Fletcher’s Building (Former)

Clay Point; McDowell’s Corner; Fitzgerald’s Corner; Apothecaries’ Hall; C A Fletcher Chemist; City Meat; Borrin Building; Stewart Dawson Chambers; Carroll’s Tea Rooms; 2 Willis Street

2-4 Willis Street, Te Aro, Wellington
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Image: Charles Collins, 2015

Image: WCC - Charles Collins, 2015

Extent: Cityview GIS 2012
Extent: Cityview GIS 2012
April 1900 ground, first and second floor plan as proposed. Image: WCC Archives ref 00053_59_3707
April 1900 ground, first and second floor plan as proposed. Image: WCC Archives ref 00053_59_3707
1903 new four storey office and warehouse building constructed behind the existing (1900) building. Image: WCC archives 00053_92_5249-plans.
1903 new four storey office and warehouse building constructed behind the existing (1900) building. Image: WCC archives 00053_92_5249-plans.
1919 proposed alterations by William Turnbull. Note the use of the rear portion of the building as a Tea Rooms, and the division of the ground floor shop fronting Willis Street into two separate tenancies. Image: WCC Archives 00053_198_10964
1919 proposed alterations by William Turnbull. Note the use of the rear portion of the building as a Tea Rooms, and the division of the ground floor shop fronting Willis Street into two separate tenancies. Image: WCC Archives 00053_198_10964
1995 proposed site plan showing 360 Lambton Quay (United Fruit / EBI), 366 Lambton Quay (Stewart Dawson’s) and 2-4 Willis Street (Fletchers / City Meat). Image: WCC Archives ref 00061_171_15462
1995 proposed site plan showing 360 Lambton Quay (United Fruit / EBI), 366 Lambton Quay (Stewart Dawson’s) and 2-4 Willis Street (Fletchers / City Meat). Image: WCC Archives ref 00061_171_15462
Map

  • Constructed

    1872 - 1872

  • Heritage Area

    BNZ Head Office

  • Architect(s)

    Thomas Turnbull and Son / Crichton, McKay & Haughton

  • Builder(s)

    W. L. Thompson (1903 rear warehouses and offices)

  • The Fletcher’s Building is an attractive and well-designed Edwardian Classical building designed by Thomas Turnbull and Sons a well-known and regarded Wellington architectural practice.

    The building is sited at the location of the once prominent headland at “Clay Point” that was a local landmark in Wellington Harbour.

    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.

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

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  • close History

    • Fletcher’s Building was built and named for Charles Augustus Fletcher, a chemist of Wellington. The permit was issued on 28 January 1903 and a panoramic photograph of Wellington, taken late in 1903, shows the completed building. Charles Augustus Fletcher (ca 1876 – 1936) was educated at Christ’s College, Christchurch and owned a chemist shop in Christchurch before moving to Wellington in circa 1900 when he purchased Fitzgerald’s Chemist business on the corner of Lambton Quay and Willis Street by November 1902.

      The site of Fletcher’s chemist shop is located at the edge of the original promontory of Clay Point (aka Windy Point), and the land above was originally used as a brickworks. In circa 1861 John Warmoll (1831- 1913)   built a shop on land by Lambton Quay that was by then, according to the NZHPT, altered beyond recognition by reclamation.

      Wormall was born in Bungey in Suffolk and was at first a sailor in the navy, then a merchant seaman, and finally a whaler before he ‘went ashore’ to join the gold rush in Victoria. By 1861 he had moved to New Zealand and went on to established a mercery and clothing business stocked with the equipment suitable for use in the goldfields, from a shop was said to be the largest in Wellington at that time. He sold the property at Clay Point in 1872 to follow the Thames gold rush and later opened a ‘hydropathic establishment’ in Ponsonby in Auckland. His obituary notes that he was known as a pioneer in food-reform for his promotion of a fruit diet.

      Messrs J McDowell and Co. Drapers purchased the property in 1872 and extended the existing Warmoll’s building with a new ‘wing’ on Willis Street. This extension doubled the size of the original building, and the shop went from being considered the largest in Wellington to being considered one of the largest shops in the colony, and the site was thereafter known as McDowell’s corner. McDowell sold the property in 1895 to W.C. Fitzgerald a ‘chemist and surgeon dentist’ who had earlier operated from a property in Manners Street. The neighbouring property occupied by the Evening Post was also sold around this time. The site on the corner of Willis and Lambton Quay was thereafter known as Fitzgerald’s corner for the five years until the end of the nineteenth century.

