Context
Corban’s Winery and Mt Lebanon Vineyards (Former) is situated in Henderson, a traditionally working-class residential suburb in west Auckland. The site is located immediately to the west of Henderson’s main commercial centre, adjoining several elements that have historically formed key parts of the area’s transport and communication network. These include the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) railway line, Great North Road and Te Wai ō Panuku or Ōpanuku Stream - a feature of the pre-European Māori landscape. Beside Te Wai ō Panuku are the recently created Ōpanuku and Ōpanuku Stream Paths, offering direct pedestrian and cycleway access to the Corban’s Winery site. To the west, on land formerly forming part of the winery estate, is an area of residential housing created in relatively recent times. To the south is open ground forming Ōpanuku Reserve and Henderson Park.
Te Wai ō Panuku forms part of a wider landscape with ancestral Māori associations. Recorded pre-European archaeological sites in the area include shell midden beside Te Wai ō Pareira, near its confluence with Te Wai ō Panuku. Other formally recognised heritage in Henderson includes the Railway Station and Platform (Former) (List No.7538, Category 2 historic place); and Swan’s Arch (List No.5429, Category 2 historic place). Places identified as significant by the local council additionally encompass examples linked with the area’s history of industrial and horticultural production, including at least one other than the winery that is specifically linked with the Corban family: the Khaleel Corban residence at 56 Sturges Road. Another scheduled place connected with Corban’s Winery – its former depot beside Great North Road – has been recently demolished, although its brick footings and internal floor survive. The scheduled Coronation Bridge on Great North Road, close to Corban’s Winery, remains.
The Site
The site covers an irregular area of approximately 7 hectares (17.3 acres). It is bounded by the North Island Main Trunk railway line to the north, Te Wai ō Panuku to the south and east, and Mt Lebanon Lane to the west. The main built components of the complex lie within the northern and central parts of the site and can be divided into two conceptual parts: early residential and administrative elements in the northeast corner and numerous former industrial components to their west. A building relocated from elsewhere in Henderson, the Church of St Michael and All Angels, is situated to the south. Formerly vineyards and orchards, the southern part of the site is predominantly in grass and includes a large recently-created pond. The site’s southern and eastern fringes contain numerous trees and shrubs beside Te Wai ō Panuku.
The main built elements of the complex are described in an anticlockwise direction, starting with the former homestead and garage. The grounds are described subsequently.
Homestead and Garage (1923-4)
The homestead is a substantial timber building of idiosyncratic design, reflecting aspects of the Corbans’ Lebanese roots and the communal nature of extended family living. Like many houses in Shweir, the homestead is built into a slope – in this instance with a single-storey component at the front and double-storeyed element at the rear, overlooking the former vineyards. It is of timber-frame construction, with weatherboard cladding and a gabled corrugated iron roof. In its appearance, it is influenced by both transitional villa and bungalow design but in form and layout is specific to its initial occupants’ requirements. The building exterior is generally well-preserved, and although internally modified from its original layout can still be clearly read.
The building has a well-appointed interior reflecting the family’s position as the country’s largest winemakers and vinegrowers at the time of construction. Notable surviving ornamental features on the main floor include ceiling ventilators, etched glass-panelled doors, dining room fireplace and newel post to the staircase connecting upper and lower levels. Particularly striking are grape and vine motif stained glass on the building’s main entrance doors, and similar window motifs within both large rooms flanking the front hall - respectively the former parlour and A.A. and Nabijie Corban’s bedroom. An adjoining bedroom was converted to an office in 1979, and contains joinery and cabinetry connected with the winemaking business at this time. Within the lower level, the interior retains some original rooms to indicate their general size, as well as timber linings and notable features such as a Shacklock Orion kitchen range and associated cupboards towards the building’s northwest end. Changes to the building have included dismantling original brickwork at the main entrance during conversion to company offices in 1979, and the removal of bedroom partitions at both levels to create larger open spaces (2002). The rear verandah has also been replaced with a wider version.
The well-preserved concrete garage is similarly built into a slope and is single-storey on its front (northeast) elevation and two-storey at the rear. The construction methods are visible on only wall without plaster at the real. Its gabled roof is clad with corrugated iron and retains a brick chimney. Arches marking three vehicle bays on the front elevation have been infilled but are clearly visible. To their northwest is a window and doorway, linked with original office rooms. Internally, the large garage is lit by an elaborate nine-light window in its rear wall. A small staircase leads to an upstairs loft. Small rooms on the lower level comprise an original laundry and dairy. These are each accessed separately from the lower, northwest elevation. They have conventional four-pane sash windows and modern linings.
