The lagoon and creek were important sources of kāinga nohoanga and kāinga mahinga to local Māori who resided at Makotukutuku / Cape Wanbrow. The development of the harbour, the introduction of rail, the establishment of a high-pressure Borough water supply as a source of hydraulic power and a booming grain industry created the right conditions for this ambitious enterprise. James Aitken, a Scottish grain merchant went into business with John and Thomas Meek (J & T Meek) to erect an American style grain elevator, a complement to the Meek’s flour milling and grain operations with a desire to fill a gap in the market to capitalise on previously unfinished grain.
The building replaced an earlier single storey store building owned by the Meek brothers. Essentially a massive machine sheathed in a skin of Ōamaru stone, the Elevator was a monumental five-storey building of trapezoidal shape surmounted by a mansard roof with dormers and neo-classical treatment on its public-facing west and south-west facades. The remaining walls were plain and interspersed with rectangular double-hung sash windows to the fourth floor and egress and exit for a railway siding to pass laterally though the building from west to east. It was twenty metres wide and sixty metres long, using phenomenal quantities of materials in its construction; 150,000 cubic feet (4,248 m) of stone and 500,000 feet (1500 m3) of timber. The main body of the store was divided into 68 large bins (of two sizes – holding 1200 and 600 bushels respectively) – providing storage for 280,000 bushels (8400 tons) of grain. Five men could work 1666 bushels (50 tons) of grain per hour. The hydro powered elevator ran on water piped from the Borough supply. It was the first elevator in the southern hemisphere and likely the grandest in the world having been built of stone and in a neo-classical style which integrated it into the streetscape. The Elevator Building opened in May 1883 but never realised its full potential as by then the local grain boom was over; frozen meat was the new primary export having been established the previous year.
In January 1920, the store was gutted by a devastating fire. The design of the building encouraged air flow and, the grain and huge wooden bins fuelled the fire. The roof collapsed, the rear portion was gutted, and walls collapsed as a result of the damage caused by the fire. The top two floors were removed. The building was remodelled, and J. and T. Meek continued to use it as a grain store until the 1950s. The Elevator Building was sold to foundry owners G. T. Gillies Limited who had a lease on the land from 1994 for 21 years. Since 2015, the New Zealand Elevator Company’s Building has become home to Steampunk HQ, an iconic movement associated with Ōamaru, identified as the Steampunk capital of the world.
List Entry Information
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
4881
Date Entered
25th September 1986
Date of Effect
20th July 2022
City/District Council
Waitaki District
Region
Otago Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes the land described as Lot 9 DP 285 (RT 482832 and 1227944), Otago Land District, and the building known as the New Zealand Elevator Company’s Building thereon. Chattels include nine augers, the original Meek’s business sign, and an angle cut piece of limestone. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).
Legal description
Lot 9 DP 285 (RT 482832 and 1227944), Otago Land District
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
4881
Date Entered
25th September 1986
Date of Effect
20th July 2022
City/District Council
Waitaki District
Region
Otago Region
Extent of List Entry
Extent includes the land described as Lot 9 DP 285 (RT 482832 and 1227944), Otago Land District, and the building known as the New Zealand Elevator Company’s Building thereon. Chattels include nine augers, the original Meek’s business sign, and an angle cut piece of limestone. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).
Legal description
Lot 9 DP 285 (RT 482832 and 1227944), Otago Land District
Why is this place significant?
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value This building is of special historical significance as it contributes to the story of the Otago grain industry and a late flowering entrepreneurial spirit of the J & T Meek and James Aitken who sought to add value to the New Zealand grain market by conditioning the grain prior to export to improve quality and maximise price. After their business relationship founded the Meeks found their timing to maximise the benefits of their enormous investment was too late.
