Early History of the Site
The northern shores of the Waitemata Harbour are of significance to several iwi, having been explored and occupied since early human arrival in New Zealand. According to oral tradition, the Arawa canoe under Tama Te Kapua investigated the Waitemata. The Tainui canoe also landed at Te Hau Kapua (Torpedo Bay) in present-day Devonport before travelling to its eventual heartland in the Waikato. By the eighteenth century, land in the vicinity was occupied by Kawerau, who held settlements along the Waitemata shoreline noted for their access to shark fisheries. Following Ngapuhi incursions in the 1820s, much of the North Shore was depopulated, assisting its purchase by the British Crown after formal colonisation in 1840. A small Maori settlement at Te Hau Kapua remained inhabited until 1863.
Devonport emerged as a colonial settlement with its use as a British naval station from the 1840s. Crown land in the area was subdivided into suburban farms in 1850 and subsequently offered for sale. Although Devonport was subject to speculation and land subdivision in the 1860s, large-scale development emerged primarily during the economic boom of the 1870s and 1880s. With the establishment of good quality ferry services to and from Auckland, Devonport became a well-established residential suburb and significant seaside resort.
Located beside Victoria Road, the site subsequently occupied by the Devonport Post Office formed part of a Crown Grant issued in 1850 to the Colonial Secretary Andrew Sinclair and others, as trustees of the Grammar School Trust. The issuing of grants to the Grammar School Trust had been empowered by the Colonial Governor, Sir George Grey, for the purposes of maintaining and supporting a grammar school or schools in Auckland. Over the next 70 years, the Trust and its successor the Auckland Grammar School Board leased out the land to various parties. During this period, Victoria Road emerged as Devonport’s main commercial thoroughfare. In 1920, part of the land owned by the Grammar School was taken by the Government for the creation of a post office.
Construction of the Post Office (1938)
The earliest postal facilities in Devonport were established in 1863, and initially occupied a school-church in Church Street. After moving to a succession of nearby premises, the facilities were transferred in 1870 to a general store run by the postmaster Oliver Mays in Victoria Road. In 1907-8, a purpose-built brick post office on the west side of Victoria Road was erected, after which demand in the developing settlement continued to expand. Between 1904 and 1924, the number of postal articles passing through the Devonport office increased from 340,146 to 1,255,789 items. Just over ten years after the new building had been opened, negotiations began for the purchase of land that was more centrally located.
The site chosen for a new post office was near the corner of Victoria Road and Clarence Street, on the opposite side of the road to the earlier structure. For more than fifteen years, the site remained undeveloped, including during the Great Depression when a request was made to rent the land for gardening purposes. In 1935, the first Labour government came to power, promising to alleviate hardship through the greater provision of state assistance to New Zealand’s citizens. Post offices were a major point of contact between central government services and communities, and were to be at the forefront of this delivery.
In 1936, the government drew up a building programme for the construction of new post offices throughout the country. Due to the pressure of work on the Public Works Department, private architects were contracted to prepare plans and specifications for a number of these structures in 1936-7, notably for chief post offices at Christchurch, Hamilton and Wanganui; and ten smaller structures elsewhere in the country, including at Devonport, Avondale and Grey Lynn. The government also introduced measures to increase the status and morale of the service. Salaries were restored to their 1931 level and a shorter, 40-hour week was introduced.
The architect contracted for the Devonport post office was Norman Wade, who had recently recommenced practice on his own account. Wade was a noted architect, who had previously been responsible with his former business partner Alva Bartley for significant structures linked with modern technology such as the Auckland Electric Power Board Building (1928-30) in Queen Street; and the 1YA Radio Station Building (started 1934) in Shortland Street. Relevantly, given Devonport’s strong maritime connections, Wade was also architect to the Auckland Harbour Board.
Wade drew up plans for the new post office in August 1937. Construction began at the end of February 1938 and took approximately eight months to complete. In line with government policy, New Zealand materials were employed wherever possible during the construction process. The use of such materials formed part of a strategy to stimulate the economy, and can also be seen to have reflected views within the government that emphasised greater national self-sufficiency and pride. The contractor was A.J. Good, who had been manager of the firm Julian Brothers when the latter had built the monumental Auckland Railway Station in 1928-30.
The Devonport Post Office was officially opened by the local Member of Parliament, F.W. Schramm, on 14 November 1938. In his speech at the opening, Schramm emphasised the importance of the new building, stating:
‘No institution plays a more important part in our commercial, business and social relations than does the Post Office. The Post Office provides facilities for all classes of the community, and there is scarcely a person who does not have occasion at some time to avail him or herself of those facilities. When, therefore, it is the good fortune of any place to be provided with such an imposing post office as this, the residents of that place have good reason to be proud.’
Other participants at the opening included the Mayor of Devonport, H. F. W. Meikle, and the architect Norman Wade who presented a souvenir key to F. W. Schramm. A large number of other dignitaries were invited, including the Chief Postmaster, the president of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, and the chairmen of the Auckland Harbour Board and the Auckland Electric Power Board. Another invitee was the architect, Vernon Brown, a notable advocate of New Zealand-based approaches to modern domestic design. The event took place shortly after another significant development in the provision of state assistance in the area: in September 1938, the first state house in Devonport had been opened.