Early winery complex (1903 onwards)
The early winery complex consists of an amalgamation of structures of different periods, reflecting activity from the very earliest phase of winemaking on the site to industrial production half a century later. They incorporate two initially separate and free-standing structures: the 1903-7 winery, and stables of similar date. These were added to in the 1920s and fully interconnected by the 1940s. Many of the 1920s elements were replaced by a large, multi-gabled bottling plant addition in 1959-60. Collectively, the complex graphically reflects the business’ evolution from artisanal to industrial production.
1903-7 Winery
The 1903-7 winery lies at the east corner of the complex and can still be read as a separate building. Rectangular in plan, it has two storeys and a cellar, and a simple, gabled roof. The cellar is of brick construction, supporting a timber frame for the ground floor and loft that are mostly clad with corrugated iron. The frame, floorboards and other features retain evidence about early appearance and use.
The loft, in particular, retains its early character and features. The northeast wall framing holds evidence of a central doorway accessing a former external staircase, and flanking windows. Wide-board lining survives at this end, as does a built-in workbench below the northwest window. The remaining space, including the roof, is unlined. The positions of three original windows (known to have been of unusual, circular design) survive in the southeast wall. The southwest wall retains an original six-light window. The collared-roof frame and other timbers retain traces of whitewash or paint. The floorboards incorporate the upper chute into which grapes were discharged to a fermenting vat on the ground floor. This coincides with the position of successive grape crushers in 1910 and 1912.
The ground floor – initially used as a fermenting room, store and bedrooms for guests and the elder Corban boys – currently has three rooms. The cellar, accessed from an external porch, has been expanded by additions beneath the verandah and to the northwest, but retains its unlined ceiling with exposed joists, as well as supporting posts. An infilled hatch may indicate internal ladder access, or where wine was siphoned from an overlying fermentation vat to barrels housed in the cellar. Re-purposed as a tasting room and bar in the later twentieth century, the cellar currently contains a barrel-themed serving bench.
Stables
Situated in the northwestern part of the complex, the former stables is a two-storey, timber-frame structure of rectangular plan with a gabled roof. Its roof and northwest wall are clad with corrugated iron. Like the 1903-7 winery, the main, northeast elevation has been re-clad with fibrolite sheets, concealing an early ground floor entrance and other apertures although an external door to the loft survives. The ground floor interior, where horses utilised for cultivating the land and transporting produce were housed, retains its plain finishes and is largely intact. The upper storey or stable loft interior is partially lined with hardboard, although traces of earlier, horizontal board linings survive. Its collared roof is similar to that in the 1903-1907 winery.
Extended cellar (1920s), and office and packing room infill (late 1930s-1940s)
A single-storey, brick extension to the 1903-7 winery lies immediately to the northwest of the early cellar. Likely erected in the 1920s, this incorporates a surviving door and (infilled) window in its northwest side and two other door apertures in its southwest elevation. The latter lead into another room containing an unusually large, 6-panel door. The initial room may have incorporated a chimney and boiler as part of bottling facilities during early expansion of the plant. A second storey of timber-frame construction was added above the brickwork, incorporating two rooms lit with numerous windows. This provided new access – probably via a ladder – to the 1903-7 loft, suggesting creation associated with reorganisation of the early building when the 1941 winery was erected.
A two-storey gabled building connected this structure with the stables at a similar time. Its northeast elevation incorporates central doorways at both ground and upper floor levels, both with flanking windows. Internally, the upper storey retains horizontal board linings on its southwest wall with painted signage for alphabetically-designated storage areas, and hatches in the floorboards for interconnection with the lower floor. These may be linked with the storage and preparation of packaging such as cartons or boxes, or similar processes. This level also contains graffiti bearing the names of Corban family members and employees dating to the 1970s, which reflect the multicultural nature of the workforce.
Bottling plant and despatch facilities (1959-60)
The remaining structural elements comprise a bottling plant and despatch area that largely or fully replaced earlier winery extensions in broadly the same position. Its gabled, warehouse-style structure is mostly of single-storey construction, with large internal spaces that have mostly been partitioned. Concrete floors, roof trusses and skylights are visible. A former labelling and despatch area, later used as a staff cafeteria, is situated in a double-storey element at the northwest end. The southwest elevation of the overall complex formed an extension to the bottling, packing, storage and orders rooms in 1963-4.
