Eastbourne Ferry Terminal Building (Former)

Wharf Police building

Waterloo Quay, Wellington, Wellington
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Image: WCC - Charles Collins, 2015
Image: WCC - Charles Collins, 2015
Cityview GIS 2013
Cityview GIS 2013
Moving to new premises - Eastbourne Borough Council truck in front of Eastbourne Ferry Service building, Wellington. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: 1/2-050181-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22905351

1952 - Moving to new premises - Eastbourne Borough Council truck in front of Eastbourne Ferry Service building, Wellington. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: 1/2-050181-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22905351

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  • Constructed

    1910

  • Architect(s)

    Wellington Harbour Board Engineer - James Marchbanks

  • Builder(s)

  • The Eastbourne Ferry Terminal Building (Former) was designed as a ticket office and administration building for the Eastbourne Ferry service. It is notable for the quality of its design, materials and workmanship; for its diminutive size; and its complex and unusual design. 

    This building is associated with the development of Wellington suburban life, was an important aspect of the recreational and commuter transport system between the 19th and 20th centuries. 

    The building’s original use can be understood from elements of its form and as such it helps to display the historical use of the waterfront. The building has become a familiar landmark to commuters and visitors.
     

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  • close History

    • The Eastbourne Ferry Terminal Building (former) is a significant historic feature on the Wellington Waterfront. It is a representation of the heyday of the ferry service that was started in the 1890s and can be seen as being a contributing factor in the establishment of Eastbourne and the Eastern Bays as residential suburbs by the 1910s.

      The Wellington Steam Ferry Company was established as a public in 1900 by J.H. Williams, who had been responsible for the development of a regular harbour ferry service between Wellington and Days Bay in the 1890s. His son had been involved in the establishment of Days Bay as an excursion spot for the ferry service. The Bay became a popular resort spot with a pavilion, hotel (now Wellesley College), tennis courts, hockey fields, and a water chute where the duck pond is now located. Williams built a wharf at Days Bay but increased crowds on Queens’s wharf caused him to persuade the Wellington Harbour Board to construct a special ferry jetty.

      The ferry wharf was built in three stages, with the main wharf being built in 1896, in 1906 it was doubled in size, and in 1912-14 a further section was added. The development of the subdivisions meant that there was a demand for a more frequent ferry service to cope with commuters so in 1901 the service from Days Bay began operating twice daily. The ferry service was extended to include Rona Bay in 1906 and also to a number of other small bays around the harbour following pressure from the Days Bay District Ratepayers Association which lobbied for more frequent services as well as more wharfs. The ferry service continued as the primary form of transportation to the Eastern suburbs and bays up until the 1940s, when buses became the dominant form of transport.

      It was in 1912 that the Eastbourne Ferry Terminal Building was constructed and the Ferry jetty also extended. The building was constructed as offices for the Wellington Steam Ferry Company Ltd., with a ticketing booth and turnstiles on the ground floor. The plans for the building were drawn up by H. Gyles Turner and signed off by James Marchbanks, the Wellington Harbour Board Chief Engineer. It was built by the Harbour Board staff for £1, 035 7sh.

      The building is an innovative design, responding to its precarious location on the edge of the water. According to Marchbanks in his annual report to the Wellington Harbour Board, it was a ‘two storey building in wood of plain, but elegant design, with a tile roof’. It had an inventive roof structure featuring interlocking hip and hipped gable Marseille tiled roofs, and a square entrance tunnel with a wrought iron gate. The plans show that as well as the wrought iron gates to the left of the tunnel, which provided access to the turnstiles. As well as this, there was a special ticket window and another set of iron gates which was the entrance for ticket holders.

