Evening Post Building (Former)

• 1865 - 1865
• Evening Post founded by Henry Blundell & Sons
• 1896 - 1896
• Evening Post offices moved to 82 Willis Street to a new building designed by William Chatfield Evening Post offices moved to 82 Willis Street to a new building designed by William Chatfield (requires verification)
• 1928 - 1928
• Evening Post Building designed by William Fielding and constructed by Fletcher Construction.
• c.1942 - c.1942
• Parapet removed
• 1972 - 1972
• Control of the Evening Post transferred from Blundell Brothers to the Wellington Publishing Company Control of the Evening Post transferred from Blundell Brothers to the Wellington Publishing Company (later Independent Newspapers Ltd. which owned the Dominion.
• 1975 - 1975
• $300,000 works designed by TSE group architects
• 2002 - 2002
• The Evening Post and the Dominion were merged to form the DomPost.

Not assessed

Not assessed

Despite being sited in the narrow middle section of Willis Street, the Evening Post building faces along the axis of Mercer Street, which makes it highly visible in the streetscape.

The Evening Post building is a good example of the Chicago style. It is divided into three parts: the base consisting of the ground floor, which was originally clad in red Aberdeen granite; the shaft of five storeys, each floor with a regular row of five square-headed windows with continuous shafts running up between them, and a top floor separated by a patterned frieze. A bold bracketted cornice and balustrade that originally finished the building has now been removed. The whole elevation from the first floor level up was faced with glazed terracotta tiles. Although these still exist they have been painted over; according to the specification, they were to be supplied by Burmantoft’s, Leeds Fireclay Co., England. The central three bays of the first floor, articulated by columns supporting a cornice, remains fully intact, while the ground floor, inside and out, has been extensively modified.

The structure is a steel frame encased in concrete; the side and rear elevations are rendered concrete.

Steel structure encased in concrete; rear and side elevations rendered concrete;

Aberdeen Red granite cladding at ground floor levels (assumed since removed)

Vitreous glazed terracotta tile cladding at upper levels (now painted over) supplied by Burmantoft’s, Leeds Fireclay Co., England

Marble floors and stair treads

The former Evening Post building is located at the south end of Willis Street, which along with Lambton Quay forms Wellington’s “golden mile” of retail and corporate office buildings. The Evening Post Building makes good use of its prominent location at the “T” intersection of Willis and Mercer Street, and is visible from the Civic Square and the nearby Dominion Building. The Dominion Building was home to the Evening Post’s one time rival newspaper the Dominion and the buildings are of a similar age and style.

The west side of Willis Street is dominated at the Boulcott Street intersection by the massive Majestic Centre, one of the tallest buildings in the CBD, and the Majestic Centre development includes the timber French Second Empire styled Dr Henry Pollen house (1902), and the disembodied Classical façade of the former Preston’s Building (1902). The podium of the Majestic Centre adjoins the Chicago-style Evening Post Building (1928). There are two further late 19th / early 20th century Classical buildings to the north of the Evening Post Building and the diminutive two storied building is now disfigured by a large advertising hoarding, and the façade of its neighbour to the north has been much modified.

The street blocks to the east of Willis Street include a fine collection of heritage buildings including the eclectic Jaycee Building (1920) with its unusual mix of Classical motifs, and these are adjoined on both sides by diminutive two-storied late 19th / early 20th century commercial buildings. The carefully detailed Art Deco style Hibernian Building (1930) is sited on the prominent corner between Willis and Bond Streets. The street-block bounded by Willis, Mercer Street, Victoria and Bond Streets includes the very fine Chicago styled Dominion Building that occupies the corner site between Victoria and Mercer Streets.

The quality of the modern commercial buildings on Willis Street varies between the low rise and low quality retail outlets (such as the street block between Mercer and Bond Streets, and the Dukes Arcade) and high rise, higher quality buildings such as the Majestic Centre, and the PoMo Cigna House on the corner of Mercer and Willis.

• 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 building is a good representative example of a Chicago style office building, and is probably the best remaining commercial building designed by William Fielding, a well-regarded local Wellington architect.

• 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 can be read in conjunction with the fine, similarly styled, Dominion Building on the corner of Mercer and Victoria Street that was occupied by the offices a prominent, rival newspaper.

• 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 located on a prominent site at the end of Mercer Street and is to some extent a local landmark.

• Association

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

  The building has a strong association with the Evening Post, Wellington’s daily evening newspaper that was published from various offices on Willis Street for 137 years. The newspaper has immense social importance as it has provided the most prolific record of the life and culture of the city. The building was synonymous with the name of the newspaper from the time of its construction in 1928 until the newspaper merged with its rival to form the DomPost. The building has important historic value for its inextricable link with the editing and production of the paper and this value is presently enhanced by the production of other papers, including The Dominion, on the site.

• Archaeological

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

  The building has archaeological value. Pre-1900 human activity on the site / located in the Wellington CBD

• 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 occupied this key site on Willis Street for over eighty years and, despite some unsympathetic modern alterations, continues to contribute to the sense of place and continuity of the Willis Street commercial / retail precinct.

• Public Esteem

  Is the item held in high public esteem?

  The building was once held in high public esteem for its association with Evening Post, a politically neutral daily newspaper. This esteem has been diminished somewhat by the demise of the Evening Post, and the renaming of the building to Zephyr House.

• Sentiment/Connection

  Is the item a focus of community sentiment and connection?

  The Evening Post continues to hold a special place in the culture of the capital city although this connection will diminish over time now that the paper is no longer in circulation. Archival copies of the Evening Post newspaper, however, continue to be a valuable source of social history for all New Zealanders.

• 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?

  Although it has suffered from some unsympathetic modifications, the form, fenestration and much detail on the Willis Street facade remain to indicate a building of quality for its time.

• Representative

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

  The building is a good representative example of a 1920s Chicago-style commercial building.

Not assessed

• Alexander Turnbull Library Photographic Collection
• Leslie Verry. 'Blundell, Henry - Biography', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 1-Sep-10
• “Evening Post” Paperspast website accessed July 2012
• WCC Archives
• NEW OFFICES Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 51, 29 August 1927, Page 8
• Kernohan D. & Kellaway T. 1994, Wellington’s Old Buildings, VUW Press, Wellington
• Wellington City Council Heritage Building Inventory 2001 – Appendix III Wellington Architects
• Hataitai Local History website accessed July 2012 (note that the website references Evening Post articles of 26th and 29th July 1946 (possibly Mr Fielding’s obituary))
• WCC Heritage Building Inventory ref Will2

• Inventory Report
• 1927 specifications and drawings

Not available