Old Bank Arcade

Old Bank Arcade
General information
Architectural style	Edwardian Baroque/Renaissance classicism
Location	239-247 Lambton Quay, Wellington, New Zealand
Coordinates	Coordinates: 41°17′10″S 174°46′35″E / 41.286075°S 174.776285°E / -41.286075; 174.776285
Completed	1901
Design and construction
Main contractor	T Carmichael[1]
Architect	Thomas Turnbull and Son [1]
New Zealand Historic Places Trust - Category I
Official name: Bank of New Zealand Building (No 1)
Designated:	7-Apr-1983
Reference #:	212

The Old Bank Arcade (also known as the Bank of New Zealand building) is a historic building on Lambton Quay, Wellington, New Zealand.

The building, designed by Thomas Turnbull, is located on the site of Plimmer's Ark. The only bank building of the group specifically commissioned by the Bank of New Zealand, its solid mass has long been a landmark, wrapping itself around the corner of its prominent wedge-shaped site. Turnbull's original design was deemed "too lavish" and a second, more modest, design was proposed. Built by T Carmichael, it is a brickwork shell with timber flooring, pressed metal ceilings and plaster decoration. The hall was described by the New Zealand Mail of 1901 as "a handsome, lofty room, said to be one of the largest of its kind in the colonies".^[1]

The building, is classified as a "Category I" ("places of 'special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value'") historic place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.^[2]

Old Bank Clock

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Kernohan, D. (1994). "Wellington's Old Buildings", Wellington: Victoria University Press
2. ^ "Bank of New Zealand Building (No.1)". Register of Historic Places. New Zealand Historic Places Trust. http://www.historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=212&m=advanced. Retrieved 2009-12-21.