Physical Significance
Archaeological Significance or Value This building has special archaeological significance as a structure designed to hold the massive grain sorting machinery. The rear of the building was filled in following the fire and a significant amount of material and machinery could be buried here. Archaeological methods could contribute to better understanding this unique building in particular the layout of the rear of the building which is unclear due to the loss of plans. In addition, remains of the machinery could assist with understand how the grain sorting machine functioned. The depth is estimated to be 4 m culminating in a 1.5 m thick concrete floor. Repairs to the building following the fire in 1920 are readable and there are significant pieces of building fabric around the site, some of which are particularly important for understanding the function of the building and the elevator itself. Architectural Significance or Value The architectural value of this building is in its role as a skin for a gargantuan machine. Its neo-classical facades on the west and southwest public facing facades connect it within the wider language of the highly decorative Victorian mercantile buildings in the area indicating consideration of streetscape. Where grain elevators overseas were largely built of timber, in Ōamaru the ample access to cheap limestone made this a sensible economic choice of fabric. It is likely to have been the grandest building of its kind in the southern hemisphere if not the world at the time of its building. Technological Significance or Value This building represents the outstanding technological significance of the elevator that once inhabited this building. While not a grain elevator in the American sense it utilised the principle of this technology to create a purpose-built machine to receive, grade, and dry New Zealand grain for export. The buildings also represents the innovation of the Aitkens-Meek partnership to understand and adapt the American examples to a New Zealand context.
Why is this place Category 1 / Category 2?
Detail Of Assessed Criteria
This place was assessed against the Section 66(3) criteria and found to qualify under the following criteria a, b, c, e, f, g, j, k. The assessment concludes that this place should be listed as a Category 1 historic place. (a) The extent to which the place reflects important of representative aspects of New Zealand history This place represents a unique example of the intersection of architecture and technology devised to respond to the booming grain market in North Otago. It represents the late blooming of an audacious idea to capitalise on the New Zealand grain market that had potential to be exploited. (b) The association of the place with events, persons or ideas of importance in New Zealand history This place is associated particularly with the Meek brothers who were giants in the world of grain in Ōamaru and their ability to seize opportunities and work with emerging technologies to add value to their established stable of grain related businesses. (c) The potential of the place to provide knowledge of New Zealand history This building portrays the boom-and-bust nature of early economic endeavours in New Zealand, poignant as this massive structure was completed after the depletion of the grain industry. This place provided a specialised function and is representative of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Meeks who grabbed an opportunity to work with James Aitken who had seen a way to maximise profits on New Zealand grain through conditioning it prior to export. While made with a cheap local material, the splendour of this industrial building and its public facing facades was designed to express wealth within the area of industrial buildings. (e) The community association with, or public esteem for, the place The NZ Elevator Building in its guise as Steampunk HQ is a favourite visitor site in the historic area of Ōamaru, the acknowledged Steampunk capital of the world. Steampunk HQ is rated highly by both Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet and as a gallery space holds several of the sculptural works that were exhibited at the Forrester Gallery’s exhibition which ignited Steampunk culture in Ōamaru. (f) The potential of the place for public education This place has potential to provide an excellent educational experience with appropriate interpretation and space in which to appreciate the scale of the building and the machinery that it housed. (g) The technical accomplishment, value, or design of the place The technical accomplishment of the elevator machinery was extraordinary and unique in the southern hemisphere at the time it was built. It utilised waterpower from the Borough scheme to power the massive machine that was used to grade, sort, and dry grain prior to export. The design of the place was typical of the Victorian sensibility in Ōamaruvian architecture, making use of the local limestone and connecting this industrial building within the streetscape with neo-classical facades to its west and southwest elevations. (j) The importance of identifying rare types of historic places The grain elevator was unique in the southern hemisphere at the time it was built, it worked on the American principal and was a machine of extraordinary complexity. (k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural area The New Zealand Elevator Company’s Building (Former) is part of the Ōamaru Historic Area (List No.7064) and was part of the cycle of grain production industries. Summary of Significance or Values The New Zealand Elevator Company’s Building (Former) has special archaeological, architectural, historical, and outstanding technological values. Designed by Ōamaru architectural partnership Forrester and Lemon in 1881 it housed a gargantuan machine used to move, sort and dry grain. This building stands as a monument to a marvel of engineering and the culmination of the booming grain-based economy that saw Ōamaru flourish in the 1870s and 1880s. The building embraces the culture of steampunk and is a favourite tourist attraction in Ōamaru and is highly rated as an experience by Tripadvisor and Lonely Planet. It has the potential to provide excellent interpretation about the building and the feat of engineering that made it so unique. The building is a rare and important survivor of Victorian investment, innovation and enterprise and remains a prominent reminder of Ōamaru's industrial heritage.
Why is this place significant?
