McGavin House and Surgery (Former)

• 1886
• Land transferred to Agnes Paul
• 1906
• Land transferred to Donald Johnstone McGavin of Wellington Medical Practitioner
• 1907
• Order council No 268 produced 12th June 1907 regarding the building line for Ghuznee Street
• 1908
• Order in Council 1077 appeared to exempt the property from section 117 of the Public Works Act
• 1920
• Lease granted to Ernest William Giesen for five years from August 1919
• 1926
• Order in Council 1194 varied the conditions of the building line
• 1947
• Land transfer from Donald Johnstone McGavin to the New Zealand Red Cross.
• 1956
• The New Zealand Red Cross purchased the adjacent property at 119 Ghuznee Street
• 1958
• The NZ Red Cross sold the property at 119 Ghuznee Street to Boots the Chemist (NZ) Ltd and this produced CT788/98
• 1976
• The Red Cross Building was to be demolished to make way for the Wellington motorway extension
• 1978
• Decision that the Ghuznee Street motorway off-ramp should bypass the building, this was due in part because the building was designated as a place of local importance by both the NZHPT & the WCC
• 1979
• The Red Cross repainted and redecorated the building, and this was due in part to its reprieve from demolition.
• 1981
• The Red Cross Building was auctioned with a GV of $80,000, but passed in at $160,000.
• 1981
• Land transferred from the NZ Red Cross to Brian Stanley Alexander Merchant Banker and CT 21D/930 issued. Newspaper reports of the time state that Mitchell & Mitchell Partners (originally Atkins and Bacon who prepared the working drawings for the building) and Waygood Engineering purchased the property. This was possibly under the name of Historic Properties Ltd who purchased the land and building in 1982.
• 1995
• Property Feature. BUILDING HERITAGE ITEM (DISTRICT PLAN): Details migrated from RHS #885, (Restrictions and Hazards System - RHS System 1991-2006) on 28-06-2006 SR9200885.
• 1998
• Transfer of title from Historic Properties Ltd to new owners and an encumbrance to WCC – 18 year term. There was a WCC Earthquake Building Risk fund grant of $22,375.00 inc GST. The building was then to be strengthened to two thirds of the current (1998) NZS 1900 chapter 8. The building owners are currently required to maintain the building, including the exterior facades, in a good state of repair as part of the terms of the encumbrance.
• 2010
• Bdg StrengthInv. Notice Exp 18/01/2025. Section 124 Notice Issued SR168628.

Not assessed

Not assessed

This two-storey building has been designed in a deliberate historicist manner – “a consistent and accurate copy of the Tudor style.” It has been described as the best example of this style in Wellington, and, according to Charles Fearnley, one of the finest in the country. It was built at a time when revivalist style buildings were particularly popular and was designed by an architect known for his ability and skill in the use of historical styles.

The original external finish of the building is unclear. The architect’s drawings note a painted render finish, but early photographs of the building appear to show that the building exterior was either originally constructed in facing brick or that the render was unpainted / painted a mid-tone colour. The brick was rendered and painted the current bright-white colour in circa 1944. The upper storeys are half-timbered in the manner of 15th and 16th century Tudor houses and this half timbering is structural as well as decorative, with the spaces between the timber members filled with facing brickwork. Other features of the Tudor style include leadlight windows, shallow bay windows, and a slightly projecting upper floor with exposed beams. There has been a clear attempt to be accurate with details. For example, the massive timber framework is held together with wooden pegs, and the lead rainwater head has had the date beaten into it.

The foundation construction is on concrete footings and concrete piles. Internal partitions and roof framing are of timber, and roof is clad in corrugated iron. The roof is double pitched, with a turret in the north-east corner and two gables on Ghuznee Street The interior features varnished plaster, with delicately carved wood panelling and shallow arches over doorways. The west wing of the building is lower than the main structure and originally contained servants. and service quarters. There have been some modifications to internal walls.

This highly visible building gives the Willis Street/Ghuznee Street corner a very real sense of character, and has been a landmark there for over ninety years.

Concrete piled foundation.

