Commercial Building

Ferkins’ Building; Brooklyn Café & Grill; Brooklyn Bistro; The Cornerstore; 1 Todman Street, 3 Todman Street, 5 Todman Street, 7 Todman Street, 9 Todman Street, 11 Todman Street

1 -13 Todman Street, Brooklyn, Wellington
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  • Constructed

    1903 - 1903

  • Architect(s)

    F and W Ferkins

  • Builder(s)

    F & W Ferkins

  • The Cornerstore is a good representative example of an early 20th C commercial building. It is notable for its distinctive wedge-shaped plan, and for its long, stepped verandah, and for the integrity of its façade at first floor level.

    The building is located on a prominent and elevated wedge-shaped site at the corner of Todman Street and Ohiro Road. It is a local landmark that marks the western end of Brooklyn’s commercial zone. 

    The building’s history is representative of a typical multipurpose commercial/ residential building of its era. It is also recognized as one of the suburb’s oldest commercial buildings and has some local renown as a well-patronised café/restaurant of the 1980s and beyond.

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  • close History
    • Brooklyn was still part of Melrose Borough when this building was planned for the corner of Ohiro Road and Todman St.  

      It was most probably designed and built by local land speculators and developers, F & W Ferkins in 1903. The Ferkins family were well known in Brooklyn at the time of the development. Mrs Annie Ferkins owned the general store and post office from at least 1893,  and the family appear to have been actively involved in the subdivision and development of land in Brooklyn from 1894 – 1902.  By 1902 the Ferkins Brothers, William Joseph and Frederick James, were in business as ‘Architects, Builders and Financiers’ and advertised that they owned various urban and suburban building sites including ‘two valuable corner sections at Brooklyn’.   

      F & W Ferkins applied for multiple building permits on the 12th June 1903 for a house at Lot 120 Todman Street for George Smith for the sum of £500; two shops and dwellings on Lot 58 of Fitchett Town (one of which is likely to be the current Brooklyn Galleria) in the sum of £900;  and to construct a shop, dwelling and verandah at Lot 69 (currently the Cornerstore) for George Goldstein for the sum of £750.  

      The 1903 development proposal for Lot 69 included a stable and coach house, yard, and two storey shop and dwelling. It is unclear whether the building was actually originally constructed to the consent drawings as these show a building with a hipped roof and eaves, and with a small verandah that wrapped around the northern tip of the building at the Ohiro Road / Todman Street intersection. The building was also originally only designed to occupy about half of the Todman Street site frontage, with access to a coach house to the south via a yard to the west. A c.1909 photograph shows the building in something like its modern form.  A small villa was built at the western corner of the triangular site and a western wing was added to the original shop/dwelling. The roof of the shop/dwelling is shown in the photograph with a tall stepped parapet, and there is a similarly stepped verandah that runs along the Todman Street façade of the building.  

      Little is known about George Goldstein, the original building owner, although a George Goldstein is known to have operated as a ‘gentlemen’s mercer and clothier’ from a shop on Willis Street from 1889 to at least 1897.   The Ferkins family retained an interest in the Todman Street property by way of a mortgage until Goldstein sold the land and buildings to Annie Ferkins and William Joseph Ferkins in December 1906.  

      By 1909 the ground floor of the enlarged building had been divided into five or six shops. They served a variety of uses; butchers, fishmongers, confectioners and bootmaker.  Slightly more unusually, in the 1970s and early 80s, Lada Krida, gunsmith, had premises here. There was also a planning consent application to convert the ground floor of later (western) wing of the building into a three bedroom flat in 1938, but these alterations do not seem to have been implemented.  

      In 1988 chef, restaurateur, writer and radio personality, Lois Daish and others converted the building into a restaurant, the Brooklyn Café and Grill. The restaurant became a very successful institution, popular with locals and those from other parts of Wellington. As part of the conversion, which was estimated to cost $70,000,  interior walls were removed, exterior walls replaced and, in an interesting innovation for the time, cooking and dining were brought together in an open plan arrangement. A carpark was provided at the rear of the building – and the western-most shop was rebuilt as a drive-way to the yard behind. After 11 years the café was sold but it remains today as an eating establishment/bar.
    • Modifications close
      • 1903 - 1903
      • Construction
      • c.1904 - c.1908
      • Addition to the west, villa constructed to the north west of the site
      • 1938 - 1938
      • Application to convert three of the ground floor shops into apartments – this may not have been built
      • unknown
      • Alterations to parapet & replacement verandah
      • 1988 - 1988
      • Restaurant conversion
    • Occupation History close

      Not assessed

  • close Architectural Information
    • Building Classification(s) close

      Not assessed

    • Architecture close

      The Brooklyn Café is one of Wellington’ distinctive wedge-shaped buildings, built up to the boundary on the corner of Todman Street and Ohiro Road. It has unusual prominence because the site is elevated above the intersection, which is a busy one at the end of Brooklyn’s main shopping area on Cleveland Road.

