Rutland Private Hotel (Former)

The Rutland Private Hotel, Plimmer’s Steps Private Hotel, Plimmer Apartments

3 Plimmer’s Steps, Wellington, Wellington
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Image: Charles Collins, 2015
Image: WCC - Charles Collins, 2015
CityView GIS 2013
CityView GIS 2013
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  • Constructed

    1916 - 1917

  • Architect(s)

    Swan & Swan

  • Builder(s)

  • 3 Plimmer’s Steps is an unadorned Edwardian commercial building that has modest aesthetic value. 

    The building has some group value for its association with the nearby Plimmers Steps and the Plimmer Oak tree. 

    The building has had an uneventful representative history as an inner-city private (un-licensed) hotel. 
     

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  • close History

    • The former Plimmer’s Emporium started life as the Rutland Private Hotel. It was built in 1916 for the Plimmer’s Steps Private Hotel Co. for £5,900. The major shareholders of the hotel company appear to be its architect J.S Swan (acting as Swan and Swan), and builders Messrs Campbell and Bourke, along with H. Hall, Elizabeth Reid, H. Plimmer, G. Fitzgerald and Kate Booth (Nelson).

      Plimmer’s Steps were so named because the land they run through was leased, and then purchased, in 1844 by the famous early settler John Plimmer. He built several houses on the north side of the steps and ran a lime-making business on Lambton Quay, just to the south of the steps. In 1849 he dragged the Inconstant to the shore at a point opposite the steps and established a store that became known as Plimmer’s Ark.

      The Rutland Private Hotel opened in April 1917 and early advertisements note that it was a first class private (unlicensed or temperance) hotel with ‘two bathrooms on each floor’, ‘excellent cuisine’ and a ‘commanding view from roof garden of Wellington and Harbour.’ The hotel was located on the triangular site between Dominion Avenue and Plimmers Steps, and was operated by Mrs McCormick, its first proprietress.

      The hotel was converted into shops and offices in 1972 to designs by Ian Athfield, and the building appears to have been renamed the Plimmer’s Emporium at about this date. This name is something of a misnomer as, although H. Plimmer was an early (minor) shareholder, the building has no other known association with the Plimmer family. The second floor was reconfigured as apartments in 1996 and the architect for this work was Roger Walker. The ground floor remains tenanted by businesses.

    • Modifications close
      • 1916
      • Plans as proposed for the Plimmer’s Steps Private Hotel
      • 1916
      • (00053:188:10340; 3) Plimmer’s Steps, private hotel
      • 1972
      • (00058:773:C34847; 3) Plimmer’s Steps, hotel converted to shops and offices
      • 1996
      • (00061:208:16589; 3) Plimmer’s Steps, seismic strengthening, level 2
      • 1996
      • SR20303, apartments at level one
      • 2013
      • SR218742 aBLDG CONSENT 3.2 - Commercial – Construction of new additional apartment level on the existing roofing listed heritage building. The new level consists of 4 new apartments and common space.
    • Occupation History close

      Not assessed

  • close Architectural Information
    • Building Classification(s) close

      Not assessed

    • Architecture close

      The former Plimmer’s Emporium has had extensive interior modifications and preserves only basic layout features from the original private hotel. In its original form, it had lounge, dining room, billiard room and kitchen on the ground floor, and 21 bedrooms on each of the first and second floors. The facade remains much as originally designed, with alterations to the balconies and the removal of plaster facings over the windows. The Athfield designed alterations of the 1970s consisted largely of superficial detail - exuberant paintwork and over-emphasised timber work - and has recently been removed.

      What remains is an exceptionally plain commercial exterior, with no ornament to speak of, and no features of note. Cement quoins on the ground-floor corners, and on the main entrance, are the only concession to something other than the purely utilitarian. The windows are plain double-hung sashes, with smaller casement windows in the centre to light the stairwell. The building is capped with a plain parapet that steps slightly over the centre.

      The construction is load-bearing brick masonry on concrete foundations, with the cellar walls of concrete. Concrete bands in the walls were reinforced with steel. Rolled steel joists were placed over the shop windows and under the totara floors of the ground and first floors. The building has modest townscape value, contributing to the intimate pedestrian space of Plimmer’s Steps.

      The former Plimmer’s Emporium is one of Wellington’s many wedge-shaped buildings that have been designed to suit Wellington’s winding roads and steep topography.

    • Materials close

      Reinforced concrete frame, foundations, ground floor slab and roof

      Brick in-fill

      Timber intermediate floors

    • Setting close

      The former Plimmer’s Emporium is located on a triangle of land that is bounded by Dominion Avenue and Plimmer’s Steps. The site is steeply pitched, and the building is ‘land-locked’ between other taller modern buildings with no street frontage. An oak tree to the north of the building is said to have been planted by John Plimmer in c.1850.


  • close Cultural Value

    3 Plimmer’s Steps is an unadorned Edwardian commercial building that has modest aesthetic value. 

    The building has some group value for its association with the nearby Plimmers Steps and the Plimmer Oak tree. 

    The building has had an uneventful representative history as an inner-city private (un-licensed) hotel. 
     

    • Aesthetic Value close

      • 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?

        3 Plimmer’s Steps is an unadorned Edwardian commercial building that has modest 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?

        The building has some group value for its association with the nearby Plimmer’s Steps and the Plimmer Oak tree.

    • Historic Value close

      • Association

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

        The building has had an uneventful representative history as an inner-city private (un-licensed) hotel.

    • Scientific Value close

      • Archaeological

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

        Central City NZAA R27/270

    • Social Value close

      Not assessed

    • Level of Cultural Heritage Significance close

      Not assessed

    • Local / Regional / National / International Importance close

      Not assessed

  • close Site Detail

    • District Plan Number

      17/ 254

    • Legal Description

      Lot 1 DP 84329

    • Heritage New Zealand Listed

      South Lambton Quay Historic Area ref 7041

    • Archaeological Site

      Central City NZAA R27/270

    • Current Uses

      unknown

    • Former Uses

      unknown

    • Has building been funded

      No

    • Funding Amount

      Not applicable

    • Earthquake Prone Status

      Not Earthquake Prone

  • close Additional Information

Last updated: 11/27/2017 3:01:52 AM