When completed in late 1925, the three-storeyed ferro-concrete commercial building known as Tekapo Buildings, located at 255-265 Stafford Street in central Timaru, was noted for its striking design by local architect, Herbert Hall. Tekapo Buildings makes a contribution to the streetscape and has aesthetic, architectural and historical value.

Tekapo Buildings was constructed during a busy period of commercial construction activity in the Timaru Central Business District. A newspaper report celebrating the opening of the Tekapo Buildings in early 1926 noted that it was named after Lake Tekapo in the Mackenzie District and was the first Timaru building to be flood-lit from the outside. The report described the building as being divided into five shops, with the second and third floors being used as offices, these being accessed by an electric elevator. The basement contained both lift machinery and heating plant for the building’s radiators.

Tekapo Buildings stands on the north-east side of Stafford Street in the middle of a block north of Strathallan Street, Timaru. Constructed of brick, ferro-concrete and plaster, the building is Italianate in style with Ionic columns, rusticated corners and dentilled cornice. It is well-crafted and does not appear to have dramatically altered since its construction. The main change on the exterior is at ground floor level where most of the shop fronts appear to be modern. The cantilever verandah appears to be original, supported by a rod from the base of each of the columns on the first floor. The architect for Tekapo Buildings, Herbert Hall (1880-1939), designed a number of public and domestic buildings throughout Timaru and the surrounding districts in the early part of the twentieth century. These included the Carnegie Library at Fairlie (1914) and the South Canterbury War Memorial in Timaru (1925). One of his most notable buildings was the neo-Georgian Chateau Tongariro (1928-9), erected on Mount Ruapehu in the North Island.

Early businesses and organisations operating out of the building included a photographer’s studio on the top floor, chiropractic clinic, Plunket Society rooms, fruiterer and confectioner and shoe shop. Nowadays, the ground floor continues to operate as retail, with offices on the floors above.