Old Wooden Government Building

Once the home of government in New Zealand, this very wooden building featuries extensive use of Kauri timber.
It now houses the Victoria University Law School but is open for public viewing on a self-guided tour or by booking, on a guided tour. The most celebrated attempt in New Zealand to make timber construction look like stone, it was erected in 1876. William Henry Clayton, the Colonial Architect was responsible for the design.

Out the front there is a statute of former Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, leaning into the Wellington wind. Inside the building, apart from the historical displays and interpretation rooms on the ground floor, and the Cabinet room on the first floor visitors should look for the splendid suspended wooden staircase, (in the NW corner).

The massive wooden offices at 15 Lambton Quay, Wellington, the world’s second largest, symbolise the beginning of effective centralised government in New Zealand. William Clayton wanted to build in ‘permanent’ materials, but penny-pinching forced him to mimic stone by mixing sand with paint to add to the mock stone cornices, Doric columns, window mouldings and quoins.

An incredible 2053 cubic metres of timber went into the building, which emerged over 1875–76 on its own reclamation near the edge of Wellington Harbour. When completed it housed 600 civil servants; almost everyone needed to run the government from the capital. Politicians brushed frock coats with civil servants in the corridor; for well into the 20th century the Executive Council also met here. In wartime the Governors-General also had an office here. They twice extended out the back but it could never keep up with public sector growth. One by one the departments moved out, leaving the Education Department to turn out the light. Government Buildings lay empty until 1994 when the Department of Conservation (DOC) began restoration.

It is highly authentic although, in keeping with the fakery of the original construction, the chimneys on the roof are fibreglass replicas. Victoria University’s law school now uses the building, but several rooms have been set up for public viewing. Don’t miss the magnificent kauri ‘hanging stairs’ or the replica rat in the vault. Related places Out front, a bronze statue of Prime Minister Peter Fraser strides off to Parliament into the teeth of a northerly.

Follow his lead across the road where you will find the Parliamentary complex of buildings and statues.

The House of Parliament itself offers free guided tours.

© 2002 Original text – Gavin McLean.

Further reading: Malcolm McKinnon (ed.), New Zealand Historical Atlas, David Bateman/Department of Internal Affairs, Auckland, 1997.