Arco House

• 1908
• Building constructed by James Trevor and Sons. (00053:145:8060)
• 1933
• Sign erected. (00056:140:B12650)
• 1954
• Major alterations to a design by Architect William J. McKeon - window sashes
• 1954
• altered, roof replaced, parapet reduced, new lift installed and pediment removed. (00056:477:B359664)
• 1978
• Opening between 1st floor party-wall with adjacent 49 Cuba created (00058:1164:C50142)
• 1979
• 2nd floor tearoom altered. (00058:1196:C51361)
• 1989
• Business additions and alterations – shop, including a new street entrance. (00059:315:E18109)
• 1994
• Seismic strengthening to basement, ground floor and first floor.
• 1994
• Undertaken by Dunning Thornton Consultants. (00060:161:5888)
• 1994
• Verandah added . (00060:161:5889)
• 2001
• New entry to basement, alterations to the ground floor and 1st & 2nd floors.
• 2001
• Shop front altered. (00078:1451:77346)

• 1910 - 1925
• Lawrence & Hanson, electrical engineers & importers.
• 1915 - 1925
• McPhee & Co, woollen warehousemen.
• 1940 - 1955
• Sutherland & Wilkinson, motor engineers & garage.
• 1940 - 1951
• Zip-Heaters Ltd
• 1955 - 1990
• Cocks & Co, wholesale opticians, jewellers & importers.

Not assessed

Arco House was designed as an Edwardian Stripped Classical commercial building comprising of three storeys above ground plus a basement. The building was adapted in the mid 1950s and became the retail outlet and workshop for a manufacturing jeweller and optician/lens grinder.

The parapet appears to have been altered in circa 1953 when the original parapet, with a simple unadorned pediment, was replaced with a horizontal band with raised lettering forming the words ‘ARCO HOUSE’. There are two rectangular rainwater ‘hoppers’ at each end of the dentilled cornice that connect to what appears to be modern PVC rainwater pipes. The large windows to the street façade are set out symmetrically with two wide central windows flanked by a tall / narrow window all of which are set over recessed panels. The windows and panels on the first floor are slightly shorter than those on the ground, and this was perhaps designed deliberately to give an optical illusion of increased height, although this subtlety is not shown on the original plans. The windows on the first and second floor appear to have been replaced in 1953 when the building was refurbished to form the show rooms, offices, workshops and warehouse for ‘Arco House’.

The ground floor shop front and entrance to the offices above have since been much altered and the glazed verandah is an intrusive modern intervention. 

Probably brick masonry with applied render over; the original floor between ground and basement appears to have been concrete; the floors above appear to have been timber joists spanning onto steel structural beams supported by cast iron columns; the roof structure appears to be a timber roof truss. A site visit is required to verify.

Arco House is a carefully proportioned Stripped Classical building that, because of its scale, form and proportion and its deeply-recessed windows, sits comfortably with its more elaborate neighbours. It is unfortunate that the building’s poorly designed modern glass verandah detracts somewhat from its streetscape quality.

Arco House is located in Block 1 of the Cuba Street Heritage Area and this first block of Cuba Street is also the tallest, with buildings between three and eight stories high (the median height is expressed by the five storey James Smiths building). Although the street is widest in this block, the proportions of the tall buildings create a strong sense of enclosure to the street, in contrast to the more open aspect of the other parts of the street. Most of the buildings in this block have attached verandahs, some original, which come in a variety of styles, do not conform to any continuous elevation line, and contribute to a general visual untidiness in the lower part of the streetscape. This street-level clutter has, however, been improved by the recent alterations to the landscaping of lower Cuba Street including the removal of the plethora of bus shelters directly in front of the former James Smith department store building.

• 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?

  Arco House is an Edwardian Stripped Classical commercial building that was adapted in the mid-1950s as a retail unit, and warehouse for a manufacturing jeweller and optician/lens grinder. The street façade has little applied decoration, when compared with its neighbour at 41 – 43 Cuba Street, but the building has value as a good ‘transition-piece’ between the elaborate Edwardian building to its north and the modern curtain wall former James Smith department store to its south.

• Group

  Is the item part of a group of buildings, structures, or sites that taken together have coherence because of their age, history, style, scale, materials, or use?

  The building makes a positive contribution to the Cuba Street Heritage Area.

• 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 lower Cuba Street, and the proportions and scale which provide a good counterpoint to the buildings around it.

• Association

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

  The building retains a historic association with James Trevor and Co., a successful building firm in late 19^th and early 20^th century Wellington, and Arthur Cocks & Co. a now defunct wholesale jeweller, optician and importer, for which the building was renamed in the 1950s.

  
  

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important historic event, theme, pattern, phase, or activity?

  The building is associated with the development of commerce in Cuba Street in the Edwardian era partly due to the introduction of electric trams to the city centre.

• 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?

  The building façade above ground floor level has had few intrusive or unsympathetic alterations over the past 100 years and makes a positive contribution to the sense of place and continuity of the Cuba Street Heritage Area.

• 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 façade above verandah level has had relatively few alterations since the building was refurbished in the 1950s 

• Local Regional National International

  Is the item important for any of the above characteristics at a local, regional, national, or international level?

  This building is of local importance for its contribution to the Cuba Street Heritage Area.

• Representative

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

  The building is a good representative example of a stripped Classical commercial building. 

Not assessed

• CT WN 92/231, Land Information New Zealand
• CT WN 373/163, Land Information New Zealand
• Gerathy, Greta. “Cocks, Sir Arthur Alfred Clement (1862–1943)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography. Accessed June 20, 2012.
• Kelly, Michael and Russell Murray, Cuba Street Heritage Area Report. Wellington City Council: Unpublished report, prepared for Plan Change 48, 2006.
• Stones Street Directory – 1910/11, 1915/16, 1920, 1925, 1940 and 1945.
• Wellington City Council, Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 1995. Wellington City Council, 1995.
• Wises Street Directory – 1950/51, 1955, 1961/62, 1967/68, 1971/72, 1975 and 1990.
• “Obituary”, Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2461, 14 May 1915, Page 7.
• 45-47 Cuba Street - building”, 27 April 1908, 00053:145:8060, Wellington City Archives.
• “45-47 Cuba Street, erect sign”, 10 Oct 1933, 00056:140:B12650, Wellington City Archives.
• “45-47 Cuba Street - alterations & renovations to building”, April 5, 1954, 0056:477:B35964, Wellington City Archives.
• “45-47 Cuba Street, proposed opening - 1st floor between Arco House and James Smith”, 30 Aug 1978, 00058:1164:C50142, Wellington City Archives.
• “45-47 Cuba Street, alterations to tearoom - 2nd floor”, 23 Mar 1979, 00058:1196:C51361, Wellington City Archives.
• 45 Cuba Street, business additions and alterations – shop”, 1989, 00059:315:E18109, Wellington City Archives.
• “45-47 Cuba Street, strengthening”, 21 Jul 1994, 00060:161:5888, Wellington City Archives. “45-47 Cuba Street, strengthening”, 21 Jul 1994, 00060:161:5888, Wellington City Archives.
• “45-47 Cuba Street, verandah”, 21 Jul 1994, 00060:161:5889, Wellington City Archives.
• 45-47 Cuba Street, Sign”, 1 Nov 1995, 00061:154:14958, Wellington City Archives
• 45-47 Cuba Street, additions and alterations”, 2001, 00078:1451:77346, Wellington City Archives.

• Inventory Report
• 1908 plans
• 1953 plans
• 1989 plans
• 1994 plans
• 2001 plans

Not available