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value This building is of special historical significance as it contributes to the story of the Otago grain industry and a late flowering entrepreneurial spirit of the J & T Meek and James Aitken who sought to add value to the New Zealand grain market by conditioning the grain prior to export to improve quality and maximise price. After their business relationship founded the Meeks found their timing to maximise the benefits of their enormous investment was too late.
Physical Significance
Archaeological Significance or Value This building has special archaeological significance as a structure designed to hold the massive grain sorting machinery. The rear of the building was filled in following the fire and a significant amount of material and machinery could be buried here. Archaeological methods could contribute to better understanding this unique building in particular the layout of the rear of the building which is unclear due to the loss of plans. In addition, remains of the machinery could assist with understand how the grain sorting machine functioned. The depth is estimated to be 4 m culminating in a 1.5 m thick concrete floor. Repairs to the building following the fire in 1920 are readable and there are significant pieces of building fabric around the site, some of which are particularly important for understanding the function of the building and the elevator itself. Architectural Significance or Value The architectural value of this building is in its role as a skin for a gargantuan machine. Its neo-classical facades on the west and southwest public facing facades connect it within the wider language of the highly decorative Victorian mercantile buildings in the area indicating consideration of streetscape. Where grain elevators overseas were largely built of timber, in Ōamaru the ample access to cheap limestone made this a sensible economic choice of fabric. It is likely to have been the grandest building of its kind in the southern hemisphere if not the world at the time of its building. Technological Significance or Value This building represents the outstanding technological significance of the elevator that once inhabited this building. While not a grain elevator in the American sense it utilised the principle of this technology to create a purpose-built machine to receive, grade, and dry New Zealand grain for export. The buildings also represents the innovation of the Aitkens-Meek partnership to understand and adapt the American examples to a New Zealand context.
Why is this place Category 1 / Category 2?
Detail Of Assessed Criteria
This place was assessed against the Section 66(3) criteria and found to qualify under the following criteria a, b, c, e, f, g, j, k. The assessment concludes that this place should be listed as a Category 1 historic place. (a) The extent to which the place reflects important of representative aspects of New Zealand history This place represents a unique example of the intersection of architecture and technology devised to respond to the booming grain market in North Otago. It represents the late blooming of an audacious idea to capitalise on the New Zealand grain market that had potential to be exploited. (b) The association of the place with events, persons or ideas of importance in New Zealand history This place is associated particularly with the Meek brothers who were giants in the world of grain in Ōamaru and their ability to seize opportunities and work with emerging technologies to add value to their established stable of grain related businesses. (c) The potential of the place to provide knowledge of New Zealand history This building portrays the boom-and-bust nature of early economic endeavours in New Zealand, poignant as this massive structure was completed after the depletion of the grain industry. This place provided a specialised function and is representative of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Meeks who grabbed an opportunity to work with James Aitken who had seen a way to maximise profits on New Zealand grain through conditioning it prior to export. While made with a cheap local material, the splendour of this industrial building and its public facing facades was designed to express wealth within the area of industrial buildings. (e) The community association with, or public esteem for, the place The NZ Elevator Building in its guise as Steampunk HQ is a favourite visitor site in the historic area of Ōamaru, the acknowledged Steampunk capital of the world. Steampunk HQ is rated highly by both Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet and as a gallery space holds several of the sculptural works that were exhibited at the Forrester Gallery’s exhibition which ignited Steampunk culture in Ōamaru. (f) The potential of the place for public education This place has potential to provide an excellent educational experience with appropriate interpretation and space in which to appreciate the scale of the building and the machinery that it housed. (g) The technical accomplishment, value, or design of the place The technical accomplishment of the elevator machinery was extraordinary and unique in the southern hemisphere at the time it was built. It utilised waterpower from the Borough scheme to power the massive machine that was used to grade, sort, and dry grain prior to export. The design of the place was typical of the Victorian sensibility in Ōamaruvian architecture, making use of the local limestone and connecting this industrial building within the streetscape with neo-classical facades to its west and southwest elevations. (j) The importance of identifying rare types of historic places The grain elevator was unique in the southern hemisphere at the time it was built, it worked on the American principal and was a machine of extraordinary complexity. (k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural area The New Zealand Elevator Company’s Building (Former) is part of the Ōamaru Historic Area (List No.7064) and was part of the cycle of grain production industries. Summary of Significance or Values The New Zealand Elevator Company’s Building (Former) has special archaeological, architectural, historical, and outstanding technological values. Designed by Ōamaru architectural partnership Forrester and Lemon in 1881 it housed a gargantuan machine used to move, sort and dry grain. This building stands as a monument to a marvel of engineering and the culmination of the booming grain-based economy that saw Ōamaru flourish in the 1870s and 1880s. The building embraces the culture of steampunk and is a favourite tourist attraction in Ōamaru and is highly rated as an experience by Tripadvisor and Lonely Planet. It has the potential to provide excellent interpretation about the building and the feat of engineering that made it so unique. The building is a rare and important survivor of Victorian investment, innovation and enterprise and remains a prominent reminder of Ōamaru's industrial heritage.
