This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Historic Place Registration Proposal report 2003 considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Information in square brackets indicates modifications made after the paper was considered by the NZHPT Board.
History of the place:
Prior to the arrival of European settlement, the Rangitane pa, Pukeahu, occupied the site of Mount Cook. Following the arrival of the New Zealand Company, 1939, the land around Mount Cook was reserved for Te Aro iwi as part of the Wellington Tenths. The New Zealand Land Company, which was established in 1839, released a prospectus of lands for sale in town and country sections which included references to land which would be distributed to chief families of the iwi from which the land was originally purchased. The integration of Maori reserves into Wakefield's colonisation theory were designed to promote amalgamation with the settlers. They were called Wellington Tenths as every tenth section in the proposed town plan was to be allocated to Maori. The official military significance of Mount Cook began in February-March 1844, when Lieutenant George Bennett, Commanding Officer of the Royal Engineers, was in Wellington. He wrote to the Colonial Secretary requesting that a Crown Grant be made to the Ordnance Board of Maori Reserve land in Wellington for the purpose of building a barracks. It appears to be the case that Bennett wanted the top of Mount Cook, but since there was already a prison there (probably later destroyed in 1848 earthquake) the Colonial Secretary suggested alternative sections in Thorndon. 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.
The Ordnance Department was granted a Crown Grant on 9th May 1850 for 5.26 hectares of the domain on Mount Cook for the Military; at this point it did not include Section 90 the area where the [GHQ] building was later built. There is sufficient evidence here to support the claim of the Army Association that the Mount Cook area has had a military presence since the early days of the Wellington settlement. This presence goes back at least 150 years. Records show that a military barracks was built on top of Mount Cook for the Royal Engineers c.1850. This barracks remained until c.1877, during which time it billeted the 65th regiment. A new barracks was built on the corner of Taranaki and Buckle Street c.1882. This area of land was not in the original area gazetted for defence purposes in 1850 nor was it incorporated in an 1867 plan which shows Section 90 as still part of a Native Reserve and not incorporated into the 5.26 hectares granted to Defence. However, the Crown bought sections 89 and 90 on 24th March 1874, purchasing the land from Maori for £500. There is no title available but Land Information New Zealand issued a Gazette for Section 90 in 1985.
The wooden barracks constructed by the British Garrison were on the site from c.1882 to 1911. The building date has been inferred from changes to the Army's structure. Until 1910, this comprised a Volunteer Militia set up under the Militia Act of 1858, and consisting of Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery. Of this group, the Artillery were placed on a regular footing in 1882, coinciding with the outbreak of the Russian Scare, and acting on Colonel Scratchley's report on coastal defences of 1880. The 1882 date would appear to confirm the building of the 'Permanent Artillery barrack' on the corner of Buckle and Taranaki Streets. Also that year [is when] it first appears on an official map. The Permanent Artillery was housed at this site until the outbreak of the South African (Boer) War in 1899. From 1891-1899 the outstanding master gunner George Spafford Richardson (later General Sir George Richardson) was located in the barracks. He commanded the New Zealand forces in England in World War One, who became famous for defending Antwerp with a handful of men from the Royal Navy Division.
The wooden barracks were demolished and replaced by The Defence Stores Office building in 1911/1912. The soldiers were moved to new brick barracks on Mount Cook. The whole Mount Cook area was intimately related by the use of brick. Bricks were made by prisoners at the gaol until 1920. These bricks were marked with a prison arrow which can be seen in the walls of the Mount Cook Police [Station]. Although none could be seen on the inside and outside of the [GHQ] building it has been suggested that the part of the brick stamped with an arrow would have been on the top surface, built into the wall, rather than the visible sides of the brick. The [GHQ] building was [designed] as a reflection of the other buildings on the street and built in sympathy with their utilitarian style. These contemporary buildings used for military administration [in the] Mount Cook complex and Buckle Street have since been destroyed, leaving [the GHQ Building] the oldest existing military administration building in Wellington. It is the oldest [GHQ] headquarters as it predates the present building in Stout Street. The building represents over 120 years of military history on [the] site.
A report in the Appendices to the Journals to the House of Representatives dated September 1912 records that a clothing store in brick had been built and that an office for the Director of Stores and his Clerical Staff was being erected 'to replace the old and unsanitary premises previously occupied, and which were originally erected by the imperial troops some sixty years ago.' This suggests that the offices were built on the old artillery barracks. However, this building was erected in 1912, whereas the plaque on the [GHQ] building states 1911. However, the building could have fulfilled both these purposes - as a store and as offices. It could have been built in two stages and in 1911 a plaque was placed to commemorate the first [Buckle Street] part of the building. A clothing store was needed to 'ensure the safety, and to facilitate the handling, of the large supply of clothing and miscellaneous stores required for the equipment of the Territorial Force and Senior Cadets.' The presence of a winch on the Buckle Street side of the building suggests possible use of the upper floor for stores. The Military Stores Department was created in 1855 and [was] present on Mount Cook from 1856. In 1929 the Defence Stores moved to Fort Dorset leaving their building vacant. A fire in Wellington Archives 1955/56 destroyed many of the files related to this building, leaving gaps in the information available.