As erected, the post office consisted of a two-storeyed, reinforced concrete structure with an exterior plaster finish. Visually, the design encompassed a complex interplay of horizontal and vertical elements that included a plain base, window detailing, a central frieze bearing the words ‘POST OFFICE’, and twin flagpoles. Behind its horizontal parapet, the roof was hipped and incorporated a plain, central chimneystack. The rear part of the structure was of single-storey height.
Displaying many modern-looking features for its period, the structure’s visual design has been described as Streamline Moderne, which was a late type of Art Deco style that emphasised plainer, curving forms and horizontal lines. Consciously modern designs were adopted for many government buildings from 1935 onwards, reflecting the first Labour government’s forward-looking agenda. Although designed by Norman Wade, ultimate responsibility for the building rested with Government Architect J.T. Mair (1876-1959), who oversaw the creation of a number of post offices of related appearance in the mid to late 1930s, including other examples in Auckland, Tauranga, Te Awamutu and Wanganui. The Devonport post office shares many design characteristics with these other structures. It can be seen to have reflected attempts by the Public Works Department to project a unified contemporary style while allowing for individual expression and variation through commissions from private architects.
Internally, the post office contained working facilities on the ground floor and accommodation above. At ground floor level, the structure incorporated a main vestibule facing Victoria Road, a large public space, a room for the postmaster and a spacious mail room. Entry to the mailroom was from a private roadway on the south side of the building. Care for the workforce was expressed not only in the provision of upstairs family quarters for the local postmaster, H. Ingham, but also through other facilities. At the opening, it was specifically noted that ‘the mail room is fitted with heaters suspended from the ceiling, and hot air is distributed and controlled by electrically driven fans.’
On the upper floor, the postmaster’s flat contained six rooms, and was described as modern and well-equipped. It encompassed two bedrooms, a living room, sitting room and kitchen, and a small sun porch in its northwest corner. Separate garages and stores were also provided at the rear. The total cost of construction was estimated to be £15,000.
Subsequent use and modifications
The opening of the Devonport post office broadly coincided with the introduction of a universal social security system in 1938. In 1939, the Post Office Department took over the registration of young men and women under the Social Security Act. Between 1937-8 and 1938-9, the amounts handled nationally by the Post Office for other Departments increased from £53,000 to £62,000, reflecting the extent to which new legislation added to the agency activities of the organisation. After the Second World War (1939-45), services increased even faster than before. In 1964, the Post Office was described as both a social service organisation and one of New Zealand’s largest businesses. The Devonport post office served the local community throughout this period.
As a result of economic reforms introduced in the 1980s, the building was transferred from the Crown to New Zealand Post Ltd in 1988. By 1991, the post office had been closed, and the property sold to private owners. The building was subsequently used as a private museum known as ‘Jackson’s Muzeum of Automobilia, Sounds, Victoriana and Collectables’. Open to the public, this visitor attraction moved from earlier premises at Mt Wellington. It contained a large and varied collection belonging to caravan manufacturer and entrepreneur Bryan Jackson, who had invented an amphibious caravan - the Caracat - in the 1960s. Exhibits included items linked with postal history, and others that were rare or unusual. In 1997, the museum was a finalist in the ‘cultural heritage experience’ category of the Auckland Tourism awards. When the collection was later sold in 1998, its auction was said to have been the biggest by value and volume in the Southern Hemisphere.
Conversion of the building to a museum included the addition of a sizeable, two-storey extension at the rear, and the creation of upper-floor attic rooms in an extended roof space above the former postmaster’s first-floor flat for expanded residential use. A small yard to the north of the building was also enclosed through the provision of a pentice roof; and two telephone boxes and an octagonal, restored gazebo were added to the top of the main elevation. The gazebo is understood to have come originated from a large property at the southern end of Jubilee Avenue, North Head, which belonged to the local philanthropist A.R.D. Watson prior to 1917. Further land at the rear of the building was subdivided. The building’s employment as a museum can be seen to have reflected Devonport’s on-going role as a maritime resort, in which the suburb’s well-preserved heritage was making an increasingly important contribution.
Following closure of the museum, the building was converted into a shopping arcade in 2008. This encompassed removing the west wall of the north yard to facilitate creation of a second entrance from Victoria Road; and the removal of more recent elements, such as signage and a canopy over the front door. Telephone boxes at the top of the main elevation had been previously taken down. Internal modifications included the removal of original entry lobby walls, form-filling bays and a post office counter. Other elements, such as early floorboards, were exposed and conserved. New retail spaces with glass partitioning enabled much of the post office interior, including its original columns and ceiling, to be viewed as a unified space. In 2009, the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) presented an Auckland Architecture Award for these alterations in its heritage category to the architects Salmond Reed Ltd.
The property remains in private ownership.