Construction Professional
Name
Forrester & Lemon
Type
Architectural Partnership
Biography
The architectural partnership of Forrester and Lemon was established in Oamaru in 1872. Thomas Forrester (1838-1907) was born in Glasgow and educated at the Glasgow School of Art. Emigrating to New Zealand in 1861 he settled in Dunedin and worked under William Mason (1810-97) and William Henry Clayton (1823-77) and later Robert Arthur Lawson (1833-1902). In 1865 he superintended the Dunedin Exhibition and from 1870 he became involved with the supervision of harbour works. Some time after 1885 he became Engineer to the Oamaru Harbour Board and in this capacity designed the repairs to the breakwater following storm damage in 1886 and later the Holmes Wharf. On his death in 1907 he was still in the employ of the Harbour Board. John Lemon (1828-1890) was born in Jamaica and travelled to England before emigrating to New Zealand in 1849. He settled in Oamaru in 1860 and with his brother Charles established a timber merchant's business. By 1869 he was in partnership with his father-in-law, George Sumpter calling themselves "Timber and General Merchants, Land and Commission Agents". This partnership was dissolved in 1872 and Lemon entered into partnership with Forrester. Lemon had no architectural experience at all, but had a wide circle of business contacts and was an efficient administrator. Buildings designed by the partnership of Forrester and Lemon include St Paul's Church (1875-76), the Harbour Board Offices (1876), Queen's (later Brydone) Hotel (1881), Waitaki Boys' High School (1883), The Courthouse (1883) and the Post Office (1883-84), all in Oamaru. Forrester and Lemon contributed greatly to Oamaru's nineteenth century character. On Lemon's death in 1890 the practice was taken over by Forrester's son, John Megget Forrester (1865-1965).
Construction Details
Start Year
1883
Type
Original Construction
Start Year
1920
Type
Damaged
Description
Fire destroys rear of the building. Top two floors removed.
Type
Reconstruction
Description
Top two floors removed Eastern wall built
Period
1920s
Start Year
2009
Type
Restoration
Description
floors work, landscape, car park development
Construction Materials
Ōamaru stone, Corrugated iron, Timber
Construction Professional
Name
Forrester & Lemon
Type
Architectural Partnership
Biography
The architectural partnership of Forrester and Lemon was established in Oamaru in 1872. Thomas Forrester (1838-1907) was born in Glasgow and educated at the Glasgow School of Art. Emigrating to New Zealand in 1861 he settled in Dunedin and worked under William Mason (1810-97) and William Henry Clayton (1823-77) and later Robert Arthur Lawson (1833-1902). In 1865 he superintended the Dunedin Exhibition and from 1870 he became involved with the supervision of harbour works. Some time after 1885 he became Engineer to the Oamaru Harbour Board and in this capacity designed the repairs to the breakwater following storm damage in 1886 and later the Holmes Wharf. On his death in 1907 he was still in the employ of the Harbour Board. John Lemon (1828-1890) was born in Jamaica and travelled to England before emigrating to New Zealand in 1849. He settled in Oamaru in 1860 and with his brother Charles established a timber merchant's business. By 1869 he was in partnership with his father-in-law, George Sumpter calling themselves "Timber and General Merchants, Land and Commission Agents". This partnership was dissolved in 1872 and Lemon entered into partnership with Forrester. Lemon had no architectural experience at all, but had a wide circle of business contacts and was an efficient administrator. Buildings designed by the partnership of Forrester and Lemon include St Paul's Church (1875-76), the Harbour Board Offices (1876), Queen's (later Brydone) Hotel (1881), Waitaki Boys' High School (1883), The Courthouse (1883) and the Post Office (1883-84), all in Oamaru. Forrester and Lemon contributed greatly to Oamaru's nineteenth century character. On Lemon's death in 1890 the practice was taken over by Forrester's son, John Megget Forrester (1865-1965).