1941 Winery remnants
Although subject to demolition in the early 2000s, visible remnants of the 1941 winery building survive in the form of large concrete vats, footings and concrete floor surfaces – the latter currently used as a car park. Collectively these represent the first fully-planned, industrial-scale winery on the site, and the business’ evolution into a greatly expanded, second-generation commercial enterprise.
Four blocks of concrete vats or tanks survive near the southeast end of the former building, arranged in two rows. Each block contains numerous rectangular, flat-roofed chambers, each containing a small aperture towards its base. The latter have metal housing for a door and an attached tray. The vats reflect mass-production, and a shift from wooden barrels for storing some wine products.
Surviving footings demonstrate the overall extent of the building, and provide evidence of construction methods and materials, as well as layout and access. The vats and associated concrete floors to the southwest might reflect changes to the interior following initial design in 1941.
Barrel store and distillery range (1940s onwards)
The barrel store and distillery buildings form a linear range along the northern boundary of the site, next to the North Island Main Trunk railway line. Perhaps replacing or subsuming parts of a pre-1935 range closer to the 1903-7 winery, they appear to be primarily linked with expansion in the 1940s, including the creation of distilling facilities on an industrial scale. Built before 1948, the distillery consists of a tall and well-preserved tower, several storeys in height. A rare surviving example of its type, it has brick footings to first-floor level supporting a timber-frame superstructure sheathed with corrugated iron. Iron also clads the gabled roof.
The internal framing is visually impressive and exposed to loft level. A small partition in one corner was formerly an office with internal windows. A mezzanine retains several tall, circular vats for spirits of varying strength. A complex network of metal pipework linked with the distilling process extends into the loft. Reached by a narrow timber staircase, the loft is a separate space. The tower was designed to accommodate a large copper still incorporating a tall rectifying column, a remnant of which may survive on an upper landing (see chattels).
A two-storey building of similar construction conjoins the tower to the northwest. Part of this may have been used as a cooperage after expansion of the wider complex in 1941. Access between the upper floor and adjoining railway line is via a large sliding door. At the base is a former barrel store extending northwest. This consists of a long, single-storey brick building with a gabled, corrugated iron roof, mostly enclosing a single space. The latter is lit by several twelve-light sash windows and is accessed by a large sliding door facing the 1941 winery. Other apertures, some blocked, exist towards its northwest end. A gabled extension (1963) roofed an earlier brick-built storage area, on to which a corrugated iron extension with monopitch roof was added (pre-1966) to house transformer equipment. At the southeast end of the range, on the site of pre-1935 buildings, is a boiler room built of concrete blocks. Two olive trees, remnants of many planted by Dalmatian families in 1965 to represent this community’s close connections with Corban’s Winery, survive south of the barrel store.
Early 1970s tank farm
Although built extensions to the 1941 winery have been largely removed, remnants reflecting ongoing expansion and technological development survive – including the remains of concrete bases for stainless steel storage tanks on two main levels of terraced ground in the northwest part of the complex. The lower area retains separately sized bases for 10,000 gallon refrigerated tanks once lying inside a building and nine 30,000 gallon external tanks, erected in 1971.
The upper terrace contains numerous similar bases of varying size, which are associated with concrete pads, retaining walls and other features providing evidence of spatial organisation, layout and use from the early 1970s onwards. Stainless steel storage was an innovation introduced by the Corban business. Now over half a century old, these remnants demonstrate the next stage for wine storage after the adoption of concrete tanks. They belong to the final stage of Corban’s position as the largest producer in the country.
Cask or barrel maturation warehouse, and additions (1960s-80s)
Two very large, conjoining warehouses in the western part of the built complex also reflect the expansion of industrial wine production by Corban’s winery during the 1960s and 1970s, and the ongoing increase of scale under initial multinational ownership in the late 1970s.
Initially created in 1962 for barrel-based wine maturation, the northeast single-storey, gabled building has corrugated iron wall and roof cladding, with wide, industrial doors and a gable louvre in its northwest elevation. Expanded southeast in several phases from the early 1960s to the late 1970s, some variation in construction methods can be seen, including use of concrete block footings in the later work. Concrete floors and other features survive, including beneath recently inserted partitions and floors at the southeast end.
