The Anchor Shipping & Foundry Co Ltd Building is historically significant as one of the few remnants of the heavy industry and extensive shipping that was based at Nelson’s port. It’s architectural and aesthetic significance results from its design by Arthur R. Griffin, a prolific Nelson architect who contributed greatly to the look of Nelson in the first half of the twentieth century.

Arthur Reynolds Griffin was the grandson of John Griffin the founder of Griffin & Sons Ltd, the Nelson-based biscuit company. Born and raised in Nelson, A.R. Griffin trained in architecture via the International Correspondence School based in Pennsylvania in the United States. Simultaneously, he worked as a draughtsman in the offices of JD and L Robertson before setting up his own offices in the Norwich Union Chambers. His work in Nelson was diverse and prolific including the Nelson Institute (1911, List No. 1603), the former Nelson Hospital (1925) and Nurses Home (1916), and the Church Steps (1913; List No. 253), funded by Griffin’s patron, Thomas Cawthron. He designed Nelson’s Plunket and Rest Rooms (1936; List No. 5169), and a host of commercial buildings including the Ritz Kerr Building (c.1930; List No. 3027), and the former Dalgety and Co Ltd Building (c.1930; List No. 1621). He was also successful in winning a number of design competitions, notably Hokitika’s Carnegie Free Public Library (List No. 1702) completed in 1908. It was noted in the local press that Griffin made trips to Australia and brought ideas back with him both for his commercial work, and for the hospital, illustrating the architectural connection between the two countries.

The Anchor Shipping & Foundry Co Ltd had its origins in a shipping firm and workshop established by Nathaniel Edwards, John Symons and George Bennett in 1866, and further developed by John Symons as sole proprietor in the 1870s. Alexander Brown purchased a major share of stock and assets from Symons’ estate in 1880 and the Anchor Steam Shipping Co was formed in 1883, changing its name to Anchor Shipping & Foundry Co in 1901.

The Anchor Shipping & Foundry Co building was designed by A.R. Griffin in 1927. It consisted of a range of offices, both for booking and for managers and clerks, a strong-room, had boiler-fed central heating, and allowed for extensive daylight through large steel-framed windows. It even had a dedicated clerks’ bicycle room. The Nelson Evening Mail noted that the passageway floors had been finished with ‘Rublino Tiles’; a surface which its Sydney supplier described as ‘the elastic and noiseless tread’. The flat roof was praised as a vantage point from which to assess approaching weather or vessels. After the Anchor Shipping & Foundry Co folded in 1973, the building was subsequently used as a printers, and as a distillery before being purchased by the Nelson City Council in 2013. As the building was determined to be earthquake-prone in 2017, subsequent use depends on seismic strengthening.