Murray, Roberts & Co. Building (Former)

• 1907
• Construction
• 1942
• Reinstatement (00056: 284: B22782)
• 1963
• Building alterations (00058: 318: C13775)
• 1966
• Building alterations (00058: 482: C20749)
• 1973
• Alterations and partitions (00058: 853: C3031)
• 1983
• Alteration to premises and stairs to basement (00058: 0: C63506)
• 1984
• Alterations to staircase (00058: 0: C64147)
• 1984
• Internal alterations – fit out coffee bar (00058: 0: C64801)
• 1985
• Installation of steel stud partitions (00059: 0: D1102)
• 1989
• Addition – sign (00040: 3: E681715)
• 1994
• Hair salon alterations (00060: 116: 4203)
• 2000
• Refurbishment of building (00078: 774: 60130)
• 2000
• Additions and alterations, ground floor, levels 2-3 (00078: 785: 69619)
• 2001
• Hairdressing salon – internal fitout (00078: 799: 75812)
• 2003
• Alterations – construction of open-ended meeting room (00078: 1095: 99693)
• 2005
• Conversion of pokie room to dining room, ground floor and basement (00078: 1514: 125177)
• 2005
• Shop alterations (00078: 2385: 130120)
• 2006
• Restaurant additions and alterations (00078:2122: 146448)
• 2006
• Restaurant additions and alterations (00078: 2122: 146451)
• 2006
• Restaurant additions and alterations (00078: 2133: 149420)
• 2010
• Internal office fit out (00078: 3531: 213440)

• 1907 - 1960
• Murray, Roberts and Co Ltd
• unknown
• Leuven Belgian Beer Cafe, Pearl Hair Design & Day Spa, Absolute IT Recruitment Specialists

Not assessed

National Chambers is a three-storey building, with a fourth basement level below the street. The design is characterised by high round-headed windows with hood moulds to the ground floor, while the upper floors have alternating curved headed windows with projecting bays of narrow semi-circular headed windows. A cornice and open parapet complete the whole, making an original and interesting composition. It is a particularly good example of the work of architects Penty and Blake.

The original layout had offices on the ground floor (raised above street level by a flight of steps), with a single telephone booth and a cart dock at the end of the Johnston Street elevation. The first floor was half office space and half warehousing, while the whole of the second floor and the basement was warehouse space. A lift by the cart dock serviced all floors. Today, the building houses a mix of retail and office uses.

The structure is masonry with heavy steel joist reinforcement in the lintels, and the foundations are timber piles driven into the reclaimed land and beach gravels. The floors are timber, supported on cast iron columns, while the roof is timber trusses behind a high parapet. This is typical warehouse construction for the time, a reminder that this commercial part of the city once had more utilitarian uses.

Located one block from Lambton Quay, one block from the waterfront, and on the corner of the busy intersection of Johnston and Featherston streets, the National Chambers building occupies a prominent and popular position in Wellington’s CBD. The building provides a welcome respite from the prevailing high rise buildings on Featherston Street – its scale, height, and pattern are a positive contrast to the monotonous modern commercial buildings nearby.

• 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 former Murray, Roberts & Co. Building is a fine example of a Victorian commercial premises/warehouse built in a distinguished commercial Classical style. It is particularly notable for its elegant proportions and its restrained palette of Classical ornamentation and detailing.

• 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?

  This building can be considered as one of a group of commercial premises built by Murray, Roberts & Co Ltd throughout New Zealand. Another, the Allen Trading Company Building in Gisborne, is a Category 2 heritage listed building.

• 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 townscape value for its prominent corner site at the intersection of Johnston and Featherston Streets, and can be seen from a distance - especially south along Featherston Street and east along Johnston Street to the wharves. It provides visual interest to the streetscape, especially in contrast to the modern high-rise buildings erected in close proximity to it.

• Association

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

  This building is associated with the agricultural firm Murray, Roberts & Co Ltd, for whom the building was designed and built in 1907. The firm played an important role in New Zealand’s rural sector, and this building at 162 Featherston Street is an important physical reminder of this company’s presence in Wellington.

• 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 reclamations

• Educational

  Does the item have educational value for what it can demonstrate about aspects of the past?

  The building is a physical reminder of the changing uses of the central city. The original use of the building as a warehouse reminds us that the commercial part of the city once had more utilitarian uses.

• Technological

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

  The building has technical value for its masonry, cast iron and timber construction, and its exterior form which remains in reasonably authentic condition.

• 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 contributes to a sense of identity for central city commerce. The building is now over one hundred years old, and has been used by commercial operations the entire time.

• Public Esteem

  Is the item held in high public esteem?

  National Chambers is likely to be held in high esteem, mostly for its aesthetic value.

• 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 facade retains a reasonable degree of authenticity.

• Local Regional National International

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

  The former Murray, Roberts & Co. Building is important at a local and national level.

• Representative

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

  The building is a good example of typical warehouse construction in Wellington around the beginning of the twentieth century.

Not assessed

• A. A. Roberts. A Family Affair: A History of Murray Roberts & Co Ltd. Pictorial Publications Ltd: Hastings, c.1982
• Harraway, H. C. ‘John Roberts; Man of Business: an Account of John Roberts and the Establishment of Murray Roberts and Company Ltd.’. M.A. Thesis (History), Otago University, 1967
• Permit OC 7883. Warehouse and offices for Murray Roberts and Co. WCC Archives
• Wellington City Council. ‘15 Johnston Street – National Chambers’. Wellington City Council Heritage Building Inventory 1999.
• ______.‘National Chambers’. Wellington City Council Heritage Building Inventory 1995.
• WCC File 00053:142:7883

• Inventory report
• 1907 drawings

Not available