Stewart Dawson’s Corner

• 1854 - 1861
• Timber building at Clay Point constructed for John Warmoll
• 1857 - 1863
• CR Carter reclamation on the east side of Lambton Quay
• 1860
• The site was occupied by Warmoll’s Outfitting Establishment from at least 1861 until early in 1872.
• 1872
• The property was sold to Messrs J McDowell and Co Drapers who extended the building along Willis Street
• c.1887
• Stewart Dawson jewellers established in Australia
• 1895
• McDowell sold the property at the corner of Willis Street and Lambton Quay to W.C. Fitzgerald
• 1900
• The intersection was also referred to as ‘the old Evening Post corner’ and the road was widened in this year.
• 1900
• Stewart Dawson’s jeweller opened their new premises at the corner of Lambton Quay and Willis Street
• 1906
• William C Fitzgerald, chemist, died of an overdose of the drug ‘trional’ “taken to induce sleep.”
• 1987
• Purchased by Renouf Property Investments Ltd
• 1988
• 360 Lambton Quay, 366 Lambton Quay and 2-4 Willis Street were amalgamated onto one property title by the investment company Lambton Quay no.366.
• 1997
• Extensive refurbishment with the substantial loss of older building fabric

• 1900
• First floor office tenants - Equitable Life Assurance Society of the USA

Not assessed

This three-storey building is the only surviving commercial building of note designed by William Chatfield. The construction technique used in the building was progressive for its time, revealing an advanced appreciation of seismic construction. The main feature of this system was steel stanchions and girders cast in concrete.

The facade is Edwardian Classical in style, well-composed, with subtle and restrained detail. This is evident in the handling of the corner detail, where the two ‘facets’ of the building meet. Paired pilasters gently ‘turn’ the building and resolve the awkward change of angle. The windows are segmentally-arched on the first floor, framed by Ionic pilasters. On the second floor, the windows are square-headed and framed by Corinthian pilasters. Some of the panels below the windows have a moulding of festoons. This discreet use of superimposed orders and changing window detail gives variation and relief to the regularity of the facade. The plain entablature bears the firm’s name and gives way to a pronounced cornice with dentils. A balustraded parapet discreetly caps the building.

Stewart Dawson’s building has been successfully strengthened and refurbished and remains a pivotal building in an Edwardian group of high townscape value.

Brick masonry external walls with piers reinforced with steel stanchions and girders cast in concrete.

Masonry inter-tenancy walls on the ground floor

Timber floors on timber floor joists spanning onto steel beams

Concrete strip foundations

Lambton Quay has developed over time to become Wellington City CBD’s “golden mile” of retail and commercial office buildings where banks, department stores and company head offices have traditionally built their highest quality buildings. This area has a high pedestrian ‘foot-count’ and is the key inner city retail shopping precinct. The street is characterised by the mix of modern office buildings and older heritage buildings, and the surviving heritage buildings continue to make a fine contribution to a, sometimes bland, modern streetscape along Lambton Quay. 

The Stewart Dawson’s Building can be read as part of a group of late Victorian / Edwardian Buildings that extend from the former Equitable Building and Investment Co. (EBI) at

360 Lambton Quay includes the Stewart Dawson Building at 366 Lambton and continues to the Fletcher’s building at 2-4 Willis Street. These buildings have been known collectively as Stewart Dawson’s Corner (SR 16509) since 1996 when the buildings were redeveloped, although Stewart Dawson jewellers are only associated with the building at 360 Lambton Quay. The Victorian / Edwardian precinct at the corner of Willis Street, Lambton Quay and Customhouse Quay also includes the group of fine Edwardian BNZ buildings on the opposite side of Lambton Quay from Stewart Dawson’s corner. 

