Auckland Municipal Destructor and Depot (Former)

210-218 Victoria Street West, Union Street and Drake Street, Freemans Bay, AUCKLAND

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The former Auckland Municipal Destructor and Depot in Freemans Bay is a unique surviving complex linked with sanitation and energy production in early twentieth-century New Zealand. Constructed over a 13-year period, from 1905 to 1918, the complex incorporates numerous municipal buildings erected to deal with rubbish disposal, electricity production, stabling and other infrastructure. Located in what was traditionally a working-class suburb to the west of Auckland's city centre, the complex lies on reclaimed land. Prior to reclamation in the late 1870s, the site was part headland and part foreshore of Freemans Bay. A blockhouse was built on the headland in the early 1860s as part of a defensive ring around Auckland during the Waikato War (1863-1864). The blockhouse was demolished during reclamation work, after which the broader site was leased to Auckland City Council. Numerous timber buildings were constructed, housing residential and commercial tenants, including a glassworks. Following concerns about public health in Auckland - heightened by an outbreak of bubonic plague in Sydney - destructor facilities were erected to replace the open dumping of rubbish in the city. Constructed in 1904-1905, the facilities consisted of a brick Destructor Building - containing a tipping platform, hoppers, ovens and furnaces - and an associated Chimney, 38 m tall. The polychromatic Chimney was a visual landmark, also symbolizing progress and effective leadership by the municipal authorities. Auckland City Council embarked on other prestigious projects during the period immediately before and after New Zealand's transformation from colony to Dominion, including the construction of Grafton Bridge (1907-1910), which incorporated the world's largest single span of reinforced concrete. Expanding its facilities, the Auckland City Council soon added a Power Generator Building (1907-1908) to one side of the destructor facilities, taking advantage of heat generated by the destructor to generate the first municipal supply of electricity to Aucklanders. Electric lighting was particularly required to illuminate public places as a safety issue. A joint destructor-generator building had been proposed in 1902, but by this time only two others had been erected around the world. By 1906, 60 had been constructed. Incorporating a boiler room, generator room, battery room and water-cooling tower, the generator was soon found to be inadequate for the demands of the city and closed down in 1913. Plans for municipal bathing facilities that would take advantage of heat provided by the destructor never eventuated. In spite of the closure of the power generation facilities, the municipal complex was expanded considerably with the construction of large brick Stables Buildings in 1914-1915 and Municipal Depot Buildings fronting Patteson Street (now Victoria Street West) in 1918. The stables were of very unusual design, incorporating double-storey stabling for 94 horses. The horses were used to collect rubbish for the Destructor Building. The Depot Buildings were more utilitarian. While the West Depot was used for council administration offices, the East Depot was employed for garaging the refuse wagons and for storage. The facilities gradually declined, with the stabling going out of use for its original purpose in 1952, and the Destructor Building and Chimney ceasing operations in 1972. Following a public campaign to save the complex from demolition, the buildings were converted for use as a market and retail complex, a function it still retains. Alterations for this purpose were carried out in 1983 and 1990. The former Auckland Municipal Destructor and Depot is historically significant for its association with the provision of essential municipal services in an early twentieth-century urban context. It has architectural and technological importance as an outstandingly well-preserved municipal complex, containing New Zealand's only surviving Destructor Building and a rare or unique example of double-storey stabling. The former Auckland Municipal Destructor and Depot has aesthetic value for its extensive use of polychromatic brickwork and for its landmark qualities, exemplified particularly by its Chimney - and Auckland icon. The complex is part of an important urban landscape of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century date, which incorporates numerous heritage buildings and other places of historic significance.

Auckland Municipal Destructor and Depot (Former), Auckland. CC BY-SA 2.0 Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org | Joe Ross | 24/09/2016 | Joe Ross - Wikimedia Commons
Auckland Municipal Destructor and Depot (Former), Auckland. CC BY-SA 2.0 Image courtesy of www.flickr.com | Natalia Volna - itravelNZ® | 24/09/2016 | itravelNZ®
Auckland Municipal Destructor and Depot (Former), Auckland. Image courtesy of www.flickr.com. | 32 Blocks | 05/10/2012 | 32 Blocks
Auckland Municipal Destructor and Depot (Former), Auckland. CC BY-SA 4.0 Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org | Summ23 | 19/03/2022 | Summ23
Auckland Municipal Destructor and Depot (Former), Auckland. Image courtesy of www.flickr.com - https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoff-inoz/ | geoff-inOz | 17/11/2009 | geoff-inOz

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

7664

Date Entered

6th June 2006

Date of Effect

6th June 2006

City/District Council

Auckland Council

Region

Auckland Council

Extent of List Entry

The registration includes part of the land in RT NA44C/153, and part of the road reserve on the eastern side of Union Street between the Victoria Street West and Drake Street intersections and on the northern side of Drake Street between the Union Street and Adelaide Street intersections (as shown on Maps A1 and A2 in the registration report) and all of the buildings, their fittings and fixtures thereon.

Legal description

Part of Pt Lot 1 DP 45668 (RT NA44C/153), North Auckland Land District; and part of road reserve on eastern side of Union Street between Victoria Street West and Drake Street intersections, and on northern side of Drake Street between Union Street and Adelaide Street intersections.

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