Cultural Significance

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Social: The use of the building by the YWCA as a social club for service women during World War II adds to its social significance. The establishment of the club was an effort to provide for the social needs of women in a period when their role and place in society underwent considerable and rapid change.

Historic Significance

Historical Significance or Value This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. The Levy Building was built circa 1896 for tea merchants and indent agents Gilmore, Younghusband & Co. During World War II the premises housed the YWCA's Downtown Club, an organisation that catered for the social needs of women in the armed services. The establishment of the Downtown Club was an effort to provide for the social needs of women in a period when their role and place in society underwent considerale and rapid change brough about by the demands resulting from World War II.

Physical Significance

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Architectural: Although originally built in 1896, Levy Buildings is now predominantly Art Deco in style after the remodelling of the exterior in the 1930s. Some elements of the original Classical facade are still evident however. The interior of this buildings seems to have undergone the usual development where the original walls, ceilings and floors remain unchanged but act as hosts to partition walls. The stairwell, stairs and balusters appear to be unchanged (except for the carpets) and the Art Deco modelling of the windows in the 1930s has not been changed on the inside. Archaeological: Parts of this area have archaeological potential.

Detail Of Assessed Criteria

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. The following comments are made in relation to the criteria identified under S.23(2) of the Historic Places Act 1993. a) The extent to which the place reflects important and representative aspects of New Zealand history. b) The association of the place with events, persons or ideas of importance in New Zealand history: The Levy Building reflects the importance of merchandising warehouses to New Zealand cities. In a colony which lacked substantial manufacturing industries, importing was an important business activity. These merchandising warehouses were usually clustered around the interface between the waterfront and the central business district. Its use, at vice-regal request, as a social centre for service women during the Second World War adds to its social history significance. c) the potential of the place to provide latowledge of New Zealand history. The Customs St East buildings all stand on land reclaimed between 1879 and 1886 and therefore have archaeological significance. Reclamation of the seabed commenced in 1859. The outer edge of the northern side of Customs St was initially bounded by a muddy embankment and on the seaward side of the reclamation were massive stone retaining walls. Customs St provided access to a number of wharves constructed out across the mudflats of Commercial Bay to deeper water. Between 1879 and 1886 the reclamation continued in a northerly and easterly direction forming the land between Customs and Quay St. This is the land on which the warehouses now stand. It is probable that a large quantity of material will have been deposited on the sea bed from the wharves which is likely to include artefacts of historical and archaeological interest. g) The technical accomplishment or value, or design of the place: Although originally built in 1896, the Levy's Building is now predominantly Art Deco in style after the remodelling of the exterior in the 1930s. Some elements of the original Classical facade are still evident however. The Levy's Building should be regarded as a retail/commercial building in the Art Deco style even though the design is eclectic, ie, in the sense that the place was originally designed as a warehouse in Classical Italianate style, vestiges of which are still visible in the Classical trabeated form of the facade. As an Art Deco building, Levy's is very plain. Typical Art Deco elements on the present exterior consist of wavy lines, taking the place of the traditional string course, which are used here as three in horizontal parallel across the three bays of the original facade. Low relief sculpture, another typical Art Deco element, is used to form a decorative entablature below the cornice. The sculpture is cleverly done, blending in with the still visible original Classical Corinthian capitals of the four fluted pilasters which define the three bays of the facade. The central window frames on the first and second storeys finish the remodelled composition with stylised Art Deco window heads in arched form. k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural complex or historical and cultural landscape: This warehouse is one of several Merchants' warehouses on the northern side of Customs St East. This impressive group of nineteenth and early twentieth century commercial buildings once formed the city's point of commercial contact with the rest of the colony and the world. Conclusion: The Levy's Building, 20 Customs St East, is recommended for registration as a Category II as a place of historical and cultural heritage significance and value. The Levy's Building is one of a group of turn of the century merchandising warehouses built on Auckland's busy waterfront. It also has interesting social links with the YWCA's Downtown Club during the Second World War.