The Stewart Dawson’s corner buildings conceal the cliff face of Clay Point, an early Wellington landmark, and most of the flat land in the immediate vicinity of Clay Point was reclaimed by C.R Carter in 1857 – 63. Lambton Quay is an early road that marks the original extent of the flat land above the high water mark on the Port Nicholson foreshore, and in the early years of European settlement houses, shops and warehouses lined the western side of Lambton Quay, with the sea and beach to the east. The earthquakes of 1848 and 1855 led to the early settler’s preference for timber construction, but the city’s many major fires in the later years of the nineteenth century saw the popularity of (fire resistant) brick and masonry buildings increase.[1] The WCC Old Shoreline Heritage Trail notes that “by the 1920s, this street [Lambton Quay] had some of the city’s finest buildings in an unbroken Victorian/ Edwardian streetscape.”[2] 

The WCC in the mid 1970s required that all buildings meet a minimum requirement for earthquake resistant design, a consequence was that many of the older buildings in Wellington’s 'Golden Mile' were demolished and replaced with high-rise structures made of steel and glass. This re-development of the inner city lasted well into the 1980s.[1]

The key surviving heritage buildings in and around Lambton Quay now include: -

The Lambton Quay Cenotaph (1929)

Government Buildings (1876) at 15 Lambton Quay,

Plischke and Firth’s Massey House (1948-57) at 126 – 132 Lambton Quay, the Edwardian Baroque Public Trust Building(1909) and Lambton Quay, the fine Gummer and Ford designed State Insurance Building (1942), both of which are located at the intersection of Stout Street and Lambton Quay

Druid’s Chambers(1924-25) 1 – 5 Woodward Street

The façade of Kirkaldie and Stains(1909, 1928 & 1988-89) at 165-177 Lambton Quay

The former DIC (1928) / Harbour City Centre at 179 – 193 Lambton Quay and the similarly styled neighbour the former T&G /Harcourt’s Building(1928) at 203 – 213 Lambton Quay both by A & K Henderson

Brandon House(1910) 20 Brandon Street

The Art Deco styled MLC Building (1939-40) at 231 Lambton Quay

The diminutive Kelburn Chambers (1901) at 280-284 Lambton Quay

The Lambton Quay to Upland Road Cable Car Heritage Route Area

Plimmer’s Emporium(1916) and the Lambton Quay to Boulcott Street Plimmer Steps Heritage Area

The Edwardian Whitcoulls Building at 312-316 Lambton Quay

The elegant South British Insurance Building(1936) at 326 Lambton Quay

The “Chicago” Styled CBA Building (1936) at 328-330 Lambton Quay

The Art Deco styled Prudential Assurance Building(1934-35) at 332-340 Lambton Quay

The group of older Classical styled buildings that turn the corner between 360 Lambton Quay and 2-4 Willis Street including Poy’s Building (c.1887, 1904/5), Stewart Dawson’s Building (1900) and Fletcher’s Building (1900).

The Bank of New Zealand street block of buildings at Hunter Street, and Lambton and Customhouse Quays, Building 1 (1901), Building 2 (1904), Building 3 (1885) Building 4 (1903)

The BNZ/Head Office Heritage Area

Lambton Quay can also be read in the context of the various high-quality heritage buildings on nearby Customhouse Quay, Featherston Street, Hunter Street, Jervois Quay, Johnston Street and The Terrace. Lambton Quay can also be read in the context of overlapping Stout Street Heritage Area and the nearby open space of the Wellington waterfront.

• 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?

  This three-storey building is the only surviving commercial building of note designed by William Chatfield. The building is a good representative example of an Edwardian Classical commercial premises and the façade is well-composed, with subtle and restrained detail.

• 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 group three of late Victorian / Edwardian buildings that are of a consistent scale and degree of ornamentation, and that effectively ‘turn-the-corner’ between Lambton Quay and Willis Street. The building façade makes a strong positive contribution to the BNZ /Head Office 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 is sited at the location of the once prominent headland at “Clay Point” that was a local landmark in Wellington Harbour. 
  
  
  
  In the years after 1850 this significant corner site at Clay Point has been named after successive business owners and has been known locally as McDowell’s Corner, Fitzgerald’s Corner and most recently Stewart Dawson’s Corner.
  
  
  
  The building is part of a group three of late Victorian / Edwardian buildings that are now thought of as Stewart Dawson’s corner (although only the central building has a historic association with the jeweller). Stewart Dawson’s corner continues to be a prominent landmark that marks the key intersection between Willis and Lambton Quay in Wellington’s CBD. 

• Association

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

  The building site has a strong historic association with the settlement of Port Nicholson, and the development of the early retail trade in the city.

