Why were 10 buildings taken off heritage list?
The Wellington City Council voted to remove 10 buildings from the heritage list as part of its deliberations on the District Plan. Just what are they and does the amended list mean Wellington will lose a piece of its architectural history?
The most prominent of the 10 buildings, the Gordon Wilson Flats, could be demolished and replaced with purpose-built student accommodation, the university said earlier in the week.
Other buildings on the schedule range from small family homes all the way to industrial gas tanks. Heritage assessors believe they provide significance and history to the city, but the listings all had one thing in common: the building owner, for financial reasons or concern about confusing and stringent heritage rules, did not want their property on the list.
The council’s decision to remove 10 buildings is not final. Housing Minister Chris Bishop, who has previously said he doesn’t think the city should be a museum, will make the final decision.
Kahn House, Ngaio (1941)
The modernist Kahn House is an example of influential architect Ernst Plischke’s designs – several other examples of his work appear on the heritage schedule.
Plischke was a Jewish refugee from Vienna, and built the house for the Kahn family, who were Jewish refugees from Germany. According to the heritage assessors, the house is significant as an example of modernism, the work of a prominent architect, and is nationally significant for the “important historical themes of European pre-WWII refugee émigrés”.
But descendants of the Kahn family, who still live in the house, wrote that it would be “catastrophic” for the family if the building was added to the heritage schedule.
“Let it be put on record that Plischke himself, a friend of the Kahn family, would not have our authority over the home he built for us removed. He would be absolutely horrified,” wrote Sophie Kahn in her submission on the proposed listing.
“Let it also be recalled how appallingly Plischke was treated by this country. To turn around and ‘honour’ him by restricting the rights of a fellow refugee family for whom he designed a home and with whom he was friends is beyond shameless.”
Despite the historic name and architectural style, the Robert Stout Building was completed in 1938. The building underwent major renovations in 1959 when more space was required by the university, with another storey added.
The building and the extension were constructed in neo-Georgian style, designed by a well-known architect William Gray Young. The city has two other neo-Georgian buildings from the same architect – Scots College and Weir House.
The original design is “somewhat blurred” because of alterations throughout the 20th century by the university, the report notes.
The report assesses that the building is significant because it is “Victoria University’s second-oldest purpose-built university building”, on a campus with a dearth of early buildings. “A sense of loss is likely to be experienced by this community [staff and students of the university] if it was significantly altered or destroyed.”
The university asked for the building to be removed because there was “insufficient heritage value” to justify its inclusion on the schedule.
Wharenui Apartments, Oriental Bay (1958)
The heritage report describes this apartment block as “one of the best early-modern buildings in Te Whanganui-a-Tara”.
“In plan it is a most unusual and innovative shape, designed to make full use of the views on offer. It has what amounts to three wedge-shaped wings extending from a rectangular core at the rear.”
Once the apartments opened, many of the city’s luminaries lived there including stockbroker Frank Renouf and Cabinet minister Warren Freer.
During the discussion of heritage at the council, Nicola Young – normally a heritage advocate – commented that residents at the Wharenui Apartments including her sister were finding it difficult to do basic upgrades like double-glazing.
In a submission written on behalf of the owners, consultants at Spencer Holmes warned that the building could become stuck in a similar position to other heritage buildings, facing expensive repairs on a building they could not demolish.
“This could be the case in a more prevalent area where the Wharenui Apartments become unsafe, derelict and abandoned, but located in one of Wellingtons most scenic locations.”
Even the heritage assessor’s report struggles to find anything remarkable about the Johnsonville Masonic Hall.
The hall has a style “typical of many community and church halls” with an “attractive street facade”.
“This building has had typical, albeit uneventful, history for a community hall in Wellington. It is primarily associated with the Johnsonville Freemasons who have owned and occupied the building for over a century.”
Dave Henry, a trustee of the building, wrote that the Freemasons wanted to sell the hall so they could fit out a better one in Thorndon, as the “costs of keeping the Johnsonville facility are becoming prohibitive”.
Henry mentions that the Freemasons would like to remove the “distinctively masonic entrance portico”, identified as a heritage feature in the report, and transport it to the new hall in Thorndon.
The building had served its purpose for the Freemasons and it was time to move on, Henry wrote. “Currently the heritage note detracts from the future value of the building in a commercial sense.”
Star of the Sea, Seatoun (1899-1901)
The Our Lady Star of the Sea chapel is a prominent building in Seatoun, and has been on the heritage list for years. This proposed heritage listing sought to include the surrounding convent and school, 1ha of land in total.
All the buildings have a historic association with the Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic religious group. The group ran a boys’ school on the site until 1978, when the school closed and the area was turned into a conference and retreat centre.
