Overview
This 1876 photo is one of a number that James Bragge took of the old Government Buildings. As you can see, the ‘Buildings’ are actually one single building. It’s one of the largest wooden buildings in the world, and certainly the largest wooden office building.
Government Buildings, completed in 1876, cost £39,000. They represented the change from provincial government to central government in New Zealand. The size of the structure meant that, for the first time, government ministers plus the entire civil service could be housed in one place.
Government Buildings was designed to resemble Italian stone architecture, as were several other buildings nearby. The architect, William Clayton, originally wanted to construct the building in stone-faced concrete. However, the government insisted that he use wood, which was much cheaper since so much was being cut down in the massive forest clearances of the time.
Because there were no flat areas of land large enough for such a building, the site was reclaimed from the sea for the purpose, in one of the first harbour reclamation projects in Wellington.
Although the building’s totara piles came from the Wairarapa hauled over the Rimutaka Hill by bullock teams, most of the rest of the timber came from outside Wellington province. Local millers were not impressed. The framing was of Tasmanian hardwood, and the weatherboards, interior lining and joinery were all kauri, brought down from northern New Zealand in flat-bottomed sailing boats called scows.
Working in Government Buildings was nothing like working in an office today. Electricity wasn’t installed until 1895, so at first all the lighting was gas. The heating was from open fireplaces, 126 in all, plus twenty-two chimneys. These lighting and heating methods must have created a very real fire danger in such a large wooden building – and as all government records were paper records and were kept in one place, there could have been a catastrophe!
For two decades, all workers in Government Buildings were men. The first woman, a Scottish nurse by the name of Grace Neill, joined the staff in 1894 as an inspector of factories. Her presence caused quite a stir, and she was asked not to enter the building just before or just after male employees, in case she ‘embarrassed’ them. Neill had a notable life, and is remembered today as a leading figure in New Zealand nursing.
As the civil service grew, it needed more space. Additions to Government Buildings were made in 1897 and 1907, but the inevitable day came: ministers moved to nearby Parliament Buildings in 1921. The years passed, and one by one government departments grew too large for the office space in Government Buildings and moved out. By 1975, only the Department of Education remained. It left in 1990.
After that, the Department of Conservation began restoring the building as closely as possible to the way it was in 1907. This included painting it in the original colours and reinstating the chimneys with replicas. (The original chimneys were removed in the 1930s as an earthquake risk, after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.)
Today Victoria University of Wellington’s law faculty occupies Government Buildings. However, parts of it are open to the public, including historic displays and interpretation rooms on the ground floor, and the cabinet room on the first floor. Phone (04) 472 7356 for visiting times.
Text originally published in Tai Awatea, Te Papa's onfloor multimedia database (2001).