Cultural Significance

This historic area was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. This report includes text from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Cultural/Social: Welfare provisions introduced during the Waitaki scheme contributed much towards social change in New Zealand. The housing complex is representative of the lifestyle of the senior staff and their families while working on the dam project.

Historic Significance

Historical Significance or Value This historic area was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. This report includes text from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. The Waitaki Hydro project is significant in terms of New Zealand's engineering history. Of equal significance is the fact that the Social Security system had its origins within the programme, developing policies on employment, health and welfare, accident compensation and state housing.

Physical Significance

This historic area was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. This report includes text from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Architectural: The nine concrete houses and hostel were designed and built as a complex and therefore have significance as a group. The 1930's bungalows were constructed of concrete, due to the availability of the material on site, and bolstered to resemble limestone. Aesthetic: The landscaped village complex of houses, hostel and surrounding stone walls has had little modification and is largely intact. This area has aesthetic appeal and emphasises the social strata set up within the project's workforce when comparing the living conditions of senior staff to more junior staff who lived in temporary timber accommodation. The completion of the Waitaki dam project (1928-35) was a significant New Zealand engineering feat, however, the working and living conditions were particularly harsh. Policies on welfare (a precursor to the Social Security system) were developed to help workers in terms of adequate housing and health care. The concrete block houses for senior staff are the remnants of a large scale operation that took seven years to complete and employed up to 1200 people.