Bowman House

68 Britannia Heights, Stepneyville, Nelson 7010

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Bowman House (1953) is located in Whakatū / Nelson in Te Tau Ihu, the top of Te Waipounamu / the South Island, the rohe of Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Toarangatira, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Tama and Te Ātiawa. Bowman House was built on a hill overlooking Haulashore Island and Te Tai-o-Aorere / Tasman Bay. It was designed by Alexander (Alex) Bowman (1916-2001), Nelson’s leading architect in the post-Second World War period, as the Bowman family home. Constructed primarily of hollow concrete blocks, Bowman House has architectural and historical significance as the earliest known Aotearoa New Zealand Modern Movement house to use this building material and for the employment of multiple levels in response to topography. It demonstrates that architects working outside the main centres and not associated with the dominant Auckland University College School of Architecture made important contributions to the country’s Modern Movement buildings. Alex Bowman studied architecture at Canterbury University College in Christchurch in the 1930s and was employed by a local architectural firm before relocating to England, where he worked in social housing and town planning. After returning to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1948, Bowman took over an architectural practice in Nelson and introduced Modern Movement architecture to the city. He was influenced by the Bay Area style of California in the United States and in particular the work of William Wurster, whose use of concrete and appreciation of sea views are evident in Bowman’s architectural output, including his own home. Bowman House was laid out in a capital ‘J’ shape, with the bedrooms facing the street and the dining and living areas facing the sea. Bowman was sensitive to the sloping site and designed the house on three levels, which reduced the need for extensive excavation. Innovative in both materials and form, Bowman House was a notable contribution to Nelson’s built environment and reportedly controversial when first built. Alex Bowman made various alterations and additions to the house, many of which clashed with the original aesthetic. The original form and materials remained intact however and his son, conservation architect Ian Bowman, restored the clean lines of the house by reversing some of the changes and designing sympathetic extensions. The house received a Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Local Architecture Award in 2008.

Bowman House, Nelson | Kerryn Pollock | 19/11/2020 | Heritage New Zealand

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 2

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

9984

Date Entered

5th May 2021

Date of Effect

6th June 2021

City/District Council

Nelson City

Region

Nelson Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Pt Lot 16 DP 2643, Sec 1 SO 343904 (RT 207514), Lot 17 DP 2643, Sec 2 SO 343904 (RT 207515), Nelson Land District, and the building known as Bowman House thereon, and the following chattels: six timber and vinyl dining chairs and timber dining table (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).

Legal description

Lot 17 and Pt Lot 16 DP 2643, Sec 1 and Sec 2 SO 343904, Nelson Land District.

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