Designed by architect Frederick Burwell and opened in 1882, this was the third Masonic Lodge built in Invercargill. The building has historic, architectural and cultural significance.

The Southern Cross Lodge No. 9 was established in 1863, following meetings where Masons from different constitutions met to discuss forming a lodge. This building was the third lodge built in Invercargill, the first being taken over by the Southland Provincial Council in 1866. The lodge continued to meet at the hall, sharing the meeting space with the new owners. As the lodge recovered from the slump of the mid-1860s and numbers began to increase again, they offered to buy back the building but the Provincial Government declined. The lodge built a small timber hall in Nith Street in 1876, which served as a meeting place until the larger Masonic hall, again on Nith Street, was opened in 1882. The Southern Cross and St John’s Lodges built the hall to provide joint premises.

In April 1882, the ceremony to hand over the hall to the brethren of the Masonic Order took place. A long article in the Southland Times detailed the event and described the hall as ‘chastely finished within and without’ and a ‘decided acquisition to the architectural amenities of the town.’ Both the architect and builders were Masons themselves. Burwell’s ‘severe treatment’ of the exterior concealed the ornate interior. The Forth street elevation was ‘relieved by columns and a massive pediment’ bearing the Masonic symbols. The entrance hall extended the width of the building, adjoining which was the ante room, and adjoining that ‘another apartment for probationers’ – both rooms giving access to the hall.

The hall merited a detailed description: ‘On slightly raised platforms along the side walls are placed continuous seats, elegantly upholstered in crimson plush, and of most inviting appearance. In the “East” or Master’s end a dais has been erected, approached by semi-circular steps and provided with the usual Master’s chair and pedestal. The Corinthian, Ionic, and Doric columns forming part of the symbols of the Order terminate in shafts formed as candles. These are provided with gas jets; the effect being novel. The usual seats for officials are incorporated with the other seating; being divided therefrom by massive arms. Round the hall and supported by elegant foliated columns is a handsome entablature supported by trusses. This again over the master’s dais is further enriched by a pediment supported by Corinthian columns. Over this again the roof curves inward, to panels extending across the hall. Light is obtained from a lantern which forms the external finial of a nicely proportioned interior dome, the whole rising 35 feet from the floor. The centre of the floor is laid in an intricate black-and-white pattern with Minton tiles, specially designed by a London firm, and which afford food for curiosity for the uninitiated. Artificial light is obtained from one brilliant gas star occupying the centre of the dome. Two large ventilators, relieved by Masonic emblems occupy the remaining roof panels.’ Open fireplaces provided the heating. To the rear of the hall were the Master’s room, and attached strong-room. Adjoining the Master’s room was an organ and choir-room. The articles emphasised the use of permanent materials – bricks, concrete, plaster and imported slates, and native timbers.

In 1912, additions were made to the rear of the building. The building remained the Masonic Hall until an even grander hall was built on Forth Street in 1926 (List No. 390, Category 1). The lodge transferred the title to The Orange Hall Company Limited in 1924. The Orange Hall Company sold off the rear of the section at this time. The Orange Hall was associated with the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternity with its origins in England and Ireland, established in New Zealand in 1843, and in the South Island in 1870. In later years, the hall housed manufacturing premises, the Southland Country Music Association, and was used as a hall. In 2018, the hall is the premises of E-scape Glass.