Ngaio Town Hall

• 1924 - 1925
• Building constructed
• 1927 - 1927
• Additions - door constructed between ladies bathroom and dressing room, requiring a lean-to at the rear of the building (00056:28:B2752)
• 1928 - 1928
• World War One roll of honour donated and installed
• 1929 - 1929
• Projection box installed above the entrance porch (00056:71:B6860)
• 1930 - 1930
• The grounds are landscaped
• 1932 - 1932
• Fire escape placed at rear of men‘s dressing rooms as the door between the library and main hall had been permanently closed Fire escape placed at rear of men‘s dressing rooms as the door between the library and main hall had been permanently closed (The original fire escape plans are in the Records of the Ngaio Progressive Association, Alexander Turnbull Library).
• c.1950 - c.1950
• Custom lighting installed in the main hall to make badminton playing easier
• 1962 - 1962
• Extension to stage area – additional dressing rooms
• 1988 - 1989
• Ngaio Town Hall is redeveloped. (00059:640:D11782) The library is moved out of the building. The drop-in centre, toy library and childcare centre are established within the Town Hall.
• 1989 - 1989
• Cummings Park Library opens next door to the Town Hall on Saturday 25th November.
• 1994 - 1994
• Alterations to the Town Hall. The toy library is extended, requiring alterations to the kitchen and adjacent storage space (00060:169:6166)
• 1999 - 1999
• Interior painting and renewal of heating in the Town Hall and curtains hung in the main hall.

Not assessed

Not assessed

The Ngaio Town Hall is a 1942 civic building that was designed in an Arts and Crafts style. The steeply pitched roof is a dominant feature of the building, with its prominent ridge-mounted roof ventilators, wide overhanging eaves, and the irregular shapes formed by its hips, part-hips and lean-to sections. The roof-top ventilators appear to be simplified replacements of the originals.

The main (south) elevation features a hipped roof, but the eaves have been cut back somewhat and are approximately one-metre higher than at the east and west elevations. The area between the eave and the top of the brickwork of the walls is clad in timber shiplap weatherboards, and splayed at the base to create a ‘bell-cast dado’. The ground floor external walls are brick, and the entrance porch is set in a wide projecting bay with simple, rendered, pilasters. The dormer window (shown on early photographs) has been removed.

The east side of the building features a row of dormers at roof level. The walls are brick with a rendered band below the eaves. The window lintels and sills are rendered and are likely to be concrete. The wall is divided into bays with simple projecting brickwork ‘pilasters’. The lean-to at the north end of the building once housed the library.

The interior comprises one main hall space oriented north-south, with the entrance porch and cloakrooms at the south end and the stage at the north end. There are service rooms on both the east and west sides. Those on the east (Ottawa Street) side were originally the library reading room.

Despite the bulk of the building, the low roof eaves (especially over the original library wing), small paned windows, the dormers in the roof, and the hipped forms at each end of the main roof of the building tend to give it a domestic character.

The building is of cavity brick construction on concrete foundations and piles with timber floor, and the roof is spanned side to side by five rivetted steel trusses. The bottom chord of the trusses takes the barrel-shaped profile of the ceiling, giving the hall a spacious feel for its size. Flat-roofed dormer windows give good natural light. Interior finishes include timber dado panelling and fibrous plaster wall linings above.

The Ngaio Town Hall is a very distinctive landmark at a busy traffic intersection.

The hall is right in the centre of the suburb, close to other significant community landmarks such as Cummings Park, the library, a war memorial, the railway station, and Ngaio School. All Saints Church on the ridge to the east and the Town Hall together form the most important focal point physically and socially in the suburb of Ngaio. The design of the hall allows it to sit comfortably in the suburban context of the small scale shops and houses in the vicinity.

• 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 Ngaio Town Hall is a good representative example of an early 20th century civic building, designed in an Arts and Crafts style.

• 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 the most important landmark in Ngaio, partly because of its long history of community use and partly because of its site at the centre of the suburb, alongside a busy intersection and in proximity to All Saints Church and the Ngaio Railway Station.

• Association

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

  The Ngaio Town Hall is a civic building with a long history of community use. It was first proposed by the Ngaio Progressive Association in the early 1920s and built to a design by the Wellington City Council City Architect. It has an association with the establishment and growth of suburban Ngaio.

• Archaeological

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

  Pre 1900 land use –Kaiwarra Saw Mill was located nearby.

• 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?

  Although the building has been subject to some intrusive modern alterations and additions (particularly to the north elevation) it has been a feature of the Ngaio townscape for over 90 years and contributes to the sense of place and continuity of the suburb.

• Public Esteem

  Is the item held in high public esteem?

  The building is an obvious display of community spirit that became evident in Wellington’s fledgling suburbs in the early 20th century. It was built at the behest of the local community and was funded by a local rates levy. It is likely to be held in high public esteem by its local community.

• Sentiment - Connection

  Is the item a focus of community sentiment and connection?

  The building is likely to be the focus of community sentiment and connection as it remains an important part of the social life of Ngaio with such activities as weddings, balls, dances, film screenings, and sports occurring in the hall. Some particular groups have a long history of consistent use of the hall such as the Ngaio Badminton Club, which has met there since it began in 1950.

• Symbolic - Commemorative - Traditional - Spiritual

  Does the item have symbolic, commemorative, traditional, spiritual or other cultural value for the community who has used and continues to use it?

  The building has some commemorative value as the repository for a local World War One Roll of Honour.

• 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 retains much of its early or original form, function, room arrangement and built fabric.

• Representative

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

  The town hall is a good representative example of an early 1920s civic building.

• Importance

  Is the item important for any of the above characteristics at a local, regional, national, or international level?

  The building is important at a local level as a civic building that serves its local community.

Not assessed

• “Aspects of Ngaio’s History,” The Onslow Historian, Vol. 21, No.1, 1991
• O’Hara, Coralie. Ngaio Town Hall: Conservation Plan. Unpublished report prepared for the Wellington City Council, 2011.
• Wellington City Council, “Ngaio Town Hall,” Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 2001: Non-Residential Buildings. (Wellington City Council, 2001), OTTA1.
• File TC 6/118, Ngaio Town Hall, Wellington City Archives
• “Hall For Ngaio,” Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 5, 7 January 1924, Page 8
• “Ngaio Loan Poll,” Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 50, 28 February 1924, Page 10
• “For Ngaio,” Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 16, 18 July 1925, Page 22
• “Ngaio Hall,” Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 29, 3 August 1925, Page 7
• “In Memoriam,” Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 63, 15 March 1928, Page 7
• “Ngaio Efforts,” Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 150, 28 June 1930, Page 10
• “Improvements at Ngaio,” Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 59, 6 September 1930, Page 17
• “Valuable Paper,” Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 63, 15 March 1945, Page 8

• Inventory Report
• 1924 drawings

Not available