Gear Meat Co. Building (Former)

• 1896
• Building constructed (00053:28:1682)
• 1911
• New external door to cellar and alterations to windows (00053:163:8997)
• 1927
• Shop alterations (00056:45:B4386)
• 1942
• Damage by earthquake (00009:2144:50/1054/314)
• 1965
• Building alterations – shop (00058:422:C18051)
• 1967
• Reinstate fire damage (00058:490:C21125)
• 1971
• Shop alterations (00058:746:C33740)
• 1998
• Alterations to commercial kitchen - KK Malaysian Restaurant (00078:70:47136)
• 2000
• Convert top storey to apartments and refurbish building, including conversion of ground floor into four shops (00078:725:66901)
• 2000
• New kitchen and toilet for K K Malaysian Restaurant (00078:1450:70975)
• 2001
• Flat additions and alterations (00078:1731:73006)

• 1900 - 1911
• Gear Meat Preserving Co (Stones 1900, 1905, 1910-11)
• 1915 - 1916
• Pearson & Co, boot sellers (Stones 1915-16)
• 1920
• David Strachen, boot seller (Stones 1920)
• 1925
• City Boot Company (Stones 1925)
• 1930
• Manawatu Farmers' Meat Company (Stones 1930)
• 1940 - 1962
• G. Livingstone, boot shop (Stones 1940, 1945, Wises 1950-51, 1955, 1961-62)
• 1971 - 1975
• Air Force Association (Wises 1971-72, 1975)
• 1980
• Shops Employees' Union (Wises 1980)
• 1980 - 1985
• Crouch's Chemist (Wises 1980, 1985)
• 1990
• .Not Listed
• 2012
• Nic Nacs dairy, STA Travel, boot repair, KK Malaysia (restaurant)

Not assessed

The Gear Meat Building is a well designed and carefully proportioned example of a late Victorian two storey mixed use commercial and residential building. Classical details include pilasters on the first floor which define a tempo of single or paired window and clear wall proportions. The pilasters carry no capitals but are moulded with stylised metopes that are repeated on the double entablature. Heavy brackets under the cornice re-emphasise the basic proportions of the building. Triangular pediments and an elaborate arched and balustraded parapet cap the building.

At the back of the building, gates on Ghuznee Street led to the stables (now know as the former Ware Press building at 56 Ghuznee Street). Though converted into an apartment, the stables are extant, one of the two remaining stables in Cuba Street (the other is at the rear of the Bristol Hotel).

The ground floor of the building has been subdivided into four retail/restaurant units and the first floor has been converted to self contained apartments and a further floor has been added the building. The ground floor retail unit window to the corner unit facing Cuba and Ghuznee Street is an inappropriate modern intervention constructed from rough sawn unfinished timber. The original verandah has been replaced with a intrusive modern design with a corrugated galvanised mild steel roof, and galvanised mild steel circular columns with concrete column ‘bases’. The first floor apartments feature intrusive modern galvanised mild steel balconies that are neither well designed nor in keeping with the design or quality of this heritage building.

The construction is load-bearing brick masonry on concrete foundations.

The Gear Meat Building makes particularly good use of a prominent corner site and provides a strong street presence to both Cuba and Ghuznee Streets.

The building is set at the southern end of Cuba Mall, which has a high concentration of significant Edwardian commercial buildings, such as the Wellington Working Men’s Club, the Farmers Building, Hotel Bristol, and Barbers Building. The building’s immediate neighbour to the north is no. 126 Cuba (occupied by the Friendly Bakery), the tallest building on the block at a high four stories.

To the west of the building Ghuznee Street 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.

• 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 Gear Meat Co. Building is a well designed and carefully proportioned example of a late Victorian mixed use commercial / residential building. The building has retained most of its original Classical detailing including the decoration of the parapet and at the first floor facades.

• 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 is part of a significant group of historic commercial buildings which make a positive contribution to the Cuba Street Heritage Area.

• 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 has been carefully designed to exploit a prominent corner site and contributes considerable townscape value to Cuba and Ghuznee Streets.

• Association

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

  The building has historic value as it was purpose-built as premises for The Gear Meat Preserving and Freezing Company.

  The building also has historic value for its association with the designer, notable Wellington architect William Charles Chatfield

  
  

• Association

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

  The building is associated with the strong growth and development of Cuba Street during the late Victorian and Edwardian period, which resulted in the construction of many fine commercial buildings.

  The building is also associated with the need to provide fresh food and produce to the rapidly increasing population of Wellington City in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

• Archaeological

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

  The building may be deemed to be part of an archaeological site under the Historic Places Act (1993) due to the presence of pre 1900 buildings.

• 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 façade has remained (relatively) unchanged on the site for over 100 years which 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 façade of this building retains a significant amount of original building fabric and detailing, particularly at the first floor façade and parapet.

• Local Regional National International

  Is the item important for any of the above characteristics at a local, regional, national, or international level?

  This 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 late-Victorian mixed use commercial/residential architecture.

Not assessed

• Cyclopedia Co. Ltd, “Chatfield, William Charles”, in The Cyclopedia of New Zealand: Wellington Provincial District (Wellington: The Cyclopedia Company Limited, 1897), accessed 17 September 2012,
• Hawke, G.R. “Gear, James – Biography”, in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated September 1, 2012, accessed October 5, 2012,
• Historic Places Trust, “Chatfield, William Charles - Architect”, Professional Biographies. Accessed 17 September 2012.
• Kelly, Michael, and Russell Murray, Cuba Street Heritage Area Report (Wellington City Council: Unpublished report, prepared for Plan Change 48, 2006), 25.
• McSaveney, Eileen. “Historic earthquakes - The 1942 Wairarapa earthquakes”, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated March 2, 2009, accessed September 20, 2012
• Murray, Russell. Ware Press Building, 56 Ghuznee (2005) (Wellington City Council: Unpublished report, 2005).
• Wellington City Council, “130 Cuba Street,” Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 2001: Non-Residential Buildings. (Wellington City Council, 2001), CUBA 16.
• Wellington City Council, Cuba Street Heritage Area spreadsheet (blocks 1-3). (Wellington City Council: Unpublished report, prepared for Plan Change 48, 2006).
• Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9319, 21 January 1896, Page 6 Evening Post, Volume LI, Issue 79, 2 April 1896, Page 2 Evening Post, Volume LII, Issue 70, 14 August 1896, Page 6 Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 18, 21 July 1911, Page 1 Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 106, 6 May 1915, Page 4
• CT WN82/77, Land Information New Zealand
• Deed 24/286, Land Information New Zealand
• “Damage by Earthquake, 130 Cuba Street, Cnr Ghuznee Street”, 1942, 00009:2144:50/1054/314, Wellington City Archives.

• Inventory Record

Not available