The Telecom Building, Wellington
I have chosen the (Old) Telecom Building in Wellington as my study of Wellington buildings. The reason why I have made this selection is because of my curiosity. The way this building appeals to me and attracts me in is its strange green façade exterior, hooked my eyes every time I walk pass Manners Street.
The Telecom Building is located at 13 – 27 Manners Street, Te Aro, Wellington. After a quick online search, it was very easy to find out that the building was designed by Athfield Architects. The Athfield Architects was lead by Ian Athfield (15th July 1940 – 16th January 2015). In speaking of Sir Ian Athfield, he was one of New Zealand’s well known architects. He was one of the leading contributor to the …show more content…
It started out as Ted Ting and his spouse Marie Chun opening his own Seed and Plant Shop in Manners Street where now the front building of Telecom is. He decided to name the shop Zenith after the carburettor in his car, opened at 25/27 Manners Streets on 13th June 1933. In 1951 Ted sold the business to his on in law, Bill Chun and he split the shop into plant shop and fruit shop. Later, Bill opened Zenith Garden in 1965, it was the second largest format garden center in NZ. At the time, as Zenith was the first garden center to open in Wellington, the council did not know what to do but just granted “specified departure” to operate this 6000 meter squared centre in the middle of a residential zone. The garden concept became a success, until in the early to mid 1980’s the property developers swooped on Manners Street. A deal was done with Downer / Government Life Group. Zenith Manners Street closed on 13th June 1985 an end to the era for the Chun family and Zenith. After the research of the site history, I strongly believe that maybe the green façade of the building such as the tiles and reflective glass has something to do with the idea of the Zenith Garden Center. A remembrance towards the building
I have chosen the (Old) Telecom Building in Wellington as my study of Wellington buildings. The reason why I have made this selection is because of my curiosity. The way this building appeals to me and attracts me in is its strange green façade exterior, hooked my eyes every time I walk pass Manners Street.
The Telecom Building is located at 13 – 27 Manners Street, Te Aro, Wellington. After a quick online search, it was very easy to find out that the building was designed by Athfield Architects. The Athfield Architects was lead by Ian Athfield (15th July 1940 – 16th January 2015). In speaking of Sir Ian Athfield, he was one of New Zealand’s well known architects. He was one of the leading contributor to the …show more content…
It started out as Ted Ting and his spouse Marie Chun opening his own Seed and Plant Shop in Manners Street where now the front building of Telecom is. He decided to name the shop Zenith after the carburettor in his car, opened at 25/27 Manners Streets on 13th June 1933. In 1951 Ted sold the business to his on in law, Bill Chun and he split the shop into plant shop and fruit shop. Later, Bill opened Zenith Garden in 1965, it was the second largest format garden center in NZ. At the time, as Zenith was the first garden center to open in Wellington, the council did not know what to do but just granted “specified departure” to operate this 6000 meter squared centre in the middle of a residential zone. The garden concept became a success, until in the early to mid 1980’s the property developers swooped on Manners Street. A deal was done with Downer / Government Life Group. Zenith Manners Street closed on 13th June 1985 an end to the era for the Chun family and Zenith. After the research of the site history, I strongly believe that maybe the green façade of the building such as the tiles and reflective glass has something to do with the idea of the Zenith Garden Center. A remembrance towards the building