Hastings CBD Heritage Inventory Project BON MARCHE (FORMER) LOCATION: Street and Number: 208-216 Heretaunga Street East City / Town: Hastings Region: Hawke s Bay LEGAL DESCRIPTION: Legal Description: Lot 110 DDP 83 PT Lot 1 DP 1348 Certificate of Title: HB 128/65 and HB M2/849 SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANCE:
Architectural Value: The building s architectural values derive largely from its Art Deco character. It is otherwise a utilitarian structure, fit for its purpose and a good example of the typical sort of low-rise commercial building constructed after the 1931 earthquake. Historical Value: The long-standing association of the Bon Marché drapery with this building and its site lifts the building s historical significance above the prosaic. It is unusual for an inner-city building to retain the same use for such a long time. Bon Marché became a place well known to generations of Hastings residents. The building has some distinction as part of a rare group of three contiguous commercial buildings of the same era designed by Anscombe. Aesthetic Value: The aesthetic value of the Bon Marché building rests on its townscape qualities. Although it is a quiet building in a group of similarly quiet buildings, its long low proportions, Art Deco features and plain plastered surfaces give it a distinctive visual quality. The group makes a strong contribution to the predominant Art Deco theme of the architecture of the Central Business District. Social Value As a successful drapery for a long period, and a local institution, Bon Marché can be considered to have substantial local significance, particularly as its closing is still relatively recent in the collective memory. HISTORY: The building at 208-216 Heretaunga Street East was constructed in 1935, on land once owned by Edward John Thomas Warren, whose estate was put into trust for his wife Mary Warren, and daughters Ethel Mary, Edith and Catherine. 1 Given the same owners, the direct physical similarity with the adjacent Russell s building, and the same builder, it seems extremely likely the building was designed by Edmund Anscombe and Associates (it is also possible the plans were simply recycled from the adjacent building). In 1971 the property was transferred to daughters Edith Tong and Catherine McCarthy and grandson Edward John Warren, as tenants in common. 2 In 1974 the property was transferred to Bon Marché. In March 1999 the property was sold to Prodeal Investments, and five months later it was sold to Whitby Air Limited. It was transferred to Mycomac Investment Partnership in 2003, 3 and to Aeroscope Limited in early 2010. The property is currently owned by North Peak Properties Ltd. The building is most closely associated with the drapery business Bon Marché, established in 1898 by Matthew Johnson 4. The business, first known as Johnson s, was originally located at 113-115 Heretaunga Street East. The shop was taken over by Johnson s son-in-law J F Jones in 1926. Johnson died in 1929. This building was 1 CT HB 27/100, LINZ 2 CT HB 128/65, LINZ 3 Ibid. 4 Various dates are given for the establishment of Johnson s business. This history plumps for 1898, but no firm evidence has been offered for any date.
destroyed in the 1931 earthquake, and a replacement building was subsequently constructed on that site in 1932. 5 The business moved into the present building sometime between 1935 and 1940 6. He died in 1960 and his four sons assumed control of the business. 7 The building was extended to the rear with a substantial addition in 1956-57, to a plan prepared by Davies Phillips & Chaplin Architects, and considerable alterations were made to the interior of the original building and the addition in 1977. 8 In 1994 Bon Marché successfully sought funding from the Façade Enhancement Scheme, the same year the store finally closed. In more recent years the building has been occupied by Work and Income New Zealand and various retail outlets. The building is currently occupied by Aspyre Fitness Gym. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Architect: Edmund Anscombe and Associates Edmund Anscombe (1874-1948) was a significant New Zealand architect who studied in the United States. After a lengthy spell practicing in Dunedin, he moved to Wellington in 1929, eventually establishing a satellite office in Hastings. His work was influenced by the beaux arts and the Spanish Mission style, but he became best known for his later work which featured a distinctive blend of Art Deco and Moderne design. Prominent examples of his work in Hawke s Bay include the Hawke s Bay Farmers Building and the Westermans & Company building. Anscombe is perhaps best known for the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition buildings in Wellington, built in 1939-40. 9 Builder: H.W. Abbott Date of construction: 1935 Construction details: Reinforced concrete construction; brick cavity infill walls. Description: Bon Marché is a single storey building on the north side of Heretaunga Street East, of low profile but with a presence in the street because of its length and long horizontal proportions. It is located within a block of fairly similar structures, all of comparable scale and vintage, several designed by Anscombe. These buildings add to a visually harmonious and interesting whole that typifies Art Deco rebuilding in Hastings in the early 1930s. Outwardly, the building is nearly identical to the adjacent Russell s Appliance Warehouse building to the south. The façade above the verandah remains in nearly original condition. The parapet has some discreet banded decoration, and two small square relief panels with some unusual motifs based on ferns and plants. The centre of the slightly stepped parapet is marked by a small acroterion; a series of small radiator-grille style fins add visual interest to either end of the parapet and there are three flagpoles spaced asymmetrically along the façade. 5 Fowler, M 2007 From disaster to recovery: the Hastings CBD 1931-35, Michael Fowler Publishing Limited, Havelock North p.102. 6 Wises Street Directories, 1934, 1940 7 Summary from Swamp to Centenary, Pupils of Heretaunga Intermediate School, Hastings, 1984 p.29 8 Plans on file (from Hastings District Council) 9 Drawn from: Greg Bowron, Anscombe, Edmund 1874-1948, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 16 December 2003 URL: http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/
The verandah is hung from steel stays; narrow windows above give light to the shop interiors, while below the verandah the shop frontages have all been modernised with large plate glass windows in aluminium frames. The shop interiors now have little of period interest. There is some evidence that Bon Marché, while having three entrances from Heretaunga Street, was subdivided into a large space, two thirds of the width of the building, and a narrow space on the south side. A large addition including a showroom, stock room, work rooms and offices was made to the rear of the building in 1956/57; it was designed by architects Davies Phillips and Chaplin, and was built in reinforced concrete with a steel trussed roof. Other significant changes were made in 1976 for Bon Marché, architects Malcolm Sweat, Parker and Holland, and in 1996 for Income Support Services, architects Works Consultancy Services. This building has been the subject of a number of building permits and consents nine recorded yet the external appearance of the building above verandah level appears to be unchanged. ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE: Element Form and detail of façade above verandah Verandah Significance Townscape, architectural, aesthetic Townscape, architectural MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Certificate of Title HB 27/100, LINZ Certificate of Title HB 128/65, LINZ Pupils of Heretaunga Intermediate School; From Swamp to Centenary, A History of Hastings, Hastings, 1984 HDC Permit records: Additions to Shop Premises occupied by Bon Marche Ltd., Heretaunga St Hastings, for the Trustees E J T Warren Estate, April 1956, Davies Phillips & Chaplin Architects OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION: NZHPT Register: Not registered. District Plan: Bon Marche is not specifically identified as a Heritage item in the Hastings District Plan, but is located within the Central Character Precinct. New Zealand Historic Places Act 1993: This site has been identified as a potential archaeological site under Section 2 of the New Zealand Historic Places Act 1993.
ARCHIVE PLAN(S): Additions to shop premises occupied by Bon Marche Ltd, Heretaunga St, for the Trustees E.J.T Warren Estate (1956) (TRIM Ref:21355#036)
Bon Marche, 208-216 Heretaunga Street East
Bon Marche, 208-216 Heretaunga Street East