      The original Warmoll’s section of the timber premises on Lambton Quay (approximately) was bought by David Stewart Dawson in 1900, and Fitzgerald retained most of the McDowell’s extension which was probably given separate title around that time. Stewart Dawson’s demolished their part of the Wormall building in 1900 and Fitzgerald submitted a building permit application to create an extension his pharmacy designed by Thomas Turnbull in January 1900. This presumably created most of the shop façade that still exists. He then moved his pharmacy to the “wrong side” of Willis Street awaiting completion of his new premises, but soon after sold the business and premises to C.A. Fletcher. C.A. Fletcher then submitted a building permit application for a new building at the rear of the site (behind the Fitzgerald / Thomas Turnbull shop) in January 1903, and this extension was designed by Crighton and McKay.

      Fletcher’s Building, like many others, had shops on the ground floor and offices on the floors above. Charles Fletcher had his chemist shop on the ground floor until 1907 and in the mid-1920s he kept offices on the 3rd floor. By 1930 Fletcher had sold the building to S.G. Nathan.

      Many alterations have been made to the building over its history. A verandah was added in 1930 and the majority of modifications since then have been to shop fronts and interiors. By 1919 the rear building on the site housed Carroll’s Tea Rooms. In 1960 part of the building was converted into the Hungarian Club while in 1964 one shop was modified to make way for a butcher’s store, City Meats, which became strongly identified with the building.

      The conversion of part of the building into the Hungarian Club came at a key time in the history of New Zealand’s participation in the Cold War. Although a few hundred Hungarian refugees arrived in New Zealand after WWII, more fled Hungary in the wake of the 1956 uprising against Communism, and by 1959 New Zealand’s share (1,117) of the 200,000 people seeking refuge had arrived. Most were male, single and in their 20s, and many of these struggled to integrate. Some refugees, after ten years under Communist rule, held strong distrust of government workers and this is shown by the record of the Welfare Officer who wrote “I have been told that rumours have been spread according to which I am not in fact a Hungarian Welfare Officer but merely a paid agent of the Government to spy on their political beliefs. Some of the refugees do not approach me with confidence.”

      The influx of Hungarian refugees “reinvigorated” the existing Hungarian clubs and associations and many more were formed to welcome the new arrivals. These had generally served their purpose by the 1970s and many folded soon after. Te Ara the Encyclopedia of New Zealand notes that the demise of the Wellington club was due to mistrust “…within the Hungarian community, divided by political and religious beliefs...”

      In 1988 the property at 2-4 Willis Street was sold to Lambton Quay No. 366 Limited, an investment company that also secured title to 360 Lambton Quay and 366 Lambton Quay, and other buildings to the rear of these properties. The buildings were substantially refurbished in 1996/7, with the loss of considerable original internal fabric. The building now houses retail and commercial businesses.

    • Modifications close
      • 1857 - 1863
      • CR Carter reclamation on the east side of Lambton Quay
      • c.1861 - c.1861
      • Timber building at Clay Point constructed for John Warmoll. The site was occupied by Warmoll’s Outfitting Establishment from at least 1861 until early in 1872.
      • 1872 - 1872
      • The property was sold to Messrs J McDowell and Co Drapers who extended the building along Willis Street
      • 1895 - 1895
      • McDowell sold the property at the corner of Willis Street and Lambton Quay to W.C. Fitzgerald
      • 1900 - 1900
      • Fitzgerald sold part of the building to Stewart Dawson. He appears to have commissioned Thomas Turnbull & Son to design additions to his existing (1872). Further research is required to establish if any of the 1872 building fabric survives. Stewart Dawson’s jeweller opened their new premises at the corner of Lambton Quay and Willis Street, and Fitzgerald’s pharmacy moved to temporary premises awaiting building works.
      • 1901 - 1901
      • Fitzgerald advertised a suite of rooms to let on the first floor of his “new brick building” in January 1901
      • 1903 - 1903
      • C.A. Fletcher purchased Fitzgerald’s pharmacy on Willis Street and built a new warehouse and office building behind the shop designed by Crichton and McKay.
      • 1906 - 1906
      • William C Fitzgerald, chemist, died of an overdose of the drug ‘trional’ “taken to induce sleep.”
      • 1919 - 1919
      • Charles Fletcher made further modifications to the front shop building, all designed by Thomas Turnbull.
      • 1944 - 1944
      • Possible (extensive) repairs due to earthquake damage SR B23561 value £2,200
      • 1987 - 1987
      • Purchased by Renouf Property Investments Ltd
      • 1988 - 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 - 1997
      • Extensive refurbishment with the substantial loss of older building fabric
    • Occupation History close

      Not assessed

  • close Architectural Information
    • Building Classification(s) close

      Not assessed

    • Architecture close

      This three-storey building is a contemporary of the neighbouring Stewart Dawson’s building, and there are similarities in scale and feature between the two. The facade is designed in an Edwardian Free Classical style, with a central emphasis defined by paired windows and small balconies. The lower balcony projects slightly and carries a small entablature above, supported by fluted columns. The windows are recessed into segmental arches on the first floor and round-headed arches on the second. A vertical emphasis is provided by four pilasters on each floor, either belted (first floor), or rusticated (second floor). The second-floor pilasters terminate in consoles. A small tower caps the building, complete with flagpole.