Designed [by] the Government Architect John Campbell's offices in the Edwardian Baroque style with the segmentally arched hood moulding over the main door on Buckle Street, with the legend 'GR V 1911' below it, [the building] is a reminder of this Baroque preference which became very much identified with the British Imperial Tradition. There is also a Royal Coat of Arms directly above this arch. The building is important as a representative example of early 20th century architecture in the Edwardian Baroque style that was Campbell's speciality. The authenticity of the street facades (apart from decoration that may have been lost at roof level) is high. The building complemented the architectural style adopted for all buildings constructed on Buckle Street in the late 19th and first decade of the 20th century, aimed at commonality of style including the use of bricks likely to have been made by prisoners from the Mount cook gaol. It also was strong enough to withstand a series of earthquakes, particularly the one in 1942. After the 1942 earthquake the building was shorn of much of its external decoration and, in more recent years, it has provided a place to hang large billboards for Taranaki Street traffic.
The [GHQ] building is one of a few, permanent remainders of the 1913 Maritime Strike, which began as a dispute of trivial origin (a complaint by Shipwrights about travelling time) that escalated into a determined battle between the Employers Federation and the Union of Federated Labour (UFL). A stop work meeting was held at 8am on October 22nd 1913 by the waterside workers union and by 10am their jobs had been filled by Union men. Riots broke out between the strikers, 'Red Feds' who only had stones as weapons and The Specials who were on horseback with batons. On November 3rd a serious riot broke out near Buckle Street. The building housed Special Constables, mostly farmer's sons, enlisted to reinforce the regular police.
A meeting was held at Garrison Hall, Buckle Street, to form a new waterside worker's register which was signed under the protection of 'Specials'. On December 8th the new union, 2000 strong, invited the old union to join of which 300 responded, which confirmed to the strike leaders that they had lost. The strike was called off on December 20th 1913. However, there was a longstanding bitterness over the strike by the workers.
The Defence Headquarters had previously occupied the unpopular huge brick building on [the] top of Mount Cook, originally begun as one wing of a prison in 1882 and not designed to house offices effectively. It occupied the old gaol from 1903 until forced to leave in 1929, as the building was demolished (1931) to make way for the construction of the Dominion Museum and War Memorial on the site, opened 1936. As a result, the headquarters were relocated to the former Defence Stores building. The General Officer Commanding the Army (otherwise known as Defence Headquarters) was the occupant from 1929. The store building had to be reconditioned for the Defence Headquarters at the estimated cost of £884. Timber was reused from the old Head Quarters on Mount Cook and in hindsight it would have been cheaper to purchase new timber. However, the reuse of partitions from the old HQ building adds significance to the [GHQ] building's use. The actual costs for alterations were considerably higher at £1461.11.3. This meant from 1889 through to 1929 the military regained its old position on top of the hill in addition to its new position at the bottom of the hill, then, when the building of the former National Art Gallery and Museum began, the military once again had to retire to the bottom of the hill.
The Defence Headquarters moved from its Buckle Street premises to the ground floor of Featherston Street on 20th April 1938. They later moved in 1945 to the newly built Departmental Building, Stout Street. The Defence Headquarters are still located in the Stout Street in 2003. The [GHQ] building was described as 'unsuitable and inadequate' by Lieutenant Colonel Quartermaster General to the Sea on November the Ninth 1934. It underwent a series of alterations during the GOC Headquarters' residence in the building.
Since the [GHQ] use of the building there have been a variety of occupiers. After the Government Accommodation Board [used] the building as offices in 1947 it was leased for a long period to the Health Department Education Branch. They used the building from 1948-1979 and it has been suggested that the upper floor of the building was used as a dentistry clinic. In 1962 the ownership of the building was transferred to the Ministry of Works (MOW) at the book value £4954. After the Health Board the building was leased by the Department of Internal Affairs, who used the building for Museum use (storage) under MOW department conditions (which limited numbers in the building) initially on a four year term. From 1983 the Internal Affairs occupancy continued on a monthly basis. It is not clear when Internal Affairs finally vacated the building.
In 2002 Land Information New Zealand transferred the building back to the ownership of the Defence Force who owned the land. Today the building is empty except [for] occasional use by Naval Cadets. In 2003, the building is undergoing a city council review of possible earthquake prone buildings to assess its future.
The [GHQ] building forms a landmark on the corner of a busy intersection. Together with the Buckle Street Police Station, the buildings form a pair of contemporary early 20th century buildings anchoring the military history of the landscape into the modern urban environment.