Wellington Harbour Board Shed 7

• 1896
• Construction
• 1993
• Building Permit/Consent, 63 Customhouse Quay, 1 Queens Wharf, alterations and strengthening, Legal description: Lot 206 DP 67374. Work description: Strengthening and apartments and retail space fitout. Owner: Lambton Harbour Management. Applicant: R Faulke, Fletcher Construction. Application value: $8,800,000. Building name: Shed 7. WCC Archives ref 00059:629:E26923
• 1999
• Building Permit/Consent, 1 Queens Wharf, alterations, ground floor, Legal description: Lot 1 DP 77229. Work description: art gallery fitout. Building name: Queens Wharf Apartments. Owner: New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. Applicant: Herriot & Melhuish Architecture. Application value: $350,000. WCC Archives ref 00078:329:56871
• 2000
• Building Permit/Consent, 1 Queens Wharf, Wharf Office Apartments, office fitout, ground floor, Owner: Queens Wharf Offices Ltd. Applicant: ArcHaus Ltd. Legal description: Lot 1 DP 77229. Application value: $350,000. WCC Archives ref 00078:636:70689

Not assessed

Not assessed

There is a very English quality to this late-Victorian Classical Revival building. The regularity of the facades, the controlled and skilful use of Classical detail, the very English oriel window on the south-west corner, bring to mind something of the maritime classicism of the Royal Navy complex at Greenwich, England.

The building has a rusticated base, with entrances and windows set within pronounced semi-circular arches. A well-modelled entablature of frieze and cornice separates ground and first floors, second and third floors. The top floor is capped by an entablature, with cornice and parapet. The facade on the south-west corner is sensitively offset by the oriel window, which continues the Classical theme by incorporating the design elements of the main facade.

The windows are decorated with segmental, triangular, and square-headed dressings of simple design. The first-floor windows are flanked by partially-fluted Corinthian pilasters supporting a modest entablature. The second floor consists of un-fluted pilasters flanking square-headed sash windows.

The original construction was load-bearing brick masonry on concrete foundations; this was substantially modified when the building was converted to residential apartments. The building follows the curve of Jervois Quay on its west side, and complements the other Clere building, the Maritime Museum, next door. The two buildings together constitute a pivot for the remaining wharf buildings, and are invaluable elements in the harbour-city interface.

An interesting feature of the original specification are the drawings that show the ‘Clere Patent Revolving Windows’ a system of sash windows that were designed to pivot to allow for cleaning, and for the decorative WC fittings. These appear to have been removed in the c.1994 renovations.

Brick & render external walls

Timber footings and internal columns, internal floors and roof truss

Corrugated mild steel roof

Patent sash window system (probably removed c.1994)

Shed 7 and the former Harbour Board Head Office are a pair of warehouse / office buildings that form a physical barrier between the city and harbour, and flank the Queen’s Wharf entrance gates and access-way.

To the immediate east of the buildings is the large modern TSB arena building and a similar modern office building. In the middle distance are other wharf-side industrial buildings / sheds, many of which have been converted to restaurants/bars/ and other recreational use, and beyond them the sea. To the west of the buildings is the busy arterial route of Jervois Quay and Customhouse Quay and beyond that a mix of high and low rise commercial buildings.

Shed 7 is also part of the Post Office Square Heritage Area, a group of objects that include two sets of harbour board railings and gates (1899), a telephone box (c.1938) and post box (c.1879-1910), and buildings that include the diminutive Clarrie Gibbon’s building/former tram shed and traffic island (1912), Head Office and Bond Store (Museum of Wellington - City and Sea, 1891-92), Shed 11 (1904-05), Shed 13 (1904-05), Huddart Parker Building, 2-6 Jervois Quay (1924), and the Tower Building, 50 – 64 Customhouse Quay (1936).

• 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?

  Shed 7 is a particularly fine example of a Harbourboard office building / warehouse that was designed by prominent local architect Frederick de Jersey Clere. The building is notable for the regularity of its facades, and the controlled and skilful use of Classical details and ornamentation; most particularly the oriel window to the south west corner.

• 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?

  Shed 7 is one of a pair of buildings designed by Clere that flank the entrance gates to Queens Wharf. It also contributes to the Post Office Square Heritage Area, and is one of a collection of heritage buildings and objects that have an association with the former Wellington Harbour Board and waterfront.

• 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 a local landmark that runs along the western boundary between the harbour and city, and is a prominent feature of the busy Jervois Quay, Customhouse Quay arterial route, and the pedestrian walkways of the waterfront.

• Association

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

  Shed 7 has historic value for its association with the shipping industry and harbour board, both of which were crucial to the economic life of early Wellington. The building is a particularly fine example of a building type that was fundamental to the operation of the wharves.
  

• Association

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

  The building has a strong historical association with the Wellington Harbour Board and housed the wharfinger’s office and a woolstore. 

• Archaeological

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

  Central City NZAA R27/270, Pre 1900 reclaimed land

• Technological

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

  The building may have some technological value for the Clere Patent Sash Window system if any have survived the c.1994 renovations.

• 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 exterior of the building has had few intrusive modern alterations or additions over the past 110 years and contributes to the sense of place and continuity of the Post Office Square Heritage Area, and the Wellington waterfront.

• Public Esteem

  Is the item held in high public esteem?

  Shed 7 is a fine / high profile local landmark that is likely to be held in high public esteem.

• 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’s exterior has retained many of its original built fabric and decorative features with the exception of the copper domes (rebuilt in c.1994) and the original windows (assumed replaced in c.1994). The interior is much altered.

• 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 regional significance for its contribution to the heritage area, and as a local landmark.

Not assessed

• ‘History of the Academy’, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts website accessed July 2013
• Kelly, Michael et al, ‘Post Office Square Heritage Area’ heritage report prepared for WCC District Plan Change 75, 2006
• ‘Queens Wharf Offices’ Queens Wharf Offices website accessed July 2013,
• WCC Archives ref AC016_2_76 – specification and original plans
• WCC Heritage Building Inventory 2001 ref Jerv4
• WCC Heritage Inventory 1999 Appendix III

• Inventory Report

Not available