    • Materials close

      Brick masonry walls; timber floors; timber roof structure.

    • Setting close

      The area near the intersection of Willis Street and Lambton Quay is characterised by a mix of modern office buildings and older heritage buildings, and the surviving heritage buildings continue to make a strong contribution to a, sometimes bland, modern streetscape along both avenues.

      The Fletcher’s Building is part of a discrete 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 BNZ / Head Office Heritage Area at the corner of Willis Street, Lambton Quay and Customhouse Quay also includes, among other buildings, the group of fine Edwardian BNZ buildings on the opposite side of Lambton Quay from Stewart Dawson’s corner.

  • close Cultural Value

    The Fletcher’s Building is an attractive and well-designed Edwardian Classical building designed by Thomas Turnbull and Sons a well-known and regarded Wellington architectural practice.

    The building is sited at the location of the once prominent headland at “Clay Point” that was a local landmark in Wellington Harbour.

    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.

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

    • 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 Fletcher’s Building is an attractive and well-designed Edwardian Classical building.

      • 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 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 and has had a long history as a meeting place.

    • Historic Value close

      • Association

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

        The building is associated with the Hungarian Club that worked to help the refugees who fled the aftermath of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising adapt to their new life in New Zealand.

        The building is the work of Thomas Turnbull and Sons, a well-known and regarded Wellington architectural practice.

    • Scientific Value close

      • 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.

    • 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 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.

    • 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?

        The building façade has had relatively few intrusive modern alterations and retains substantial areas of original building fabric, but the building interior is much altered.

      • Rare

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

        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.

    • Local / Regional / National / International Importance close

      Not assessed

  • close Site Detail

    • District Plan Number

      17/ 342

    • Legal Description

      Lot 1 DP 32520 Pt Secs 512, 513 Town of Wellington

    • Heritage New Zealand Listed

      2/ Historic Place 3619 and South Lambton Quay Historic Area 7041

    • Archaeological Site

      Pre 1900 human history on site

    • Current Uses

      unknown

    • Former Uses

      unknown

    • Has building been funded

      No

    • Funding Amount

      Not applicable

    • Earthquake Prone Status

      124 Notice

  • close Additional Information
    • Sources close
      • WCC Heritage Building Inventory 2001 ref Will 1
      • Land Titles Office, CT 106/43
      • Cochran, Chris, Turnbull House Conservation Plan (Wellington: Department of Conservation, 1991)
      • Main W 1972, “Wellington Through a Victorian Lens”, Millwood Press, Wellington
      • NZHPT 1988, Buildings Classification Committee Report, Stewart Dawson’s Building
      • WCC archives ref C7590
      • WCC archives ref 3707
      • WCC archives ref 00053_91_5429-plan
      • WCC archives ref 00053_198_10964
      • WCC Building Permit File, Fletcher’s Building, 360 Lambton Quay
      • WCC Old Shoreline Heritage Trail 1996 (2nd ed. 2005)
      • Wise’s Directories, Wise’s New Zealand Post Office Directories, Wise’s Directories, Dunedin
      • BUILDING REGULATIONS. Evening Post, 17 July 1884
      • CONTEMPT OF COURT. Evening Post, 5 November 1895
      • DEATH. Evening Post, 13 December 1875
      • “Death of Mr Fitzgerald”. Thames Star, Volume, 15 October 1906,
      • Evening Post, 29 March 1880, Page 4
      • Evening Post, 14 May 1880, Page 1
      • Evening Post, 7 January 1901
      • Evening Post, 22 November 1902
      • IMPORTANT PROPERTY SALE. Evening Post, 28 October 1895
      • New Zealand Free Lance, 29 September 1900
      • OBITUARY. Auckland Star, 24 October 1913
      • OBITUARY Evening Post , 5 May 1936
      • “Stewart Dawson & Co.” Manawatu Herald , 22 December 1900
      • Wellington Independent, 20 August 1861
      • Wellington Independent, 23 December 1871
      • NZHPT website accessed July 2012
      • Te Ara Story: Hungarians Page 2 – Immigration from 1956: refugees
      • Historic Places Trust, “Turnbull, Thomas - Architect”, Professional Biographies, accessed September 25, 2012,
      • WCC website accessed June 2012
    • Technical Documentation close
    • Footnotes close

      Not available

Last updated: 11/28/2017 3:37:44 AM