Historic Significance

Historical Significance or Value A very early high-rise block of flats. It originally had 15 self-contained flats. It was built for private developers Mr Ernest Potter and William Stanton by James Fletcher (later Sir James) and was [one of his early ventures] in Auckland. The building has provided comfortable inner city rental accommodation for hundreds of Aucklanders over the years, accumulating considerable social historical significance in the process.

Physical Significance

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE A very early and, architecturally, very fine example of inner city rental accommodation. A very sophisticated architectural statement with restrained use of ornate and very unusual and innovative plan. The wide eaves and geometrically designed corbels show the influence of the architecture of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright of the Chicago School while the corner treatment and dome is similar t the Dilworth Building in Queens Street and can be linked back to the architecture of Edwin Lutyens. TOWNSCAPE/LANDMARK SIGNIFICANCE A key building in the townscape with its splayed corner, entrance and dome giving the intersection of Waterloo Quadrant and Parliament Street considerable emphasis. It is visually the most striking of the Courtville buildings and is of similar style to all of these. It occupies a central position in relation to the other important buildings in this historic area of Auckland.