Cultural Significance

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Social: The site of the Bank of New Zealand is closely linked with Dunedin's commercial history. The site, formerly occupied by a hotel, is in the commercial heart of the city and has played a central role in the social life of Dunedin from the mid nineteenth century.

Historic Significance

Historical Significance or Value This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Information in square brackets indicates modifications made after the paper was considered by the NZHPT Board. This historic place has always played a prominent role in the commercial and social life of Dunedin, first as a hotel and then later as a site for the Bank of New Zealand's two Exchange branches.

Physical Significance

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Aesthetic: The Bank of New Zealand Buildings is an impressive element in the streetscape of the south end of the central city area. The Bank of New Zealand Building occupies and important site on the corner of Princess and Rattray Streets, and its harmonious classical facades are a vital element in the local townscape. Its Oamaru stone facades are rich both in classical architectural detail, and in other decorative and sculptural detail such as the relief carvings of human faces. The building also forms an effective contrast to the sober Presbyterian Gothic of the Captain Cargill Monument, erected in granite, opposite the bank building. There is also an elaborate coffered ceiling of the main banking chamber inside. Architectural: The Bank of New Zealand Building is a fine two-storey building in the Victorian Academic Classical style. Completed in 1882, it has long been considered the masterpiece of its architect, William Armson, one of the very first colonially trained, professional architects to work in New Zealand. The architect has adopted a Palazzo format, and designed a classical building of symmetrical and harmonious proportions, with a masterly deployment of select forms on a clear structural framework. The rich decorative detail of the facades is always held in control by the strong, unified architectural elements. Armson achieves here a High Renaissance clarity of design using essentially the sixteenth century vocabulary of Bramante and Palladio. Archaeological: This site is known to have been occupied since the late 1840s when Dunedin was first settled by Europeans.

Detail Of Assessed Criteria

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Information in square brackets indicates modifications made after the paper was considered by the NZHPT Board. The following comments are made in relation to the criteria identified under S.23(2) of the Historic Places Act 1993. (c) The potential of the place to provide knowledge of New Zealand history: With such a rich European history of occupation, the Bank of New Zealand site has considerable value as an archaeological site. The history of the three buildings to have graced the site, has considerable potential to inform people about the workings of a large bank branch in late Victorian New Zealand. (g) The technical accomplishment or value, or design of the place: The Bank of New Zealand Building was designed and constructed over the period [1879-1883]. The architect has adopted a Palazzo format. The architect, William Barnett Armson, was one of the first colonially-trained architects to work in New Zealand. He trained in Melbourne in architecture, engineering and surveying, and returned to New Zealand in 1862. [The building can be regarded as Armson's masterpiece]. Following the Palazzo format, the two main floors of the building sit on a rusticated base (in this case) of Port Chalmers' basalt. Both floors of the two street facades are rhythmically divided into five facade bays symbolising trabeated construction. One of these bays forms the main entrance to the bank on [Princes Street]. The general proportions - of column width to bay width, of column height to bay width etc - seem beautifully matched, in strict obedience to classical principles. The building is united horizontally by its string courses and friezes; and by its columns with their two orders. The ground floor bays are flanked by paired or single attached Tuscan columns; in fact, each of the window bays form, in effect, a Colosseum motif, with a rusticated round-headed arch supported on attached Ionic columns of grey Aberdeen granite. The entablature above, supported by the giant order of Tuscan columns, has a frieze decorated with rosettes and stylised triglyphs. A bracketed string course separates this from the base of the floor above. On the first floor, the same rhythms apply, although here the bays are flanked by attached Corinthian columns, and the windows are set in classical aedicules with segmental arches. The columns support a plain architrave and a decorative frieze of rosettes and acanthine bases to small modillions running under the corona of the cornice. A parapet caps the building, with small piers in relief matching the columniation underneath. The building is further enriched by the quality of carved detail on the stonework. The main entrance, for example, is [richly] articulated, both in its arch, and in its flanking piers of vermiculated ashlar. The spandrel of the arch above the doorway is carved with a round wreath set within which is a bush scene featuring a solitary Kiwi and pongas. The voussoirs of the lower window arches features human faces, each of which differs subtly. At all levels of the facade there is careful and restrained detailing, the effect of which is not to overwhelm but rather to enrich the harmonious proportions of the building. The decorative detail is always held in control by the architectural elements. The High Renaissance clarity of design Armson achieves on the facades is matched in the main banking chamber by the coffered ceiling which features in its design English roses and Scottish thistles. According to the nomination form, this ceiling is thought to be the work of an Italian craftsman who also worked at Larnach's Castle. There have been some modifications made to the exterior. According to the nomination form, the balustrading of the parapet has been removed and replaced with solid masonry panels. Balustrading in front of the first-floor windows has also, apparently, been removed. The chimneys have been demolished. There have also been substantial interior alterations and modifications, particularly during the 1950s. These modifications (particularly those of the exterior) do not overall cloud the integrity of the building. (k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural complex or historical and cultural landscape: The place has always been important to the commercial life of Dunedin. When the Royal was built, the harbour lapped the edge of the property; Tod records that boats for Port Chalmers were advertised as leaving from the Royal. Reclamation distanced the site from the water but in no way diminished its commercial importance, since the Exchange quickly became the commercial heart of post gold rush Dunedin. Robyn Griffin observes that 'wherever possible, Victorians located their banks in a prominent position when they could be easily seen. This was usually on a corner". Several buildings facing this site on lower Rattray Street were demolished during the 1960s to build [Wickliffe] House, but the presence of Cargill's Monument, the Stuart Memorial, the MFL Mutual Building (Category I) and several Category 2 buildings around that intersection give it a strong heritage feel. Conclusion: The Bank of New Zealand Building, 205 Princes St, Dunedin, is recommended for registration as a Category I as a place of special and outstanding historical and cultural heritage significance and value. This is a building of clear architectural integrity and quality which functions as a vital piece of townscape, enriching its local setting. It is the acknowledged master work of an important colonial architect. The site has always played a prominent role in the commercial and social life of Dunedin.