Rendered brick walls with decorative timber facings

Although once a residential / medical precinct, the immediate area surrounding the Willis and Ghuznee Street intersection has become more relentlessly commercial and industrialised over the years. The most significant heritage building in this area is the extremely fine timber gothic St Peter’s Church (1879) by Thomas Turnbull. Further along Ghuznee Street is the inter-war styled stripped Classical former Nestle building (1931-32) at 103 Ghuznee Street.

Ghuznee Street was once one of the busiest streets in Wellington’s CBD but the area has benefitted significantly from the extension of the motorway off-ramp to Vivian Street, and the vestigial remains of the earlier off-ramp can be seen as an asphalted “road-to-nowhere” near entrance to the pedestrian pathway to McDonald Terrace.

Upper Willis Street was once Wellington’s equivalent of London’s Harley Street and the doctor’s houses, consulting rooms and hospitals originally constructed in the area include:

• Dr Henry Pollen’s house and surgery at 12 Boulcott Street
• Sir Donald McGavin’s house and surgery at 200 Willis Street
• Dr Chapple’s house and surgery at the corner of Dixon and Willis Street (1891) by Thomas Turnbull and Son (now demolished)
• The former Children’s Dental Clinic at 254 Willis Street
• Dr Ewart’s house and surgery at 279 Willis Street (now the Papua New Guinea High Commission)
• An obstetric hospital at 278 Willis Street / Dr Levy’s maternity home (the building was relocated to 130A Abel Smith Street and the site at 278 Willis Street is now occupied by a relocated commercial building WCC ref 16/355/2]PC⁶³ ).

• 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?

  200 Willis Street is a good example of an Edwardian Tudor-style building designed William Turnbull, a prominent local architect known for his skill in the design of revivalist buildings.

• 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 forms part of the background to the superb timber Gothic St Peter’s Church and brings a human scale to the busy Willis and Ghuznee Street intersection that is otherwise typified by large, modern commercial buildings.

• 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 with its distinctive black and white colour-scheme, eight sided corner tower and prominent gables, is a local landmark that once signalled the transition between the end of the motorway and the beginning of the Wellington CBD.

• Association

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

  The building has a strong historic association with Sir Donald McGavin a well respected surgeon who was knighted for his work in WWI and was used as his surgery and residence. The building also has an association with the New Zealand Red Cross, and with the United Industries Club, an organisation set up to provide facilities to young women who worked in industry as part of the “war effort” in WWII.

• 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 building has survived for over 100 years with few intrusive modern alterations or additions and makes a strong positive contribution to the sense of place and continuity of Willis & Ghuznee Streets.

• 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 former Red Cross building, despite the render/paint coatings applied in circa 1944 has had few modern or intrusive alterations or additions and retains most of the original building fabric.

• Representative

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

  The former Red Cross building is a good representative example of revivalist architecture. The details of the style are accurately reproduced in the building, the interior has quality finishes, and is in authentic condition.

Not assessed

• Cochran C. et al 1978, ‘Red Cross Building Heritage Assessment’, Wellington Regional Committee, NZHPT
• Cochran C. 1991, ‘Turnbull House Conservation Plan’, Department of Conservation, Wellington
• Margaret Tennant, The fabric of welfare: voluntary organisations, government and welfare in New Zealand, 1840–2005. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2007
• NZHPT classification proposal for the building (1990).
• Images
• Alexander Turnbull Library image collection
• Auckland Weekly News 03 MARCH 1937 from the Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19370303-47-7
• Carbery, D. The New Zealand Medical Service in the Great War 1914-1918.Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1924, Auckland
• Googlemaps
• Pascoe, John Dobree, 1908-1972: Photographic albums, prints and negatives. Willis St, Wellington Ref: 1/4-000821-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
• WCC Archives original plans and building permit ref 00053_141_7873
• Newspapers and periodicals
• Bush Advocate, 31 March 1903
• CLUB IN THE CITY Evening Post, 19 July 1944
• Dominion 8/5/1960
• Evening Post 9/5/1960
• EXCELLENT WORK Evening Post, 21 September 1944
• Websites
• Margaret Tennant. 'Voluntary welfare organisations - Welfare services expand, 1890s–1930s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 11-Mar-11
• NZ Red Cross website accessed August 2012
• Ross D. Blair. 'McGavin, Donald Johnstone - Biography', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 1-Sep-10

Not available

Not available