but a small portion of the buildings were built in permanent materials so that the wards, the gymnasium, the hall and some other buildings could be converted into a school at the end of the war.
The extent of the hospital was huge, taking up all of the present school site as well as the nearby Rosebank Park and fields.

The war in the Pacific did not reach the scale preparations had been made for, and the hospital was not used to care for war casualties.
In February 1945 a single school committee was appointed to supervise the use of the hospital as a school, which was originally named "Avondale Technical High School".
As New Zealand was still virtually operating under war conditions, supplies and orders for the school were delayed.
The site and buildings of Avondale College started as an American Naval Hospital in 1943 – U.S. Naval Mobile Hospital Number 6. At that time the United States was preparing for an extended World War II battle in the South Pacific, and Auckland was chosen as one of a few New Zealand cities for hospitals to tend the wounded army and naval personnel.
The facility was designed by Tibor Donner (then in the NZ Public Works Department) and was built by Fletcher Construction. The Department of Education had some of the site planned for a new secondary school to cope with the overcrowding of Auckland secondary schools. The hospital was given first priority, but a small portion of the buildings were built in permanent materials so that the wards, the gymnasium, the hall and some other buildings could be converted into a school at the end of the war. The extent of the hospital was huge, taking up all of the present school site as well as the nearby Rosebank Park and fields.
The war in the Pacific did not reach the scale preparations had been made for, and the hospital was not used to care for war casualties. In February 1945 a single school committee was appointed to supervise the use of the hospital as a school, which was originally named "Avondale Technical High School". As New Zealand was still virtually operating under war conditions, supplies and orders for the school were delayed.
Avondale College, Auckland