The conjoining warehouse to the southwest is of similar scale, enclosing a single interior space of impressive proportions that remains open to the roof. The building is of combined steel and timber-frame construction with corrugated iron cladding on concrete block footings, and was built in two stages in 1973-4 – representing the final stage in development of the site before the Corban family relinquished majority control of the business. Numerous industrial features including wide industrial doors at each end, smaller doorways in the southwest elevation and outflow vents survive. A 1987, pole-built canopy at the southeast end of both warehouses reflects the ongoing importance of motorised road transportation for product distribution – first evidenced 50 years earlier by the 1920s garage.
Church of St Michael and All Angels (1914, relocated 2002 and 2005)
This Gothic Revival-style timber church is situated a short distance to the south of the homestead and garage. Relocated from elsewhere in Henderson, it does not form part of the historical winery complex and reflects the site’s development since becoming an Arts Centre. It does, however, have close historical connections with the Corban family, having – in its previous location – been where members worshipped, married and were farewelled at funerals.
The building is of timber-frame construction with weatherboard wall cladding and a corrugated iron roof. It incorporates a reconstructed belfry at its north end. In plan, it contains a small nave with a porch at its north end and a chancel or sanctuary at the south. An attached vestry east of the sanctuary is mirrored by a 2005 addition to the west. All internal spaces are lined, with the nave having a vertical-board wainscot and horizontal-board lining above. The nave ceiling is panelled. Above the nave entrance from the porch is an attached triptych of St George and the Dragon by artist Margaret Thompson Harvey (b.1924). This was previously housed in the sanctuary in 1954.
A small number of other buildings have been moved to the site for general use in recent years, and are not described. They do not currently contribute in a substantial way to the historical and cultural values of the place.
Grounds
An extensive area of land, formerly vineyards and orchards, survives to the south and west of the main buildings. Much of it is now under grass, with extensive plantings alongside the full length of Te Wai ō Panuku.
In the extreme eastern corner of the site is the former staff car park, at one time planted with vines. Trees adjoining the car park were planted in the 1970s, and can be seen to reflect beautification and improvements to staff facilities. Levelling up for the car park may preserve underlying cultivation features and other elements, such as those linked with poultry rearing in this area and possibly earlier smallholding in the 1890s. A recent bridge across Te Wai ō Panuku for pedestrians and cyclists provides direct access to this part of the complex from Henderson town centre.
The eastern fringe of the site incorporates a steep drop to Te Wai ō Panuku, and is occupied by various plantings. Exotic trees include mature pines, macrocarpa, poplar and oak. The pines are believed to have been planted in the 1890s or very early 1900s, and the oak and macrocarpa in 1902-20. Poplar may have planted at a similar date. Pine, macrocarpa and poplar were frequently established as fast-growing shelter-belts to protect orchards, market gardens and, in this instance, vineyards. Potential usage for oak included barrel-making. A group of pin oaks extending into the grassed area were planted by Corban Wines in the 1980s – perhaps reflecting the American connections of its multinational owners at this time.
Southeast and southwest glades that formed intrinsic parts of Mt Lebanon vineyards survive as distinctive features. They, and intervening land beside Te Wai ō Panuku, are fringed by similar trees. The southeast glade was used as an orchard: a single Bon Cretien pear tree, currently intermingled with an oak, survives at the entrance to the glade, having been planted in circa 1910. Between the two glades are well-preserved basalt steps and retaining walls, said to have led to the family’s washing pool in the stream below. Their stonework can be interpreted as the main surviving reflection on the site of A.A. Corban’s occupation as a stonemason before leaving Lebanon.
The position of a former path flanking the vineyards and connecting the homestead and winery to the steps is indicated by several plantings, including another surviving pear tree – possibly of Beurre Bosch or Clairgeau type. Others aligned trees include a pōhutukawa planted by Carl XVI Gustav, King of Sweden, while visiting the winery in 1989 – which is marked by a plaque – and the trunk of another planting that has grown to incorporate part of a metal post and wire fence separating the track from the vineyards.
The southwest glade is narrower than the southeast and was also once used as an orchard. Towards its west side, it incorporates a wide access track with brick retaining wall of stepped design, perhaps indicating past vehicular access for harvesting.
To the northwest, a much wider glade, formerly the vineyard nursery and possibly also incorporating an orchard. Trees beside Te Wai ō Panuku include a tall poplar and a very large pear tree. Having been used to cultivate young vines before transplantation, its ground surface is bumpy and irregular. At its northwest end is another recent pedestrian and cyclist bridge, with a connecting path to Mt Lebanon Lane – which forms the north boundary of the site.
Other recent features in the grounds include a small lake, created in the early 2000s; and a sculpture known as Moana the eel, which was unveiled in 2007. Both were created as part of the Twin Streams project.