Construction Details
Start Year
1883
Type
Original Construction
Start Year
1920
Type
Damaged
Description
Fire destroys rear of the building. Top two floors removed.
Type
Reconstruction
Description
Top two floors removed Eastern wall built
Period
1920s
Start Year
2009
Type
Restoration
Description
floors work, landscape, car park development
Construction Materials
Ōamaru stone, Corrugated iron, Timber
Historical and Associated Iwi / Hapū / Whānau
Public NZAA Number
J41/130
Completion Date
23rd May 2022
Report Written By
Sarah Gallagher
Information Sources
McCarthy, 2002
Conal McCarthy, Forrester and Lemon of Oamaru, architects, Oamaru, 2002
North Otago Times
North Otago Times
North Otago Times
North Otago Times
Thornton, 1982
Geoffrey G. Thornton, New Zealand's Industrial Heritage, A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1982
Middleton, 2008
Middleton, Angela., Meeks Grain Store and Elevator Building, Archaeological Assessment. Arch Hill Report. 32, June 2008.
Elevator Building Conservation Plan
Brown, Marcus., Elevator Building Conservation Plan, prepared for de Geest Property, 2009.
Other Information
This place was identified as significant under previous legislation with different information requirements. It remains significant under the current legislation. There is opportunity under our legislation and policies to add to this information. Further information about this place may be available from the Otago/Southland Office of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. This listing is also included in the Harbour/Tyne Street Historic Area (Record no. 7064). A fully referenced copy of the listing report is available on request from the Otago/Southland Office of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Disclaimer Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions. Archaeological sites are protected by the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, regardless of whether they are entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero or not. Archaeological sites include ‘places associated with pre-1900 human activity, where there may be evidence relating to the history of New Zealand’. This List entry report should not be read as a statement on whether or not the archaeological provisions of the Act apply to the property (s) concerned. Please contact your local Heritage New Zealand office for archaeological advice.
Historical and Associated Iwi / Hapū / Whānau
Public NZAA Number
J41/130
Completion Date
23rd May 2022
Report Written By
Sarah Gallagher
Information Sources
McCarthy, 2002
Conal McCarthy, Forrester and Lemon of Oamaru, architects, Oamaru, 2002
North Otago Times
North Otago Times
North Otago Times
North Otago Times
Thornton, 1982
Geoffrey G. Thornton, New Zealand's Industrial Heritage, A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1982
Middleton, 2008
Middleton, Angela., Meeks Grain Store and Elevator Building, Archaeological Assessment. Arch Hill Report. 32, June 2008.
Elevator Building Conservation Plan
Brown, Marcus., Elevator Building Conservation Plan, prepared for de Geest Property, 2009.
Other Information
This place was identified as significant under previous legislation with different information requirements. It remains significant under the current legislation. There is opportunity under our legislation and policies to add to this information. Further information about this place may be available from the Otago/Southland Office of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. This listing is also included in the Harbour/Tyne Street Historic Area (Record no. 7064). A fully referenced copy of the listing report is available on request from the Otago/Southland Office of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Disclaimer Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions. Archaeological sites are protected by the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, regardless of whether they are entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero or not. Archaeological sites include ‘places associated with pre-1900 human activity, where there may be evidence relating to the history of New Zealand’. This List entry report should not be read as a statement on whether or not the archaeological provisions of the Act apply to the property (s) concerned. Please contact your local Heritage New Zealand office for archaeological advice.
Current Usages
Uses: Civic Facilities
Specific Usage: Art Gallery
Uses: Trade
Specific Usage: Retail & Wholesale - other
Former Usages
General Usage: Trade
Specific Usage: Warehouse/storage area
Current Usages
Uses: Civic Facilities
Specific Usage: Art Gallery
Uses: Trade
Specific Usage: Retail & Wholesale - other
Former Usages
General Usage: Trade
Specific Usage: Warehouse/storage area
Location
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