• Association

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

  The ground floor jewellery store in this building has been occupied by Stewart Dawson’s jewellers for over 100 years and few businesses in Wellington can claim to have traded from the same building for so long. The building has a strong historic association with Stewart Dawson’s, a large international jewellery business and with its owner David Stewart Dawson.
  
  

  This three-storey building is the only surviving commercial building of note designed by William Chatfield, a once prominent local architect.

  
  

• Archaeological

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

  The site has been occupied continuously since at least 1861

• Technological

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

  The construction technique used in the building was progressive for its time, revealing an advanced appreciation of seismic construction. The main feature of this system was steel stanchions and girders cast in concrete.

• 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) unaltered for over 100 years and makes a strong positive contribution to the sense of place and continuity of the BNZ /Head Office Heritage Area. 
  
  
  
  The ground floor jewellery store in this building has been occupied by Stewart Dawson’s jewellers for over 100 years and few businesses in Wellington can claim to have traded from the same building for so long

• Public Esteem

  Is the item held in high public esteem?

  The building is held in high public esteem as a local landmark, as can be seen by the public interest in its preservation when it was faced with demolition in the 1980s.

• 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 has had relatively few intrusive modern alterations and retains substantial areas of original building fabric.

• Rare

  Is the item rare, unique, unusual, seminal, influential, or outstanding?

  The building features comprehensive structural design to reinforce a masonry façade with steel stanchions. 
  
  

  The ground floor jewellery store in this building has been occupied by Stewart Dawson’s jewellers for over 100 years and few businesses in Wellington can claim to have traded from the same building for so long
  
  
  
  The building is a rare surviving example of an Edwardian masonry commercial building in Wellington’s CBD.
  
  

• Representative

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

  The building façade is a good representative example of an Edwardian commercial building.

Not assessed

• Lands and Deeds, CT 106/43
• Wises Directories 1903- , Wises Post Office Directories, Wises Directories, Dunedin
• Contract Specification Document, March 1900, WCC
• NZHPT 1988, Buildings Classification Committee Report, Stewart Dawson’s Building
• Ryan C 1984, .An Alternative to Destruction. in Historic Places, December 1984, NZHPT
• Alexander Turnbull Library
• WCC Archives
• NZHPT Professional biographies
• WCC Heritage Building Inventory 2001 ref Lamb 17
• WCC Old Shoreline Heritage Trail 1996 (2nd ed. 2005)
• WCC website accessed June 2012
• Newspapers
• Wellington Independent, 20 August 1861
• Page 1 Advertisements Column 3. Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3379, 23 December 1871, Page 1
• DEATH. Evening Post, Volume XII, Issue 141, 13 December 1875, Page 2
• Page 1 Advertisements Column 1 Evening Post, Volume XIX, Issue 111, 14 May 1880, Page 1 ; Page 4 Advertisements Column 2 Evening Post, Volume XIX, Issue 71, 29 March 1880, Page 4;
• CONTEMPT OF COURT. Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 110, 5 November 1895, Page 2;
• IMPORTANT PROPERTY SALE. Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 103, 28 October 1895, Page 2
• Sharland’s New Zealand Journal, 7 November 1899
• Sharland’s New Zealand Journal, 7 March 1900
• Page 4 Advertisements Column 5. Evening Post, Volume LIX, Issue 11, 13 January 1900, Page 4
• LOCAL AND GENERAL. Evening Post, Volume LIX, Issue 26, 31 January 1900, Page 5
• THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR. Evening Post, Volume LIX, Issue 34, 9 February 1900, Page 4
• Page 7 Advertisements Column 7 Evening Post, Volume LX, Issue 130, 29 November 1900, Page 7
• Stewart Dawson & Co. Manawatu Herald , 22 December 1900, Page 2
• Death of Mr Fitzgerald. Thames Star, Volume XLIIII, Issue 10120, 15 October 1906, Page 2
• OBITUARY. Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 254, 24 October 1913, Page 6;
• The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Friday 12 August 1932, page 8
• Old beauty loss upsets councillor, Evening Post, 1 December 1981
• The Quay’s changing face, Evening Post September 1981
• Stewart Dawson’s to be saved, restored., Evening Post, 5 April 1983Criteria for assessing cultural heritage significance

• Inventory Report
• 1900 drawings

Not available