Commercial Building

• 1900
• Land purchased by Mary Kennedy.
• unknown
• Building constructed to a design by John Sydney Swan. (00053:97:5510)
• 1927
• Shop front altered and erected verandah.( 00056:25:B2504)
• 1953
• Alterations. (00056:459:B34839)
• 1955
• Fire escape. (00056:505:B37825)
• 1961
• Show room alterations. (00058:171:C7992)
• 1965
• Building alterations. (00058:388:C16604)
• 1974
• Building alterations. (00058:898:C39849)
• 1980
• Restaurant alterations to first floor. (00058:1277:C54165)
• 1984
• Door awning. (00058:0:C66411)
• 1985
• Alterations. 00058:0:C67051)
• 1994
• Restaurant fit-out. (00061:9:10269)
• 1995
• Seismic upgrade and second floor converted to apartments. (00061:9:10269, 00061:78:12379 and 00061:78:12379)
• 1996
• Restaurant alterations - fire doors. (00078:24:23376
• 2001
• New glazing over courtyard on level 3. (00078:1020:83546)

• 1905 - 1925
• Westport & Greymouth Coal & Produce Co Ltd (Stones1905), NZ State Coalmines (41) (Stones1910-11, 1915-16, 1920, 1925,
• 1905 - 1916
• Trades and Labour Council (43) (Stones1905, 1910-11, 1915-16),
• 1920 - 1925
• Fullers' Theatres & Vaudeville Ltd (Stones1920, 1925),
• 1930 - 1945
• James Stewart Electrical (41) (Stones1930,1935, 1940, 1945),
• 1930 - 1940
• Sutherland & Rankine, motor engineers & garage (Stones1930, 1935, 1940),
• 1950 - 1985
• NZ Lamps Ltd (41) (Wises1950-51, 1955, 1961-62, 1967-68, 1971-72, 1975, 1980, 1985).
• 1990
• Only 43 listed 1990 (Payless Shoes).
• 1980 - 1980
• In 1980 alterations were made to the 1st floor and a restaurant opened, today occupied by the Hede Café - a Japanese restaurant and bar.

Not assessed

This functional, three storey building has an ornate Edwardian Classical façade. It is embellished on the first floor with six rusticated pillars between deeply recessed windows. The windows have exaggerated swags as keystone. On the second floor there are six attached and rusticated Ionic columns, again emphasised as a colonnade by the recessed windows, while an entablature and pediment finish the composition. It is an inventive and decorative facade.

Load-bearing brick masonry with circular cast-iron columns supporting steel beams and timber floor joists. Timber trusses span the full width of the building.

The Commercial Building is located on the eastern side of Block 1 of the Cuba Street Heritage Area. It sits between the Kennedy Building (1905) to the north and Arco House (1908) to the south.

This first or northern block of Cuba Street is also the tallest, with buildings between three and eight stories high (the median height is expressed by the five storey James Smiths building). Although the street is widest in this block, the proportions of the tall buildings create a strong sense of enclosure to the street, in contrast to the more open aspect of the other parts of the street. Most of the buildings in this block have attached verandahs, some original, which come in a variety of styles, do not conform to any continuous elevation line, and contribute to a general visual untidiness in the lower part of the streetscape.

The northern view down the street, which once extended to the harbour and provided an important visual link between this commercial area and the waterfront, is blocked by the Michael Fowler Centre. The southern view appears open and expansive due to the much lower scale of the buildings beyond and the large open area and low-rise buildings at the immediate conjunction of Manners Mall and Cuba Street.

The character of the block is perhaps best illustrated by James Smiths building where the Art Deco façade turns around the corner from Manners Street and meets into a strong 50s modernist box along Cuba Street. The other buildings in this block are a heterogeneous mix of ages, types and styles which assemble to create a varied and interesting streetscape. The overall heritage and streetscape value of the block is reasonably high as many prominent Edwardian commercial buildings – Columbia Hotel, Kennedy building, T.G. McCarthy Trust and others – remain to reinforce the line of the street wall and provide a high level of detail and visual variety to that street wall. Some of the modern buildings make a positive contribution to the street wall, including the former MED building and James Smiths.

• Architectectural

  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?

