Albemarle Hotel

• 1906
• SR 7004 - add servants rooms on roof
• 1906
• SR 6631 - construction
• 1973
• SR C38191 - new fire escapes
• 2002
• WCC grant from the Earthquake Assistance Fund in the sum of $25,000 ($4500 feasibility study, $10,000 working drawings, $15, 000 contribution towards the works). The building is subject to a memorandum of encumbrance.
• 2004
• SR111781 - seismic strengthening
• 2006
• SR145559 – RC – a Res.Con. Land use consent for additions to a heritage building in the central area.
• 2007
• SR 143381 aBLDG CONSENT Reinstate cupola and finials to original design on existing turret. - Mayfair Hotel.
• 2012
• SR179936 Bdg StrengthInv Earthquake Prone Building. Notice Exp 29 March 2012. OLD POLICY.

• 1910 - 1935
• Albermarle Hotel (Stones1910-11, 1915-16, 1920, 1925, 1930, 1935)
• 1940 - 1945
• Brahan Lodge (Stones1940, 1945)
• 1950 - 1951
• Un-named boarding House (Wises1950-51)
• 1955 - 1975
• Albermarle Private Hotel (Wises1955, 1961-62, 1967-68, 1971-72, 1975)
• 1980
• Wises not listed 1980
• 1985
• Mayfair Massage & Spa (Wises1985)
• 1990
• Wises not listed 1990

Not assessed

The building is a three storey Edwardian Hotel with tower and cupola, four storeys at rear. The Edwardian Classical (albeit eclectic) style façade features Doric columns on ground floor, foliated Corinthian columns on first floor, plain columns topped by ornate Corinthian capitals on the second floor and a balustrade and parapet at roof level. The cupola and crown are modern reproductions of the original as are the urns at parapet level. The original design included decorative acroterion at parapet level, and a cast iron veranda / terrace with cast iron railings which have since been removed.

The building interior retains many original features.

The original specification includes:

Concrete: foundations, vestibule, hearths, outside door sills

Brick: walls, tower, arches

Timber: Jarrah (bottom joists, sleepers, bottom bearers and bearers on brickwork); totara (all lintels to suit openings, exterior sashes and frames, sills and doors); matai – heart (floors); rimu – heart (all interior joinery and finishings); Rimu – ‘o.b.t.’ (F.F joists and trimmers, GR. Floor studs, F floor studs and plates, F. floor ceiling and 2d F ceiling joists, 2d floor studs and plates, all timbers for wash house, herring bone struts, Dado T and G. & V. round Kitchen and scullery).

Modern reproduction cupola roof clad with patinated ‘Italian copper shingle’, crown, skirt and standing seam clad with copper sheet. The cupola was originally clad with corrugated iron.

Ghuznee Street where it forms part of the Cuba Street Conservation Area comprises of a mix of buildings that range from single storey stables and ancillary buildings, two storied timber or masonry mixed use residential and commercial buildings, and three to four storey commercial buildings. The street includes many surviving original/early shop fronts.

To the west of 59 Ghuznee Street is Glover Park. To the east of 59 Ghuznee Street is a two storey 1897 Victorian commercial building with an Art Deco front façade including fan-shaped leaded glass panels over the shop-fronts. The building at the corner of Ghuznee and Cuba is the two storey former Hallenstein’s building dating from 1920 with an original shop front, and very high parapet.

• 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 Albemarle Private Hotel is an exuberant and eclectic example of Edwardian Classical commercial architecture. The principal façade is a well articulated composition in the Edwardian Classical style and retains most of the original building fabric without intrusive modern additions or alterations.

• 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 Albemarle Private Hotel is part of an unbroken ‘street-wall’ of heritage buildings that wraps around the Cuba/Ghuznee Street intersection and signals the ‘entrance’ to upper Cuba Street. This group is coherent in terms of height, elaborate facades (albeit in a range of architectural styles), age, history, materials and patterns of use.

• 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 scale (three storeys), materials (rendered masonry), design style (simple Edwardian with classical ornamentation) contributes to the character of Blocks 3 & 4 of the Cuba Street Heritage Area

• Association

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

  The building was built as a ‘temperance hotel’ and in response to the 19^th and 20^th century Temperance Movement. It was built during a Late Victorian /Edwardian building boom which furnished Cuba Street with many high quality buildings.

  The building is part of the social history of the Cuba Street Heritage Area and was originally in use as accommodation for the working class and tradesmen. It later functioned as part of the Cuba, Vivien and Ghuznee Street ‘red-light’ district, an area that has since been gentrified. 

• Association

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

  The building was designed by a well known local architect - James Bennie. 

• Archaeological

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

  The building has some archaeological significance – Inner City Wellington Site. Central City NZAA R27/270

• Technological

  Does the item have technological value for its innovative or important construction methods or use of materials?

  The building retains significant original building fabric particularly at the façade and the interior (although the current status of interior requires verification). The original plans, sections and elevations survive, and these give a good insight into Edwardian hotel design.

• IdentitySenseOfPlaceContinuity

  Is the item a focus of community, regional, or national identity? Does the item contribute to sense of place or continuity?

  The building has remained (relatively) unchanged on the site for over 100 years and contributes 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 retains significant original building fabric particularly at the façade and the interior (although the current status of the interior requires verification)

• Representative

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

  The building is a good example of Edwardian commercial architecture

Not assessed

• 'Beginnings - NZ temperance movement', (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 26-May-2010
• Christoffel, Paul. 'Hotels and motels - Types of early hotels', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zeland, updated 26-Nov-10
• Christoffel, Paul. 'Hotels and motels - Hotels and liquor laws', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 4-Oct-11
• Hutching, Megan. 'Hallam, Clara Evelyn - Biography', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 1-Sep-10
• NZHPT register listing.
• NZHPT buildings field record form
• Paperspast website accessed May 2012
• WCC Archives (1998 search)
• WCC Cuba Street Heritage Area report (c.2006)
• MacDonald, Nikki. “Property developer walks the talk” Dominion Post, 17/11/2012;
• Schouten, Hank. “Grand old lady spurns early suitors’, Dominion Post 25/02/2012
• Evening Post, 16 January 1906
• Evening Post, 4 July 1907
• Evening Post, 2 November 1909
• Evening Post, 11 February 1910
• Evening Post, 17 February 1912
• Maoriland Worker , 7 June 1916
• Evening Post, 24 November 1916
• Evening Post, 13 February 1917
• Evening Post, 17 April 1917
• Evening Post, 6 June 1917
• Evening Post, 3 September 1917
• Evening Post, 6 September 1918
• Evening Post, 22 May 1919
• Evening Post, 10 July 1919
• Evening Post, 5 July 1919
• Evening Post, 10 December 1918
• Evening Post, 3 March 1919
• Evening Post, 13 June 1919
• Evening Post, 3 November 1921
• Evening Post, 14 February 1925
• Evening Post, 30 January 1931
• Evening Post, 8 December 1931
• Evening Post, 13 February 1934
• Evening Post, 28 March 1938

• Inventory Report
• 1905 drawings
• 1906 specifications and drawings

Not available