Pharmacy Building

• 1931
• Building constructed. (00056:111:B10141)
• 1967
• Building alterations. (00058:493:C21229 and 00058:512:C22116)
• 1971
• Building alterations – partitions. (00058:736:C33356)
• 1994
• Conversion to apartments. (00061:4:10090 and00060:100:3652)
• 1995
• Penthouse apartment alterations and alterations to level 1. (00061:85:12633 and 00061:87:12719)
• 1996
• Alterations. (00061:317:17552)
• 1998
• Internal alterations to kitchen and bathroom. (00078:282:46518)
• unknown
• Hair dressing salon. (00078:145:47644)
• 2000
• New signage. (00078:637:71861)
• 2001
• New signage amendment. (00078:637:72543)
• 2009
• Alterations to plumbing layout. (00078:2746:128477)

• unknown
• The building’s occupation history is characterised by several long term tenants with close associations to the medical and pharmaceutical fields and an assortment of other small businesses who have occupied rooms in the building for briefer periods of time.
• 1932 - 1983
• The more permanent occupants included the Chemists Defence Association of New Zealand (1949–1983), the New Zealand College of Pharmacy (1936–1968) and an Urgent Pharmacy (1948-1982). The building’s owners, The Pharmacy Board of New Zealand occupied rooms in the building from 1932-1983.
• 1933 - 1942
• Music Teachers Registration Board
• 1936 - 1968
• New Zealand College of Pharmacy
• 9148 - 1982
• Urgent Pharmacy
• 1932 - 1983
• The building’s owners, The Pharmacy Board of New Zealand occupied rooms in the building from 1932-1983.
• 1933 - 1942
• Music Teachers Registration Board
• 1953 - 1957
• A store for the Power-Samas Accounting Machines
• 1967 - 1968
• Rothman’s Tobacco merchants
• 1975 - 1979
• There was also been two food and beverage vendors – between 1975 and 1979 the Cambridge Milk Bar and Coffee Bar, and from 1979 the Cambridge TakeAways

Not assessed

The Pharmacy Building is a three-storey building constructed in reinforced-concrete. The exterior facades, especially the Cambridge Terrace frontage, show a restrained Art Deco influence. The fluting of the parapet, with grooves on each side below, is an example of an Art Deco motif, as are the rendered mouldings under the second-floor windows and the chevron-faceted glazing bars on the middle windows.

The whole of the structure, including foundations, walls, beams, columns and floor, are reinforced concrete. Interior timber framing is rimu. The roof is corrugated mild steel/iron on timber trusses that span the full width of the building.

The original plans reveal that this was intended to be a multi-functional building. On the ground floor, provision was made for two shops, with a main entrance corridor along one side of the building. This led to a small dispensary, with a public space and waiting room. The back of this floor held a store room and a small two bedroom flat. As it was not uncommon for proprietors to live adjacent to, or above, retail premises, this flat may have been hired to one of the shop owners. Above the flat, on the mezzanine level, there was a board room, general office and library for the use of the Pharmacy Board. The first floor held a lecture room, with a supper room and servery attached, and the second floor held a laboratory.[1]

Reinforced concrete structure, plaster cornices. Scagliola marble dado, Grey Nelson marble skirting.

The interior timber framing is rimu. The roof is corrugated mild steel/iron on timber trusses.

The Pharmacy Building sits within a block that is generally comprised of two-storey, commercial buildings. It is located between AdPrint Ltd, a commercial printer, and the Oriental Thai Restaurant. It sits on Cambridge Terrace, a busy road that links Wellington to the Basin Reserve and from there to the western suburbs.

Directly opposite the Pharmacy Building, situated on the median strip between Kent and Cambridge Terraces, and just a short walk from the Greek Orthodox Cathedral, is a memorial to Greek and New Zealand Servicemen who served in Greece during World War II.

On either side of the memorial, on the median, are a strip of trees which partially block the view, on the other side of Kent Terrace, of a two-storey Toyota car dealership and their sprawling car yard, and a three-storey Beaurepairs.

Also with a close association to the medical field, and within sight of the Pharmacy Building, is Elliott House (HPT Category I).

