Constructed in 1882 as St Mungo Café, the three-storey Craig's Building on Auckland's main street is a rare, known example of a purpose-built nineteenth-century restaurant. The brick structure has an ornate Italianate façade which incorporates ornamental detailing not commonly found on other surviving nineteenth- and early twentieth-century commercial buildings in Auckland's CBD and is part of an important group of mid-colonial commercial buildings in the lower Queen Street streetscape. The building served as the head office of Auckland industrialist and ship owner J.J. Craig and his company for much of the twentieth century.
Prior to founding of the colonial capital in 1840, the Queen Street gully was known as Horotiu, a place of intermittent Maori occupation. The future site of Craig's Building was part of an 1842 Crown Grant, later divided by St Mungo Lane. A two-storey timber shop was erected on the front lot in circa 1857. The property was bought by noted photographer John Noel Crombie (1827-1878) in 1871, the same year that confectioner Charles Canning (1823?-1897) opened a shop, out-catering business and restaurant known as St Mungo Café on the site. Reflecting a growing middle class, a suite of rooms was set aside for the accommodation of Auckland's ladies.
In 1882 the timber premises were replaced by a three-storey brick building of unusually ornate Italianate architectural style, befitting a colonial restaurant trade keen to evoke continental associations. Construction was undertaken during Auckland's economic boom of the late 1870s and early 1880s, and was instigated by Crombie's widow Harriet Ashby. The design was by the noted Auckland architectural practice of Richard Keals and Son who, in 1902, claimed to be the city's oldest architectural practice. The builder was Robert Jenkinson who, in partnership with Bernard Keane, had constructed notable Auckland buildings including The Pah (1877-9) and the west wing of the Avondale Mental Asylum (1878-81).
Still known as St Mungo Café, the new building contained Canning's confectionery shop and a large public dining room at ground floor level. Its basement contained storerooms and a bake house. On the first floor were separate dining and lounge facilities for each sex; on the upper floor, lounges and a smoking-room. Reputed to be Auckland's elite dining establishment, St Mungo Café was the venue of an 1885 Mayoral banquet celebrating the construction of the city's new Free Library and Art Gallery. By 1892, part of the building was in office use. Following Canning's death in 1897 the café retained his name until circa 1906. A dining room continued to operate from the premises until 1917.
By 1906 prominent Auckland industrialist Joseph James Craig occupied part of the building which remained the company's head office until 1969. The business was one of Auckland's largest industrial conglomerates, and after 1910 focused on freight forwarding, haulage and the extraction and processing of ground-based resources for Auckland's construction industry. In 1917, the year after Craig's death, the company took out a lease of the building. Alterations undertaken included the fitting out of the ground floor for retail use, construction of a new staircase and timber panelling on the upper floors.
In 1951 J.J. Craig Limited purchased the Queen Street building that had borne its name since circa 1917. The offices were extended into an adjacent building in 1957. During the 1960s a basement coffee bar was developed, and the ground floor became the Century Arcade. J.J. Craig was integrated into Winstone Limited in 1969, an Auckland company that had flourished during the Vogel era in the 1870s to become one of the region's largest haulage firms later expanding into stone extraction and other ventures. Winstone's marketing department occupied the upper floors of Craig's Building until 1979.
The building evidently suffered fire damage in 1987. Following refurbishment of the basement and the ground floor, the property changed hands twice during the 1990s. The lower levels were strengthened in 2000 and the area occupied by the ten-shop arcade reverted to two retail tenancies. The building was re-roofed by new owners in 2004. The basement and ground floor remain in retail use.
Craig's Building has high aesthetic significance for its ornately detailed exterior and as part of a significant group of four mid-colonial era buildings that are an important feature in Auckland's lower Queen Street streetscape. It has considerable architectural significance as one of few known, purpose-built Victorian-era cafés and is a relatively well-preserved example of a surviving commercial building designed by the noted early Auckland architectural practice of Keals and Son. The place has historical significance for its links with the development of cafés in colonial society, as an important nineteenth-century venue for public dining and socialising for a growing urban middle class, and later as the head office of major Auckland commercial concern J.J. Craig Limited. The site also has connections with the noted early photographer John Crombie and his estate.
