The Dixon Street Flats in central Wellington were completed as a part of the First Labour Government’s state housing programme. The flats are considered to be the archetype of Modernist apartment blocks in New Zealand.
New Zealand has a long history of Government initiative housing schemes and when the first Labour Government was elected in 1935 it undertook an extensive housing scheme. The state housing scheme was prompted by a housing shortage during the Depression exacerbated by the decline in building construction and the movement of people into cities to look for work. Those families who already resided in the cities were often in no better position to afford the New Zealand dream home complete with quarter acre section, and the increased demand on rental properties caused rental rates to skyrocket. The Labour Government, led by Michael Joseph Savage, elected in 1935 had pledged to build houses of a modern standard and comfort. The Labour Government scheme differed greatly from earlier schemes by focussing its programme on the principle that access to decent housing was a fundamental right of all New Zealanders. Although this scheme is best known for suburban housing, 13 concrete apartment blocks were also constructed as a response to the severity of the housing shortage and the lack of labour and timber building materials caused by World War Two.
The Dixon Street Flats were the second block of apartments built by the government after the first apartments were completed in Berhampore. Apartment style living had been first introduced into New Zealand cities in the 1920s, and the Dixon Street flats marked a new era in New Zealand domestic architecture.
The building was designed for the Department of Housing Construction although the designer remains unclear. Gordon Wilson was Government architect of the day and is officially the ‘architect of record’; however noted Modernist architect Ernst Plischke was employed by the Department of Housing Construction at the time and is thought to have had a significant part in the design. The apartment block was constructed between 1941 and 1943 by the Wellington contractor J.L. Wilkins, the ten storey building was the first slab apartment block in New Zealand and contained 115 one bedroom apartments and one two bedroom caretakers unit. The apartment building was of a magnitude unprecedented in domestic architecture of the time and caused considerable excitement. The apartment block was opened, unfinished, on the 4th of September 1943, three weeks before the upcoming election. Labour won the election and the flats were completed in the following year, highlighting the Government’s progressive outlook and garnering considerable support for the political left.
By 1943 over 700 applications had been received for the 115 units, indicating the desperate shortage of housing in the city. Prior to completion, the Government had let 11 of the units to the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and Army Corps. Upon completion, 20% (later increased to 50%) of the units were allocated to returned servicemen and their wives. The rest were reserved for the elderly, childless couples, and people who had interests other than babies and gardens. Despite the high demand, and the praise received for the apartment’s design, the building was criticised by the general public, the opposition in Government, and from the Labour party itself. The units were not designed for families and were the opposite of average New Zealander’s dream home, and many associated them with the tenements of Europe. The apartments were also unexpectedly expensive, with a single unit costing £1619, approximately £269 more than the average three bedroom state house. These factors combined to limit the number of apartment blocks erected by the Labour Government before they lost power in 1949.
The monolithic modernist Dixon Street flats, now managed by Housing New Zealand, have remained in state hands since their completion. Despite minor changes to the building and upgrades of services, it continues to serve as a landmark in New Zealand’s architectural history. The flats are a key building in the development of architecture in New Zealand and are among the first of their style in the country.
