The General Headquarters [GHQ] Building (Former), [also referred to in this report as the GOC (General Officer Commanding) Building,] is located on Section 90, City of Wellington, on the south-east corner of Taranaki and Buckle Streets. The building was completed in 1912 and is probably the oldest existing military administration building remaining in New Zealand. It is important as the earliest remaining symbol of 150 years of military history associated with the Mount Cook site.
Prior to the arrival of Colonial settlement in Wellington, Mount Cook was the site of the Rangitane pa, Pukeahu. Following the arrival of the New Zealand Company in 1839, whose policy it was to reserve every tenth section of Wellington for Maori, the land around Mount Cook was reserved for Te Aro iwi. In 1850 13 acres of land was granted to the Ordnance Department of a Government Reserve for the mounting guns and military storage, by Lieutenant Governor Eyre of New Munster province. The Crown bought Sections 89 and 90 on 24 March 1874, purchasing the land from Maori for £500. By 1882 Defence Department buildings (artillery barracks) were erected on Section 90.
The strategic location of Mount Cook was important to early Wellingtonians as they were wary of a Maori attack and wanted a defensive position over the town. In 1871 a grand gaol, replacing an old wooden prison, was planned but only partially completed on the summit of Mount Cook. The building instead served other purposes and the front part of the 'gaol' was used by the General Officer Commanding as a headquarters from 1903. In 1911, artillery barracks on the corner of Taranaki and Buckle Streets were demolished to make way for what is now known as the General Headquarters Building (Former). It was designed to house the Director of Stores' offices and was probably also used as a clothing store.
Designed in the Government Architect John Campbell's offices in the Edwardian Baroque style, the building is an important representative example of early twentieth century architecture. The authenticity of the street facades (apart from decoration that has been lost at roof level following the 1942 earthquake) is high. The building complemented the architectural style adopted for all buildings constructed on Buckle Street in the late nineteenth and first decade of the twentieth century. These aimed at commonality of style, sharing features such as the use of bricks as a building material, the majority of which are likely to have been made by convicts from the Mount Cook gaol.
In the mid 1920s the site of Mount Cook was chosen for the Dominion Museum, Art Gallery and War Memorial. As the old gaol was to be demolished the Army headquarters had to be relocated. By 1929 the Defence stores had moved to Fort Dorset, and the Director of Stores' office building, which was used to store base records from 1923, was taken over by the Defence Headquarters. When the army renovated the building for their relocation they used materials from the old gaol to create partitions. This reuse of materials adds to the time depth of the General Headquarters Building (Former). Defence Headquarters remained in the building until 1938 when it moved temporarily to Featherston Street until the new Departmental Building was completed on Stout Street in [1940]. The General Headquarters Building (Former) remained in the army's ownership until 1962, when ownership was transferred to the Ministry of Works (MOW) but was leased to various organisations including the Health Department Education Branch from 1948-1979. From 1979 the building was leased to the Department of Internal Affairs and was used for storage and as a Conservation Laboratory by the Museum into the mid-1980s. The building was returned to the New Zealand Defence Force in 2002.
Today the building forms a landmark on the corner of a busy intersection. Together with the historic Mount Cook Police Station (1894), the buildings form a pair of buildings anchoring the military history of the area into the modern urban landscape.
Prior to the arrival of Colonial settlement in Wellington, Mount Cook was the site of the Rangitane pa, Pukeahu. Following the arrival of the New Zealand Company in 1839, whose policy it was to reserve every tenth section of Wellington for Maori, the land around Mount Cook was reserved for Te Aro iwi. In 1850 13 acres of land was granted to the Ordnance Department of a Government Reserve for the mounting guns and military storage, by Lieutenant Governor Eyre of New Munster province. The Crown bought Sections 89 and 90 on 24 March 1874, purchasing the land from Maori for £500. By 1882 Defence Department buildings (artillery barracks) were erected on Section 90.
The strategic location of Mount Cook was important to early Wellingtonians as they were wary of a Maori attack and wanted a defensive position over the town. In 1871 a grand gaol, replacing an old wooden prison, was planned but only partially completed on the summit of Mount Cook. The building instead served other purposes and the front part of the 'gaol' was used by the General Officer Commanding as a headquarters from 1903. In 1911, artillery barracks on the corner of Taranaki and Buckle Streets were demolished to make way for what is now known as the General Headquarters Building (Former). It was designed to house the Director of Stores' offices and was probably also used as a clothing store.
Designed in the Government Architect John Campbell's offices in the Edwardian Baroque style, the building is an important representative example of early twentieth century architecture. The authenticity of the street facades (apart from decoration that has been lost at roof level following the 1942 earthquake) is high. The building complemented the architectural style adopted for all buildings constructed on Buckle Street in the late nineteenth and first decade of the twentieth century. These aimed at commonality of style, sharing features such as the use of bricks as a building material, the majority of which are likely to have been made by convicts from the Mount Cook gaol.
In the mid 1920s the site of Mount Cook was chosen for the Dominion Museum, Art Gallery and War Memorial. As the old gaol was to be demolished the Army headquarters had to be relocated. By 1929 the Defence stores had moved to Fort Dorset, and the Director of Stores' office building, which was used to store base records from 1923, was taken over by the Defence Headquarters. When the army renovated the building for their relocation they used materials from the old gaol to create partitions. This reuse of materials adds to the time depth of the General Headquarters Building (Former). Defence Headquarters remained in the building until 1938 when it moved temporarily to Featherston Street until the new Departmental Building was completed on Stout Street in [1940]. The General Headquarters Building (Former) remained in the army's ownership until 1962, when ownership was transferred to the Ministry of Works (MOW) but was leased to various organisations including the Health Department Education Branch from 1948-1979. From 1979 the building was leased to the Department of Internal Affairs and was used for storage and as a Conservation Laboratory by the Museum into the mid-1980s. The building was returned to the New Zealand Defence Force in 2002.
Today the building forms a landmark on the corner of a busy intersection. Together with the historic Mount Cook Police Station (1894), the buildings form a pair of buildings anchoring the military history of the area into the modern urban landscape.