  No. 41-43 Cuba Street is notable for its inventive and ornate Edwardian Classical façade. 

• 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 one of several ornate Edwardian buildings in Block 1 of the Cuba Street Heritage Area and makes a strong contribution to the townscape value of lower Cuba Street. 

• Association

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

  The building was designed by noted Wellington architect John Sydney Swan.

  The building has a close association with the Kennedys, an early Wellington family.

  
  

• Association

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

  The building is associated with the development of commerce in Cuba Street in the Edwardian era partly due to the introduction of electric trams to the city centre.

  
  

• Archaeological

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

  There was pre-1900 human activity on this site.  Although some of the sites have been altered by rebuilding or landscaping or subdivisional change, there is archaeological value in the immediate surrounds.

• 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 was part of Wellington’s early commercial centre and the façade has remained on site, relatively unaltered for the past 100 years. It contributes to the sense of place and continuity in Lower Cuba Street.

• 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 façade above verandah level has had few intrusive modern alterations and retains much of the original building fabric.

• 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 of local importance for its contribution to the Cuba Street Heritage Area.

• Representative

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

  The building is a good representative example of inner-city Edwardian commercial Classical architecture. 

Not assessed

• “The Community Archive”, Accessed: June 16, 2012,
• CT WN11/179, Land Information New Zealand
• CT WN 93/21, Land Information New Zealand
• Historic Places Trust, Professional Biographies, Accessed: June 2012
• Kelly, Michael and Russell Murray, Cuba Street Heritage Area Report. Welllington City Council: Unpublished report, prepared for Plan Change 48, 2006.
• Laracy, H. “Kennedy, Martin – Biography”. In the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated September 1, 2010. Accessed June 16, 2012. http
• McLintock, A.H., “Fuller, Sir Benjamin John”, Te Ara – the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, originally published in 1966, updated April 23, 2009, accessed June 16, 2010
• Wellington City Council, Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 2001: Non-Residential Buildings. Wellington City Council, 2001.
• Cuba Street extension [41-43 Cuba Street], brick building”, 09 Jul 1903, 00053:97:5510, Wellington City Archives.
• 41-43 Cuba Street, alterations to premises”, 10 Jan 1927, 00056:25:B2504, Wellington City Archives.
• “41-43 Cuba Street, alterations”, 03 Aug 1953, 00056:459:B34839, Wellington City Archives.
• “41-43 Cuba Street, fire escape”, 29 Apr 1955, 00056:505:B37825, Wellington City Archives.
• “41-43 Cuba Street, show room alterations”, 03 Feb 1961, 00058:171:C7992, Wellington City Archives.
• “41-43 Cuba Street, building alterations”, 13 Mar 1965, 00058:388:C16604, Wellington City Archives.
• “41-43 Cuba Street, building alterations”, 11 Feb 1974, 00058:898:C39849, Wellington City Archives.
• “41-43 Cuba Street, restaurant alterations (1st floor)”, 10 Jul 1980, 00058:1277:C54165, Wellington City Archives.
• “41-43 Cuba Street, door awning”, 1984, 00058:0:C66411, Wellington City Archives.
• “41-43 Cuba Street, alterations, level 1”, 1985, 00058:0:C67051, Wellington City Archives.
• “41-43 Cuba Street, sign”, 1987, 00059:167:D8482, Wellington City Archives
• “41 Cuba Street, level 1, restaurant fit-out”, 1994, 00060:155:5665, Wellington City Archives.
• 41 Cuba Street, sign”, 11 Aug 1994, 00060:176:6376, Wellington City Archives
• “41 Cuba Street, seismic upgrade”, 1995, 00061:9:10269, Wellington City Archives.
• “41 Cuba Street, level 2, apartment alteration”, 19 Apr 1995, 00061:78:12379, Wellington City Archives.
• 41 Cuba Street, restaurant alterations - fire doors”, 1996, 00078:24:23376, Wellington City Archives.
• “41 Cuba Street, level 3, new glazing over courtyard”, 2001, 00078:1020:83546, Wellington City Archives.
• “Parliamentary: State Coal Depot”, Grey River Argus, 29 June 1910.

• Inventory Report
• 1904 plans
• 1994 plans

Not available