      Inside the building there were offices upstairs as well as a toilet and a meeting room. In 1924 the southern end of the building was extended with the change office being widened and converted to a ticket and parcel office with a new sash window the same as the originals. The meeting room was also extended above the downstairs extension, which made room for a large board room and General Manager’s room, while one of the previous offices was converted into a Records room. New sash windows were installed in the east and west facades and the double sash windows that had been on the southern end of the building were reinstated. The roofline was also extended with the materials matching the originals. In 1946 the turnstiles were removed from the ground floor and the space was partitioned. The same year some modifications were made to the upstairs offices.

      The ferry service remained in this building until 1952. In 1948 the Eastbourne Borough Council, after many years of dealing with the declining ferry patronage; lease issues with the Wellington Harbour Board; and ship liabilities; decided to cease ferry operations.

      In 1970, Barney Daniels began operating a garbage disposal business from the Ferry Terminal Building. Daniels had a contract with the Wellington Harbour Board to collect garbage from the ships that were in port. Changes were made to the building mainly at the southern end of the ground floor and involved creating a clean area, a contamination area, a laundry, and a storage area. This filled in the open passenger area with new doors being installed in the eastern end opening onto the wharf. The ticket boxes and windows were removed from the Waterloo Quay façade.

      By the 1980s the Ferry Terminal Building housed B. T Daniels Maritime and Paintings Object Shop and Alison Daniels Barber Shop. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the building was also used as the offices of architect John Penlington. In 2009 the building was taken over by the Maritime Police Unit and National Dive Squad. Interior modifications were made so that the Maritime Police could move in. Overall the major changes have been focussed on the southern end particularly downstairs. These changes largely reflect the different uses that the building has had over time. The exteriors have been refurbished and the most noticeable changes are new doors and windows, installed between 2000 and 2010.

    • Modifications close
      • unknown
      • Plans can be seen in “Heritage building – Former Eastbourne Ferry Terminal – Waterloo Quay”, 1997, 1041-06-EAS, Wellington City Council Records.
      • 1896
      • Ferry Wharf constructed
      • 1912
      • Eastbourne Ferry Building constructed
      • 1946
      • Eastbourne Ferry Building extended
      • 1946
      • Eastbourne Ferry Building alterations
      • c.1970
      • Eastbourne Ferry Building (former) modifications – alterations for Garbage Disposal operations for port
      • 2009
      • Wellington Maritime Police Unit takes over Eastbourne Ferry Terminal Building (Former) and Ferry Wharf; internal renovations.
    • Occupation History close
      • 1912
      • Wellington Steam Ferry Company Ltd
      • 1915
      • Eastbourne Borough Council Offices
      • c.1970
      • Barney Daniels
      • c.1980
      • B.T Daniels
      • c.1980
      • Alison Daniels
      • 1980 - 1990
      • John Penlington
      • 2009
      • Maritime Police Unit and National Dive Squad
  • close Architectural Information
    • Building Classification(s) close

      Not assessed

    • Architecture close

      The Eastbourne Ferry Terminal Building (former) was once the ticket office and administration building for the Eastbourne Ferry. It is a narrow two-storey building that is fundamentally rectangular in plan, but with a chamfered north-east corner to suit the splay of the wharf. The centre part of the ground floor is a tunnel, or void, that was once a walk-through ticket office and provides access to the Ferry pier beyond.

      The roof plan is complex, but is generally hipped, with wide overhanging eaves, and follows the irregular shape of the floor plans below. The roof is clad in Marseille tiles and the walls are clad in timber shiplap weatherboards. There is a bell-cast dado that runs as a band around the exterior of the building and extends from the base of the first floor windows to the head of the ticket office ‘tunnel’. This is clad in timber shingles. The windows are, generally, timber sashes, with timber doors of varying heights and widths. There is a pair of gates that can be used to secure the ticket office ‘tunnel’ and ferry pier beyond.

      This is an unusual building that forms a distinct minor landmark within the industrial landscape of the former working port. The domestic scale and character of this building is in strong contrast with the waterfront sheds, cranes and ships that are its nearest neighbours. Other distinguishing features include the high quality of its building materials – particularly the Marseille tiles and the cast iron gates; and the complex arrangement of its external cladding, and its plan, roof-form, central ‘tunnel’ void.