The chapel was found to be earthquake prone in 2002, forcing the Sisters of Mercy to sell the site. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh purchased the area in 2007, following concern in the community at an application to remove the heritage listing from the chapel.
At the time Jackson said the loss of the chapel would have “irrevocably altered the beauty and charm of the Seatoun area” and it was important to protect the building.
In a 2022 submission, Vince Visser, from WingNut Property Management, said the former school and convent did not have the same value as the chapel. It seemed “completely unreasonable” to have the former school and convent on the heritage list.
“These buildings have little to no architectural merit, have been altered significantly over their history, and are of poor build quality.”
The house is more significant for its fully plastered interior than the double-bay villa exterior, although that too is described as a “highly intact representative example”. It was the family home of decorative plasterer Charles Emeny and stayed in his family from its construction until 2007.
“Overall, the decorative plasterwork – cornices, ceiling roses, mouldings, and archways – at 1 Ranfurly Terrace are earlier and finer than are generally associated with houses of this type, style, and size in Wellington,” the heritage report noted.
The home has “significant social historical value” because it was associated with one family for more than 100 years, the report says.
Current owners Tony and Debra de Lorenzo wrote requesting the removal of the heritage listing. While they agreed with the exterior being protected as part of the character area in Mt Cook, with the internal listing protecting the plasterwork their home was “the most heavily restricted residential home in Wellington”.
The owners were confused about how to live in their house with such a comprehensive heritage listing. There needed “to be more definition as the listing is very vague and seems to now cover absolutely everything from lightbulbs to weeds”.
Gordon Wilson Flats, Te Aro (1959)
The Gordon Wilson Flats have historic significance for their role as high-density state housing, and for their association with government architect Gordon Wilson.
The building has national significance for its association with “the principles and philosophy of the social welfare state”.
Victoria University has long fought against the heritage listing on the flats, which it owns, and was “delighted” that the council voted to remove the listing. It is now considering options including student accommodation for the site.
Miramar Fuel Tank (1926)
This tank – while rusty and modified now – was once the first bulk petrol storage in New Zealand, installed by British Imperial Oil (now Shell). It was built at the moment when motor vehicles had just become the dominant mode of transport over horses.
The eight tanks were an innovation, allowing the site to store 19 million litres of petrol, which was pumped over from Miramar Wharf. At the opening of the tank Prime Minister Gordon Coates declared that the “motor vehicle in all its forms has come to stay”.
By the 1960s, there were many more cars in the country and Miramar Wharf was too small to handle the increasingly large oil tankers. The operation was wound down by Shell and the land subdivided.
In the 60s the tank was used by the Evening Post to store newsprint, and leased for a garden centre in the 1970s, which remained its use until – which was its used until the California Garden Centre closed its Miramar site in 2016. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh purchased the building.
In a submission WingNut Films Productions chief executive Claire Olssen wrote that the tank was “far from the aesthetically pleasing landmark the historic heritage evaluations suggest” and the heritage listing would inhibit “the economic and cultural benefits this site might otherwise bring to Miramar and the wider Wellington region”.
Olympus Apartments, Oriental Bay (1939)
The heritage assessment says these apartments are a rare and significant example of the Moderne style (closely related to Art Deco), designed by prolific architect Edmund Anscombe.
Three other buildings designed by Anscombe appear on the heritage list: the Anscombe Flats, just down the road on Oriental Parade, Mt Victoria’s Belvedere Apartments, and Franconia on The Terrace.
The Olympus building makes a strong contribution to Oriental Bay, the assessment says, with its distinctive features. “The strong architectural form of Olympus Apartments in conjunction with its highly visible corner site and distinctive blue colour scheme gives it significant townscape presence in this part of Oriental Bay.”
But owners of the apartments struggle to see the significance. Suzanne Trounson wrote, on behalf of herself and eight other owners, that the apartments were “simply not special enough” for a heritage listing.
Primitive Methodist Church, Newtown (1907)
The primitive church was originally used by Methodists, then sold to the Freemasons to become a Masonic Lodge in 1922. It returned to its original purpose as a church in 1979 when the Chinese Baptist Church bought the property.
For this reason, the heritage assessors say the “picturesque Gothic church” is associated with important historic themes including masonic orders and late 20th century migration.
The building is notable in Newtown for its decorative ornamentation around windows and doors and its steeply pitched roof, the report says.
The Chinese Baptist Church asked for its property to be kept off the heritage list. It has acquired neighbouring properties around the church, and said that adding the church to the schedule could make its future plans for developing these plots into a complex very difficult or even impossible.