Bank of New Zealand (Former)

200 Main Road and Kildare Street, WAIKOUAITI

Quick links:

Waikouaiti’s former Bank of New Zealand, an early work by pre-eminent Dunedin architect Robert Arthur Lawson, was built in 1869 and is of special significance as a rare survivor from an early period in New Zealand’s banking history. The bank retains its 1869 banking counter and its largely intact 1927 interior. The building provides special insight into the workings of a nineteenth century bank and the life of its staff and manager. The Bank of New Zealand was established in 1861. The Waikouaiti Bank of New Zealand was built in 1869 and as such is an early surviving branch building. Its architectural style which references the Italian Renaissance is typical of that found in banking architecture here and in England. The detailing, like many other provincial banks, is more modest than that found in Dunedin. It makes a statement of modest dependability rather than the grand self-promotion of later buildings. The bank held branch status until 1899 and agency status from 1899-1927. In 1927 it was restored to branch status, which it held until its closure. The bank was gifted to the Waikouaiti Early Settlers Association in 1964, and has been home to the museum since 1966. The Waikouaiti Bank of New Zealand is two storeys at the street front (banking chamber and offices with manager’s accommodation above), and two later single storey additions to the rear (housing what was the kitchen and wash house, dining room and sitting room). To the north of the kitchen and washhouse, along the roadside boundary, stands a detached outbuilding. This was divided into a garage (carriage house) and a dairy. The principal elevation to Main Road has a central entrance through double panelled doors, set within an enclosed porch. The 1869 banking counter is still in situ. Many features of the nineteenth century interior remain. This gives the interior special significance. The main interior spaces on the ground floor are the banking chamber, strong room and manager’s office, sitting room, dining room (now a store) kitchen and wash house (laundry). The main rooms (with the exception of the kitchen) have timber floors and lathe and plaster on the walls, lined with wallpaper. [In 1927 tenders for renovations to the Bank were tendered by Mason and Wales] In 2013 the former Bank of New Zealand building is home to the Waikouaiti Coast Heritage Centre.

Bank of New Zealand Building (Former), Main Road, Waikouaiti. CC BY-SA 3.0 Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org | Benchill | 19/09/2009 | Benchill - Wikimedia Commons
Bank of New Zealand Building (Former), Main Road, Waikouaiti. Image courtesy of www.flickr.com | PhilBee NZ - Phil Braithwaite | 08/04/2012 | Phil Braithwaite

Location

Loading

List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

7390

Date Entered

6th June 1997

Date of Effect

6th June 1997

City/District Council

Dunedin City

Region

Otago Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Pt Blk VIII Town of Hawksbury (RT OT8B/10), Otago Land District, and the building known as Bank of New Zealand (Former) thereon and its extensions constructed in or prior to 1927 and its fittings and fixtures including the 1869 banking counter, and the associated outbuilding relocated onto the property. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the registration report for further information).

Legal description

Pt Blk VIII Town of Hawksbury (RT OT8B/10), Otago Land District.

Location Description

Located on the south west corner of Kildare Street and Main Road, Waikouaiti.

Stay up to date with Heritage this month