The Bank of Australasia (Former), Levin, was designed as a branch bank by the prominent architectural firm of Crichton & McKay in 1905 in an Edwardian Classical style. Located on a prominent street corner, the building has architectural, historical and social significance for its role as a provincial financial institution, and high streetscape appeal. The Bank of Australasia (Former) is a two-storey timber weatherboard commercial building; the design included accommodation for the bank manager upstairs, with four bedrooms. The building is decorated with a bracketed cornice and balustrade around the roofline, which includes a pediment on the Queen Street West frontage. The side entrance located on Bristol Street comprises a porch with coloured glass. The building cost £1,440. Constructed of native timbers, it retains its concrete strongroom with heavy metal door. The Bank of Australasia merged with the Union Bank of Australia in 1951, becoming the Australia and New Zealand Bank Ltd (ANZ), but in Levin both banks continued in separate premises until December 1956 when they moved into new shared premises on Oxford Street. The property was sold to a Mrs Dorothy Herring in 1958, who owned it for ten years. Subsequent owners and tenants have included the Department of Social Welfare, Citizens Advice Bureau, law and architects’ offices and real estate agents.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 2
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
4076
Date Entered
9th September 1985
Date of Effect
9th September 1985
City/District Council
Horowhenua District
Region
Horizons (Manawatū-Whanganui) Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes the land described as Pt Sec 12 Blk IX Town of Levin (RT WN6A/885) Wellington Land District and the building known as Bank of Australasia (Former) thereon.
Legal description
Pt Sec 12 Blk IX Town of Levin (RT WN6A/885), Wellington Land District