Maritime House

• c.1927 - c.1928
• The Wellington Harbour Board Ambulance was transferred to the Wellington Free Ambulance. (Further research is required to confirm)
• 1928 - 1928
• 1981 - 1981
• Building was vacated by Wharfinger’s office
• 1986 - 1986
• Building was vacated by the Harbour Board
• 1989 - 1989
• Wellington Harbour Board dissolved, and a new port company formed. This is now CentrePort Ltd
• 1995 - 2002
• Maritime House and Shed 35 were deleted from the WCC Heritage Inventory / District Plan following a submission by the building owners / port authority.
• 2008 - 2008
• Maritime House and Shed 35 added to the Heritage Inventory as part of District Plan Change 58.
• 2012 - 2012
• Proposal to develop the Maritime House as a ‘Gastro-pub’.

Not assessed

Not assessed

Maritime House is a masonry and concrete building, two storeys high and capped with a flat concrete roof. Originally planned to house both the Wharfinger’s staff and an ambulance garage, the building was later altered to entirely office use. The building is a symmetrical wedge shape in plan, made to fit in a restricted site located between a railway line and a roadway (a former railway siding). The smallest ends of the wedges are at the south-east and north-west of the building. The structure is concrete foundations, floors, lintels and perimeter beams, supported on load-bearing brick external walls.

The building shares some compositional features and stylistic similarities with Shed 35, an earlier building by Marchbanks. The ground floor of the building is treated as a planar plinth for the upper floor, relieved only by windows – a plastered beam line with a deeply bevelled top delineates the position of the first floor. Above this line, the structure is expressed as a grid of beams and columns with recessed wall panels between; a plaster moulding enlivens the head of each panel. The parapet above is deceptively tall, up to 2.5 m at the front façade, and conceals the flat roof beyond. The brickwork is of high quality and includes gauged scotia trims in the wall panels and flat arched windows with gauged lintels.

The principal façade of Maritime House faces east, to the sea. The main central part of this façade, some three quarters of its length, is brought forward of the corners with heavy square pilasters which rise to a substantial plaster Doric cornice cum entablature and extend above that to anchor the corners of the solid parapet above. At the ground floor, the main entrance is in the centre of the façade, and is delineated by a small horizontal plastered canopy set on large brackets. To the left side of the entrance, three small timber windows are placed in a panel which infills a larger previous opening (the former ambulance garage); to the right side are two elegantly proportioned double-hung timber windows, centred on those of the first floor above. At the first floor, the wall face is set back from that of the ground floor and divided into panels by square Doric pilasters. Each panel has a pair of double hung timber windows. The main part of this façade is flanked by the smaller side bays which each contain a single double-hung window at each storey.

The cornice follows the set-back and turns the corner for the first bay of each side wall and meets in to the generally plainer side walls of the building. 

The side walls are less ornamented than the main façade but are not without interest, although the northern façade is more consistent than the southern. Both façades have a strong rhythmic composition of large double-hung timber windows set in relation to the expressed structural grid of the upper floor; the columns of the grid extend above the top beam to form part of a strong parapet line which conceals the flat roof. The exterior remains in largely authentic condition.

The building is of some technical interest for its construction with a load-bearing steel frame and concrete floors in conjunction with the brick outer walls.

The interior of the building was not inspected. The original plan shows the Wharfinger’s offices accessed off a short hall at the ground floor, flanked by the ambulance garage, and a large storage area to the northern end of the building; a timber stair led from the hall to the upper floor which was divided into offices and a large open “drill room” with an exposed steel post-and-beam structure supporting the roof over.

Brick masonry on reinforced concrete foundations; concrete floors with steel beams and columns; concrete roof, painted timber joinery

Maritime House is a two-storey brick office building located on the working wharf (King’s Wharf) at the northern end of the Port of Wellington. Its neighbours on the wharf include Shed 35, a large masonry building by the same designer and of similar quality and style of design (although of rather greater bulk), and a variety of sheds and workshops. Further on is the operational area of the wharf which includes more working sheds and the waterside edge of wharf itself.

Despite the relatively haphazard arrangement of buildings in the area which obstructs good sightlines, Maritime House retains an important presence in the “wharfscape”. Views around the building are afforded by the flanking access-ways, including a railway line and a road-way.