      Internally and externally it maintains a high level of authenticity as there have been few major alterations since 1924. Internally it is lined with timber and the original wooden staircase is still in place at the northern end.

    • Materials close

      Timber, wrought iron, tile.

    • Setting close

      The Eastbourne Ferry Terminal Building (Former) is located on the seaward side of Waterloo Quay. It is a somewhat isolate building, having few neighbours other than car parks now that Shed 17 and the Customs House have been demolished. The ferry building is visible from Waterloo Quay, a major transport node of the city.

      More widely the Ferry building can be understood as a part of the Wellington Harbour setting as it relates well to Sheds 21, 11, and 13.

  • close Cultural Value

    The Eastbourne Ferry Terminal Building (Former) was designed as a ticket office and administration building for the Eastbourne Ferry service. It is notable for the quality of its design, materials and workmanship; for its diminutive size; and its complex and unusual design.

    This building is associated with the development of Wellington suburban life, was an important aspect of the recreational and commuter transport system between the 19th and 20th centuries.

    The building’s original use can be understood from elements of its form and as such it helps to display the historical use of the waterfront. The building has become a familiar landmark to commuters and visitors.

    • 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?

        The Eastbourne Ferry Terminal Building (Former) was designed as a ticket office and administration building for the Eastbourne Ferry service. It is notable for the quality of its design, materials and workmanship; for its diminutive size; and its complex and unusual design.

      • 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 one of a group of heritage buildings and objects that have an association with the Wellington Harbour Board and contribute to the character of the Wellington 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?

        This diminutive domestic-scale building forms a minor landmark within the industrial landscape of the former working port.

    • Historic Value close

      • Association

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

        This building has historical significance due to its association with the Eastbourne Borough Council and the establishment of the eastern suburbs. The ferry service played an important role in the development of recreation and residential suburbs of Wellington. 

      • Association

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

        This building is associated with the development of Wellington suburban life, was an important aspect of the recreational and commuter transport system between the 19th and 20th centuries. 

    • Scientific Value close

      • Archaeological

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

        The ferry wharf was built in 1896 and so has some archaeological significance in that it is one of the few remaining wooden wharfs on the Wellington waterfront.

      • Technological

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

        The Ferry Terminal building is a small scale wooden structure that was designed specifically for the site, so it has some technical value in the thought that has been put into the design.

    • Social Value close

      • 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 has had few intrusive modern alterations or additions over the past 100+ years and contributes to the sense of place and continuity of the Wellington waterfront.

      • Public Esteem

        Is the item held in high public esteem?

        The building is visible from Waterloo Quay and is a familiar landmark for commuters. It helps to tell an important part of the Wellington waterfront story particularly to the creation of the ferry service and the development of the eastern suburbs.

    • Level of Cultural Heritage Significance close

      • 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?

        This building has authenticity and integrity as it has had few major modifications carried out.

      • 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 important at a local level due to its association with the Eastbourne Borough Council and the establishment of the eastern suburbs, the ferry service, and the commercial development of Wellington.

      • Representative

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

        This building is a good representative example of a diminutive, functional building whose original use can still be understood from its form.

    • Local / Regional / National / International Importance close

      Not assessed

  • close Site Detail

    • District Plan Number

      17/ 337

    • Legal Description

      Pt Bed Port Nicholson Survey Office Plan 34851

    • Heritage New Zealand Listed

      2/ 7807

    • Archaeological Site

      Sited on pre-1900 timber wharf

    • Current Uses

      unknown

    • Former Uses

      unknown

    • Has building been funded

      No

    • Funding Amount

      Not applicable

    • Earthquake Prone Status

      Unknown

  • close Additional Information

Last updated: 7/12/2017 2:58:57 AM