Commercial Building

• 1908
• Original construction
• 1936
• Cuba Street, erect neon sign (00056:179:B15731)
• 1937
• Cuba Street, renew shop front (00056:195:B17039)
• 1943
• Cuba Street, reinstate premises (00056:282:B22649)
• 1947
• Cuba Street, reinstate floor (00056:332:B25851)
• 1958
• Cuba Street, verandah (00058:67:C3308)
• 1966
• Cuba Street, building alterations (00058:460:C19747)
• 1987
• Cuba Street, upgrading of an existing building (00059:98:D6409)
• 1987
• Cuba Street, restaurant alterations (00059:122:D7160)
• 2002
• Cuba Street, earthquake strengthening (00078:1229:96695)

• 1910 - 1916
• Patrick Taylor, pastrycook (Stones1910-11, 1915-16)
• 1910 - 1925
• Miss Charlotte Youmans, artist (Stones1910-11, 1915-16, 1920, 1925)
• 1930 - 1945
• E & T Hall, soft goods manufacturers (Stones1930, 1935, 1940, 1945)
• 1940 - 1985
• Manawatu Farmers' Meat Company Limited, butchers (Stones,1940,1945, Wises1950-51, 1955, 1961-62, 1967-68, 1971-72, 1975, 1980, 1985)
• 1950 - 1955
• Francis Manufacturing Company, soft goods (Wises1950-51, 1955)
• 1995
• Sala Thai Restaurant
• 2001
• Bandong Traditional Malaysian Cuisine
• 200
• Hunters and Collectors

Not assessed

134 Cuba Street is a three-storey commercial building has been much altered over the past 100+ years. The street elevation is quite stratified; the ground floor shop-fronts date from the mid-20th century, the verandah and crude timber balustrade from the c.1960s onwards, the first floor street façade retains much of the original built fabric (albeit partly concealed by a 20th c fire escape), and the second floor street façade and parapet were rebuilt after the 1942 Wellington/Wairarapa earthquake.

The original building appears to have been designed in an Edwardian Revivalist style. Most of the surviving elements from the original design can be seen at the first floor façade, from verandah level and above. Here it is clear that the architect has skilfully exploited the brickwork of the façade to create a Venetian-style ensemble. There are three sets of paired windows on each of the upper floors. The flanking windows on both of the upper storeys are designed with two round-arched lights under a single arched opening, with a small circular fanlight above. This feature is not found elsewhere on Cuba Street. The Venetian effect is reiterated in brick arches over the first floor windows, which are flanked by pronounced brick pedestals supporting a double layer of small attached columns. Between the columns, a series of corbels supports the cornice at second floor level.

The second floor façade and parapet were substantially rebuilt after the 1942 earthquake. The street façade was rebuilt with a brick-clad reinforced-concrete frame and to a simplified design. The parapet was replaced with a simple concrete ring beam, the original windows were reinstated and the roof was adapted to a new hipped profile.

More recent alterations include the modern verandah/ balcony with clumsy timber railings and a slender steel fire escape running diagonally across the façade. Both of these features detract from the appearance of this building.

This mix of parts that include ornate original features, simplified replica reconstructions, and intrusive modern elements is quite unusual, and the loss of the original parapet (and possibly the gable end) gives this building a somewhat squat or truncated appearance.

The construction is load-bearing brick masonry on concrete foundations and piles. The second floor street façade has a reinforced concrete structural frame that is clad in facing brick.

This building is sited in the Cuba Street Heritage Area and makes a positive contribution to the significant collection of heritage buildings that form the Cuba Street Heritage Area. This building is the second on this block of Cuba Street from the corner with Ghuznee Street to Garrett Street. It is the tallest building in this small block and makes a good contribution to the visual interest of the streetscape. The scale, materials and style of this building contribute to the townscape of Cuba Street.

• 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?

  134 Cuba Street is an unusual three-storey Edwardian Venetian Revivalist-style building that has been much-modified. The building is notable for its fine first floor façade that is well-modulated and set with ornamental and polychromatic brickwork. The simplified second-floor façade is a product of the 1942 earthquake. The ground floor verandah, entrances and shopfront are more recent alterations that have less aesthetic value.

• 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?

  134 Cuba Street 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?

  This building is sited in the Cuba Street Heritage Area and makes a positive contribution to the significant collection of heritage buildings that form the Cuba Street Heritage Area.

• Association

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

  This building has historical value for its connection to prominent architect James Bennie, an important architect of the period. 

• Association

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

  The building has historic value for its association with the development of Cuba Street during the Edwardian period, which resulted in the building of many fine commercial buildings. It was damaged and partly rebuilt after the 1942 Wellington/Wairarapa earthquake and is a built-testament to this historic event.

• Archaeological

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

  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 has some technological value for the unusually ornate brick detailing, and for the use of polychromatic brick – an unusual building material in Wellington. The upper floor façade and parapet, including the reinforced concrete frame and ring-beam, are examples of reinstatement work from the mid-1940s.

• 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?

  This building is part of a group of Edwardian commercial buildings on Cuba Street which contribute 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 some original built fabric – most notably the first floor façade above parapet level. Later significant alterations include the reinstatement work after the 1943 Earthquake; this built fabric has value as an early/historically significant alteration.

• 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. It is an unusual building for Cuba Street, designed by a prominent Wellington architect. It retains economic and functional uses as well as retaining a significant amount of original material and authenticity. 

• Representative

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

  The building is representative of the architecture and history found on Cuba Street. It has a distinctive character and adds significantly to the variety of Cuba Street.

Not assessed

• Kelly, Michael, and Russell Murray. Cuba Street Heritage Area Report. Wellington City Council: Unpublished report, prepared for Plan Change 48, 2006.
• Wellington City Council. Cuba Street Heritage Area spreadsheet (blocks 1-3). Wellington City Council: Unpublished report, prepared for Plan Change 48, 2006.
• Wellington City Council. Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 2001: Non-Residential Buildings. Wellington City Council, 2001.
• 00056:179:B15731
• 00056:195:B17039
• 00056:282:B22649
• 00056:332:B25851
• 00058:67:C3308
• 00058:460:C19747
• 00059:98:D6409
• 00059:122:D7160
• 00078:1229:96695

• Inventory Report
• 1943 plans
• 1958 plans

Not available