Adjoining Maritime House to the north, but divided off from the working wharf by a chain-link fence is a nascent business park, which features the new Department of Statistics building and other commercial and office buildings, including the headquarters of the NZ Rugby Union, converted from former wharf buildings of a variety of styles and eras. Apart from the Statistics building, the general building height in the area is a tall two to three stories.

The area, despite many large buildings, has an open quality created by the generous amounts of space around the buildings required for the circulation of vehicles and cargo. It is bounded to the west by Aotea Quay; a few other large sheds and the distinctively-painted Seaworks House provide a buffer to the road itself.

The wider setting is the northern city which includes the stadium, railway yards and the government precinct. And Shed 35 and Maritime House are part of a group of ‘maritime’ and industrial buildings on Wellington waterfront that includes: 

• The Eastbourne Ferry Terminal Building (former) c 1910s WCC17/337
• Odlin’s Building (1907) WCC 17/49
• Queens Wharf Harbour Board Gates 1899 WCC 17/50
• Queens Wharf Dog Drinking Fountain WCC 17/56
• Wellington Harbour Board Head Office (former) 1892
• Shed 3 (1887) see also Wellington Regional Council (WCC 17/256)
• Shed 5 (1886) see also Wellington Regional Council (WCC 17/257)
• Wharf Offices - Shed 7 (1895-96) WCC 17 /161
• Shed 11 (1904) WCC 17/332
• Shed 13 (1904) WCC 17/333
• Shed 21 (1909) 17/334
• Shed 22 WCC 17/50
• Shed 27 (1922)

• 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?

  Maritime House has high architectural value for its carefully considered composition and use of materials.

• 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?

  Maritime House has high group value with the remaining other old sheds and associated buildings on the waterfront and an important historical association, stylistic similarities, and a strong visual relationship with the adjacent Shed 35.

• 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 one of two early 20th century brick buildings in the Centreport (active port) area of the Wellington waterfront.

  
  

  The Centreport area is a constantly changing landscape influenced by reclamation, containerisation of cargo and the use of waterfront land for modern high-rise office buildings. The brick buildings (Shed 35, and nearby Maritime House) contribute to the sense of place, provide visual interest and have become landmarks that help orientate visitors to the Centreport Harbour Quays commercial and industrial precinct. 

• Association

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

  Maritime House is a building that is intimately associated with the waterfront unions, and the building has high historical and social significance.
  

• Association

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

  The building has value as a physical reminder of port and shipping operations, which continue to perform important economic and transport functions in Wellington.
  

• Technological

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

  Maritime House has technological significance as a now rare intact example of an early 20th century waterfront building and for the techniques evident in its design and construction.

• 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 remained (relatively) unchanged on the site for over eighty years and contributes to the sense of place and continuity of the changing landscape of the Wellington waterfront

• Public Esteem

  Is the item held in high public esteem?

  The building has social and cultural value as a physical reminder of port and shipping operations, which continue to perform important economic and transport functions in Wellington.

• 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?

  Maritime House remains in largely authentic condition

• Rare

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

  Maritime House is the last intact example of a wharf office building built by the Wellington Harbour Board in the inter-war period and has high rarity value for that.

• Representative

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

  The building is a fine representative example of inter-war building on the waterfront and of the development of the Port and its administration.

• Importance

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

  The collection of historic maritime buildings on Wellington waterfront could be considered to be of national significance – further research is required.

Not assessed

• Note this document has been adapted from the 2006 Recommendation for listing on the District Plan prepared by Russell Murray (WCC reference “Shed 35.doc”)
• Building Permit 00056:25:B2519, 13/1/1927. Wellington City Archives (WCA).
• McLean, Robert. ‘History of Reclamation’, New Zealand Historic Places Trust 2004.
• Mendus, Alys. ‘Report on the Historic Values of the two remaining Wharf Buildings on the Commercial Port, Wellington. Shed 35 and Maritime House’. New Zealand Historic Places Trust 2003.
• NZHPT Report for Shed 35 and Kings Wharf Office, circa 2006
• Schouten, Hank, Bustling Market to Bring Shed 35 Alive, DomPost 15 June 2012
• Wellington City Archives File AC023:57:9

• Inventory Report
• 1926 drawings

Not available