      It is a two storied timber framed building, clad in rusticated weatherboards. A modern verandah supported on galvanised steel posts wraps around the corner and, along with the building, it steps in two parts up the steep incline of Todman Street. The ground floor has been relatively sympathetically altered for the present-day use as a café while, above the verandah, the façade is in near-original condition. It has a row of double-hung windows, with small 6-pane top sashes and plain bottom sashes, and the frames are ornamented with key stones. A cornice runs above the windows, and a weather-boarded parapet hides the corrugated roof behind. At the upper end of the Todman Street facade, a passage runs through the building to a small yard now used for parking.

      The extant drawings, which are unsigned and undated, indicate that the building was constructed in two stages. If this is so, care was taken to match external details in the two parts, so that with the exception of the step in the form of the building, it could have been built at one time.

    • Materials close

      Timber structure and weatherboard cladding

      Corrugated mild steel roof

    • Setting close

      The ‘Cornerstore’ is a wedge shaped building set on a prominent corner site that is located above the busy Ohiro Road/Todman and Cleveland Street intersection. The villa at 15 Todman Street is located within the original site boundary for the Lot 69 and may have some historic connection with the Cornerstore. Other similar villas, set in leafy gardens, line Todman Street. The Brooklyn Galleria at 190 Ohiro is a commercial building built at a similar date, in a similar style, and designed and constructed by the same architect/builders as the Cornerstore. The pair of buildings sit on either side of Todman Street at its intersection with Ohiro Road and serve as a neat frame to the western half of suburban Brooklyn.

  • close Cultural Value

    The Cornerstore is a good representative example of an early 20th C commercial building. It is notable for its distinctive wedge-shaped plan, and for its long, stepped verandah, and for the integrity of its façade at first floor level.

    The building is located on a prominent and elevated wedge-shaped site at the corner of Todman Street and Ohiro Road. It is a local landmark that marks the western end of Brooklyn’s commercial zone.

    The building’s history is representative of a typical multipurpose commercial/ residential building of its era. It is also recognized as one of the suburb’s oldest commercial buildings and has some local renown as a well-patronised café/restaurant of the 1980s and beyond.

    • Aesthetic Value close

      • 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 Cornerstore is a good representative example of an early 20th C commercial building. It is notable for its distinctive wedge-shaped plan, and for its long, stepped verandah, and for the integrity of its façade at first floor level.

      • 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 has some group value for its association with the Brooklyn Galleria located on the opposite corner of Todman Street and designed and constructed by the same architects / builders in 1903.

      • 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 is located on a prominent and elevated wedge-shaped site at the corner of Todman Street and Ohiro Road. It is a local landmark that marks the western end of Brooklyn’s commercial zone.

    • Historic Value close

      • Association

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

        The building’s history is representative of a typical multipurpose commercial/ residential building of its era. It is also recognized as one of the suburb’s oldest commercial buildings and has some local re-known as a well-patronised café/restaurant of the 1980s and beyond.

    • Scientific Value close

      • Archaeological

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

        Unknown risk

    • Social Value close

      • 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 had few intrusive modern alterations or additions and contributes to the sense of place and continuity of the Brooklyn.

    • Level of Cultural Heritage Significance close

      • 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 retains much of its early/original façades, particularly at first floor level.

      • Representative

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

        The building is a good representative example of an early 20th century mixed use commercial/residential building.

    • Local / Regional / National / International Importance close

      Not assessed

  • close Site Detail

    • District Plan Number

      6/ 406

    • Legal Description

      Lot 1 DP 62902

    • Heritage New Zealand Listed

      Not listed

    • Archaeological Site

      Unknown risk

    • Current Uses

      unknown

    • Former Uses

      unknown

    • Has building been funded

      No

    • Funding Amount

      Not applicable

    • Earthquake Prone Status

      To be assessed

  • close Additional Information

Last updated: 7/25/2017 4:52:46 AM