Comparisons
The former Corban’s Winery and Mt Lebanon Vineyards is one of very few surviving complexes linked with winemaking in Aotearoa New Zealand that spans almost the whole of the twentieth century. Of those that do remain, it was the largest producer, and one of only a couple that formed major complexes through this period. It also incorporates very early or rare survivals, such as what may be the earliest intact purpose-built winery of private construction in the country, and a distillery tower connected with the production of fortified wine. It is also one of the most significant currently identified places linked with the contributions of Lebanese peoples to Aotearoa New Zealand.
An earlier surviving winery at Te Mata Estate in Hawke’s Bay is considered the oldest winery on its original site, with vineyards established in 1892 by Bernard Chambers. Its surviving winery building is believed to have been in use by 1896, following conversion from a brick-built stables erected two decades earlier. A barrel hall was added in the 1930s. This modest-scale complex was modernised after 1978 following resurgence of the Hawke’s Bay wine industry, and later expanded to designs involving noted architect Ian Athfield. Te Mata Estate includes Buck House (List No. 7628, Category 1 historic place), erected as a residence in 1980 to Athfield’s design.
One of the main industrial parallels for Corban’s Winery is the former Vidal Estate winery at Avenue Road East in Hastings. Established in 1905 by George Vidal, a migrant from Spain, the earliest building used as a winery was a pre-existing racing stables on the site. The establishment formed one of Corban’s rivals for several decades. In 1961, it opened the country’s first drive-in bottle store, and in the 1970s the first winery restaurant. The business remained on the site until 2018, when the complex was offered for sale. In addition to factory buildings and restaurant, the property at this time contained a function centre and five houses.
Mission Estate, also in Hawke’s Bay, was established as a winery on its current site at Greenmeadows in 1909 – although vineyards and orchards were planted in 1897. Founded by Marist religious brothers on part of the earlier estate of winemaker Henry Tiffen, some pre-existing buildings that were utilised included a former wooden stable employed as cellars (demolished in 1964). Other structures such as a large residence were relocated from the group’s earlier complex at nearby Meeanee, and buildings such as a church and accommodation block later erected. The estate operated primarily as a seminary, with commercial wine production secondary to its sacramental and domestic use. Major expansion occurred from the 1970s. Mission Estate currently operates as a commercial vineyard.
Most commercial wineries in the country’s other main early wine production region in Auckland and Northland – other than Corbans – were small scale. Pleasant Valley Estate in Henderson Valley Road, Henderson was established for winemaking in the same year as Mt Lebanon Vineyards (1902) by Dalmatian Stipan Yelas. In the 1980s, its vineyards covered 25 hectares. In 2002, it was described as New Zealand's oldest family-owned winery.
The government-owned establishment created at Te Kauwhata Winery (List No.4174, Category 1 historic place) survives. The surviving purpose-built winery was erected in 1903-4, probably under the supervision of Romeo Bragato. The complex encompasses a still tower (1941-2), considered a rare or unique feature, which in 2001 retained the only nineteenth-century pot-still in the country. Unlike Corban’s Winery, it did not develop into an industrial complex and was sold by the government in the early 1990s.
Winery buildings that have so far been formally recognised for their heritage values include Ellis’s Winery, which was evidently created before 1890 but damaged by a landslide in 1922, leaving only its stone cellar intact (List No.5133, Category 2 historic place; and part of Ellis’s Farm Historic Area (List No.7047); and a 1931 concrete wine shed forming part of the Devcich Farm, Kauaeranga, near Thames (List No.9497, Category 1 historic place), which retains associated winemaking chattels. Both are associated with surviving farm complexes.
Few major places linked with the early contributions of New Zealand's Middle Eastern communities have been identified. The main example is Shalfoon Brothers Shop Buildings (Former) in Ōpōtiki, established by Damascus-born George and Stephen Shalfoon by 1903-4 (List No.807, Category 1 historic place). This contains a very large number of chattels linked with this business, which like A.A. Corban’s early interactions, involved strong trading and commercial links with Māori communities. The nearby De Luxe Theatre is also linked with the Shalfoon family, having been built as part of their commercial enterprise in 1926 (List No.3498, Category 2 historic place). In Dunedin, St Michael's Antiochan Orthodox Church (List No.7341, Category 2 historic place) was built in 1911 as the first purpose-built Orthodox church in the country, and has played a part in the affairs of the city’s distinctive Lebanese community.