Prior to founding of the colonial capital in 1840, the Queen Street gully was known as Horotiu, a place of intermittent Maori occupation. The future site of Craig's Building was part of an 1842 Crown Grant, later divided by St Mungo Lane. A two-storey timber shop was erected on the front lot in circa 1857. The property was bought by noted photographer John Noel Crombie (1827-1878) in 1871, the same year that confectioner Charles Canning (1823?-1897) opened a shop, out-catering business and restaurant known as St Mungo Café on the site. Reflecting a growing middle class, a suite of rooms was set aside for the accommodation of Auckland's ladies.
In 1882 the timber premises were replaced by a three-storey brick building of unusually ornate Italianate architectural style, befitting a colonial restaurant trade keen to evoke continental associations. Construction was undertaken during Auckland's economic boom of the late 1870s and early 1880s, and was instigated by Crombie's widow Harriet Ashby. The design was by the noted Auckland architectural practice of Richard Keals and Son who, in 1902, claimed to be the city's oldest architectural practice. The builder was Robert Jenkinson who, in partnership with Bernard Keane, had constructed notable Auckland buildings including The Pah (1877-9) and the west wing of the Avondale Mental Asylum (1878-81).
Still known as St Mungo Café, the new building contained Canning's confectionery shop and a large public dining room at ground floor level. Its basement contained storerooms and a bake house. On the first floor were separate dining and lounge facilities for each sex; on the upper floor, lounges and a smoking-room. Reputed to be Auckland's elite dining establishment, St Mungo Café was the venue of an 1885 Mayoral banquet celebrating the construction of the city's new Free Library and Art Gallery. By 1892, part of the building was in office use. Following Canning's death in 1897 the café retained his name until circa 1906. A dining room continued to operate from the premises until 1917.
By 1906 prominent Auckland industrialist Joseph James Craig occupied part of the building which remained the company's head office until 1969. The business was one of Auckland's largest industrial conglomerates, and after 1910 focused on freight forwarding, haulage and the extraction and processing of ground-based resources for Auckland's construction industry. In 1917, the year after Craig's death, the company took out a lease of the building. Alterations undertaken included the fitting out of the ground floor for retail use, construction of a new staircase and timber panelling on the upper floors.
In 1951 J.J. Craig Limited purchased the Queen Street building that had borne its name since circa 1917. The offices were extended into an adjacent building in 1957. During the 1960s a basement coffee bar was developed, and the ground floor became the Century Arcade. J.J. Craig was integrated into Winstone Limited in 1969, an Auckland company that had flourished during the Vogel era in the 1870s to become one of the region's largest haulage firms later expanding into stone extraction and other ventures. Winstone's marketing department occupied the upper floors of Craig's Building until 1979.
The building evidently suffered fire damage in 1987. Following refurbishment of the basement and the ground floor, the property changed hands twice during the 1990s. The lower levels were strengthened in 2000 and the area occupied by the ten-shop arcade reverted to two retail tenancies. The building was re-roofed by new owners in 2004. The basement and ground floor remain in retail use.
Craig's Building has high aesthetic significance for its ornately detailed exterior and as part of a significant group of four mid-colonial era buildings that are an important feature in Auckland's lower Queen Street streetscape. It has considerable architectural significance as one of few known, purpose-built Victorian-era cafés and is a relatively well-preserved example of a surviving commercial building designed by the noted early Auckland architectural practice of Keals and Son. The place has historical significance for its links with the development of cafés in colonial society, as an important nineteenth-century venue for public dining and socialising for a growing urban middle class, and later as the head office of major Auckland commercial concern J.J. Craig Limited. The site also has connections with the noted early photographer John Crombie and his estate.
