Wellington Trades' Hall Building

• 1927
• Building (00056:44:B4341)
• 1942
• Air raid shelter (00056:277:B22351)
• 1957
• Building alterations (00058:43:C2193)
• 1957
• Reinstate verandah (00058:44:C2238)
• 1977
• Business additions and alterations (00058:1084:C46926)
• 1984
• Reinstate foyer (00058:0:C65350)
• 1990
• Demolition of office building (00059:361:E19433)
• 1991
• Building additions and alterations (00059:479:E23126)

• 1927
• Wellington Trades and Labour Council

Not assessed

The Wellington Trades Hall is a neo-Classical building in design, but it is something of a transitional design in that Stripped Classical influences are also evident, which give the building an austere appearance, particularly in the upper floors of the middle section. The building was constructed in two parts, joined by a concrete bridge at first-floor level, although the rear building has now gone.

The three storey Vivian Street facade is fairly intact with only minor ornamental detail, such as acroteria and plaster mouldings, removed. Both the base and the flanking ‘wings’ are rusticated with recessed spandrels below the upper windows and a plain entablature capped by a shallow parapet.

The main feature of note is the handsome detail around the central entrance. The doors are set into a semi-circular arch which is rusticated and extends to form a plinth for the window detail on the floor above. This window has been designed as an aedicule, with flanking Doric columns supporting an open-bed triangular pediment and stylized keystone. The dado has a crest bearing the letters ‘1929,’ and below it these words are engraved: ‘LABOR OMNIA VINCIT,’ ‘Labour Conquers All.’

Despite its relatively plain style, the building has been designed to reflect the status of the Labour movement and the solidarity of the working man.

An important internal feature is the central light well and staircase in the front building. Some of the shop fronts have retained their original fenestration.

Reinforced concrete walls

Steel columns, stanchions and beams

Timber roof structure

The Trades Hall building is located on the northern side of Vivian Street on the block between Taranaki Street and Marion Street. It is surrounded by an eclectic collection of buildings of various ages and styles. Adjoining the eastern side of the building is the Briscoes store, a modern low lying building which occupies the corner of Vivian Street and Taranaki Street. On the western side of the building there stands a 1960s era office building which has been refurbished to contain apartments. Across from the hall, on the southern side of Vivian Street and the corner of Knigge’s Ave, stands a modern apartment building. The small park in front of the Massey University Schools of Architecture and Design building (situated to the south west of the Trades Hall) allows for an open space to view the 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?

  The Trades Hall is a distinguished if austere three storey neo-Classical building. The essential decorative elements are simple and restrained with the exception of the elaborate aedicule window over the central entrance door.

• 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 size and breadth of Trades Hall and its Classical facade dominate Vivian Street in the vicinity of the Taranaki Street intersection.

• Association

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

  The building has significant historic value for its association with the Trade and Labour Council, the New Zealand Labour Party and the many unions that have used its facilities since 1927. The building was, for many years, the heart of union activities in Wellington and is still largely used for its original purpose. 

• Association

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

  The building was constructed during the 1920s, a time when union membership was at its strongest, and the building demonstrates the confidence and ambition of the labour movement in Wellington during this period. The building has been the site of many union related disputes and played a role in the 1951 Waterfront Dispute. The building was also the site of the 27 March 1984 Trades Hall bombing which killed the caretaker Ernie Abbot. 

• Archaeological

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

  The building is located in the Central City archaeological site reference NZAA R27/270.

• 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 many years the building has stood as the home of Wellington’s labour movement has given it a strong identity to unionists. Its continued presence in Vivian Street maintains that connection amidst the considerable changes in workplace relations in the past 40 years.

• Sentiment Connection

  Is the item a focus of community sentiment and connection?

  Along with union members who have sentimental connection with the building, it was also the site of the unsolved murder of Ernie Abbott, an event that many unionists perceived as an attack on the labour movement, although no motive was ever uncovered. The building is a permanent shrine to the scene of the bombing.

• Symbolic Commemorative Traditional Spiritual

  Does the item have symbolic, commemorative, traditional, spiritual or other cultural value for the community who has used and continues to use it?

  As the spiritual home of the local union movement, the building is of symbolic importance to members of the various unions that have used the building over its history.

• 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 has retained a significant amount of its original fabric therefore it has authenticity.

• Local Regional National International

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

  The building is important on both a local and national level due to the role it has played in the history of the union movement (in both Wellington and wider New Zealand), as well as for its association with the New Zealand Labour Party. It was the site of a bombing that killed one person, a very rare event in New Zealand history.

• Rare

  Is the item rare, unique, unusual, seminal, influential, or outstanding?

  The building is rare to the extent that it is the only trades hall in Wellington.

Not assessed

• Cranko Architects. ‘Conservation plan for Wellington Trades Hall Council Incorporated.’ Cranko Architects, 2010.
• Grigg, Stevan Eldred. New Zealand Working People 1890-1990. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 1990.
• ‘LABOUR PARTY.’ From An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 22-Apr-09. Accessed 21 August 2012.
• Schrader, Ben. 'Parades and protest marches - Protest marches, 1890 to 1951.' Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 26-Nov-10. Accessed 25 September 2012.
• Wellington City Council. ‘124-128 Vivian Street.’ Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 2001: Non-Residential Buildings. Wellington City Council, 2001. CUBA53.
• Yska, Redmer. Wellington: biography of a city. Auckland: Reed, 2006.
• Newspapers: Evening Post. Volume CV, Issue 37. 15 February 1928, Page 11.

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