The Cambridge Pharmacy adds visual interest to the Cambridge Terrace frontage with restrained Art Deco facades that contribute to the stylistic mix of the area.

• Architectural

  Does the item have architectural or artistic value for characteristics that may include its design, style, era, form, scale, materials, colour, texture, patina of age, quality of space, craftsmanship, smells, and sounds?

  The Pharmacy Building is a three-storey commercial building constructed in a restrained Art Deco style. The Art Deco decorative elements including the fluted parapet, the rendered mouldings under the second-floor windows and the chevron-faceted glazing bars on the middle windows all contribute to the street presence of this building.

• Townscape

  Does the item have townscape value for the part it plays in defining a space or street; providing visual interest; its role as a landmark; or the contribution it makes to the character and sense of place of Wellington?

  The building makes a positive contribution to the otherwise (generally) bland commercial streetscape of Kent Terrace.

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important person, group, or organisation?

  The Pharmacy Building was constructed for the Pharmacy Board of New Zealand and it has some historic value for its association with the Board which owned the building for 44 years. There is also some historic value for the range of uses- retail, living, board room and library- that the building originally housed.

• Archaeological

  Does the item have archaeological value for its ability to provide scientific information about past human activity?

  There was pre-1900 human activity on this site.  Although some of the sites have been altered by rebuilding or landscaping or subdivisional change, there is archaeological value in the immediate surrounds.

• Identity Sense of Place Continuity

  Is the item a focus of community, regional, or national identity? Does the item contribute to sense of place or continuity?

  There have been few intrusive modern alterations or additions to the street façade over the past 80 years and the building makes a strong contribution to the sense of place and continuity of Kent Terrace.

• Authentic

  Does the item have authenticity or integrity because it retains significant fabric from the time of its construction or from later periods when important additions or modifications were carried out?

  The building is an authentic example of the Art Deco style and period, with little change to the facade above verandah level.

• Representative

  Is the item a good example of the class it represents?

  The building is a representative example of an Art Deco building and features a restrained palette of decorative elements.

Not assessed

• CT WN 6/1, Land Information New Zealand
• CT WN 45D/274, Land Information New Zealand
• Historic Places Trust, “Stanley Fearn”, Professional Biographies, Accessed: August 2012,
• Wellington City Council, Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 2001: Non-Residential Buildings. Wellington City Council, 2001.
• Wises Street Directories, 1932, 1933, 1942, 1948, 1949, 1953, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1975, 1979, 1982, and 1983.
• “New Building for the Pharmacy Board”, Evening Post, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1 July 1931.
• “Page 3 Advertisements Column 3”, Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 133, 7 June 1935.
• “Page 24 Advertisements Column 7”, Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 144, 15 December 1932.
• ‘Pharmacy Building’, Evening Post, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1 July 1931.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace – building”, 1930, 00056:111:B10141, Wellington City Archives.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, building alterations”, February 9, 1967, 00058:493:C21229,
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, building alterations – shop”, June 29, 1967, 00058:512:C22116, Wellington City Archives.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, building alterations – partitions”, 1971, 00058:736:C33356, Wellington City Archives.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, conversion to apartments”, 1994, 00061:4:10090, Wellington City Archives.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, convert into apartments”, June 30, 1994, 00060:100:3652
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, penthouse apartment alterations”, 1995, 00061:85:12633, Wellington City Archives.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, alterations level 1”, June 23, 1995, 00061:87:12719, Wellington City Archives.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace”, 1996, 00061:317:17552, Wellington City Archives.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, hair dressing salon”, 1998, 00078:145:47644, Wellington City Archives.
• “59/8 Cambridge Terrace, internal alterations to kitchen and bathroom”, 1998, 00078:282:46518, Wellington City Archives.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, new signage”, 2000, 00078:637:71861, Wellington City Archives.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, new signage, amendment”, 2001, 00078:637:72543, Wellington City Archives.
• “59 Cambridge Terrace, alterations to plumbing layout”, 2009, 00078:2746:128477, Wellington City Archives.

• Inventory Report
• 1930 plans

Not available