Historic Significance

Historical Significance or Value This building is of special historical significance as it contributes to the story of the Otago grain industry and a late flowering entrepreneurial spirit of the J & T Meek and James Aitken who sought to add value to the New Zealand grain market by conditioning the grain prior to export to improve quality and maximise price. After their business relationship founded the Meeks found their timing to maximise the benefits of their enormous investment was too late.

Physical Significance

Archaeological Significance or Value This building has special archaeological significance as a structure designed to hold the massive grain sorting machinery. The rear of the building was filled in following the fire and a significant amount of material and machinery could be buried here. Archaeological methods could contribute to better understanding this unique building in particular the layout of the rear of the building which is unclear due to the loss of plans. In addition, remains of the machinery could assist with understand how the grain sorting machine functioned. The depth is estimated to be 4 m culminating in a 1.5 m thick concrete floor. Repairs to the building following the fire in 1920 are readable and there are significant pieces of building fabric around the site, some of which are particularly important for understanding the function of the building and the elevator itself. Architectural Significance or Value The architectural value of this building is in its role as a skin for a gargantuan machine. Its neo-classical facades on the west and southwest public facing facades connect it within the wider language of the highly decorative Victorian mercantile buildings in the area indicating consideration of streetscape. Where grain elevators overseas were largely built of timber, in Ōamaru the ample access to cheap limestone made this a sensible economic choice of fabric. It is likely to have been the grandest building of its kind in the southern hemisphere if not the world at the time of its building. Technological Significance or Value This building represents the outstanding technological significance of the elevator that once inhabited this building. While not a grain elevator in the American sense it utilised the principle of this technology to create a purpose-built machine to receive, grade, and dry New Zealand grain for export. The buildings also represents the innovation of the Aitkens-Meek partnership to understand and adapt the American examples to a New Zealand context.

Detail Of Assessed Criteria

This place was assessed against the Section 66(3) criteria and found to qualify under the following criteria a, b, c, e, f, g, j, k. The assessment concludes that this place should be listed as a Category 1 historic place. (a) The extent to which the place reflects important of representative aspects of New Zealand history This place represents a unique example of the intersection of architecture and technology devised to respond to the booming grain market in North Otago. It represents the late blooming of an audacious idea to capitalise on the New Zealand grain market that had potential to be exploited. (b) The association of the place with events, persons or ideas of importance in New Zealand history This place is associated particularly with the Meek brothers who were giants in the world of grain in Ōamaru and their ability to seize opportunities and work with emerging technologies to add value to their established stable of grain related businesses. (c) The potential of the place to provide knowledge of New Zealand history This building portrays the boom-and-bust nature of early economic endeavours in New Zealand, poignant as this massive structure was completed after the depletion of the grain industry. This place provided a specialised function and is representative of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Meeks who grabbed an opportunity to work with James Aitken who had seen a way to maximise profits on New Zealand grain through conditioning it prior to export. While made with a cheap local material, the splendour of this industrial building and its public facing facades was designed to express wealth within the area of industrial buildings. (e) The community association with, or public esteem for, the place The NZ Elevator Building in its guise as Steampunk HQ is a favourite visitor site in the historic area of Ōamaru, the acknowledged Steampunk capital of the world. Steampunk HQ is rated highly by both Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet and as a gallery space holds several of the sculptural works that were exhibited at the Forrester Gallery’s exhibition which ignited Steampunk culture in Ōamaru. (f) The potential of the place for public education This place has potential to provide an excellent educational experience with appropriate interpretation and space in which to appreciate the scale of the building and the machinery that it housed. (g) The technical accomplishment, value, or design of the place The technical accomplishment of the elevator machinery was extraordinary and unique in the southern hemisphere at the time it was built. It utilised waterpower from the Borough scheme to power the massive machine that was used to grade, sort, and dry grain prior to export. The design of the place was typical of the Victorian sensibility in Ōamaruvian architecture, making use of the local limestone and connecting this industrial building within the streetscape with neo-classical facades to its west and southwest elevations. (j) The importance of identifying rare types of historic places The grain elevator was unique in the southern hemisphere at the time it was built, it worked on the American principal and was a machine of extraordinary complexity. (k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural area The New Zealand Elevator Company’s Building (Former) is part of the Ōamaru Historic Area (List No.7064) and was part of the cycle of grain production industries. Summary of Significance or Values The New Zealand Elevator Company’s Building (Former) has special archaeological, architectural, historical, and outstanding technological values. Designed by Ōamaru architectural partnership Forrester and Lemon in 1881 it housed a gargantuan machine used to move, sort and dry grain. This building stands as a monument to a marvel of engineering and the culmination of the booming grain-based economy that saw Ōamaru flourish in the 1870s and 1880s. The building embraces the culture of steampunk and is a favourite tourist attraction in Ōamaru and is highly rated as an experience by Tripadvisor and Lonely Planet. It has the potential to provide excellent interpretation about the building and the feat of engineering that made it so unique. The building is a rare and important survivor of Victorian investment, innovation and enterprise and remains a prominent reminder of Ōamaru's industrial heritage.