Old Government Buildings

From across the lawn this looks like a large Italianate stone building: rusticated corners, moulded window surrounds, heavy cornices, a symmetrical four-storey front. All of it is wood. Stone was expensive and slow to work in 1870s Wellington, so the building was raised in timber over 1875-76, its frame in Australian hardwood and its weatherboards and mouldings in kauri, and then painted and detailed to look like masonry, a deception that still works on most people walking past. It remains one of the largest wooden buildings in the world by floor area. It is now occupied by a university law faculty, so most of it is closed, but the ground floor is open on weekdays with a restored room and a small display explaining how the illusion was built and maintained.

History

The building was commissioned in the early 1870s by the Fox Ministry and built in timber rather than concrete to save money, designed to look like an Italian stone palace. It opened in 1876 after 22 months of work at a cost of £39,000, easily the largest building in the country, with 143 rooms and 126 fireplaces, and smoking was banned inside from the start for fear of fire (Wikipedia, Old Government Buildings, Wellington).

What to look for

• The false masonry - rusticated timber corners and mouldings cut to imitate stone.
• The scale - a four-storey symmetrical facade running the length of the lawn.
• The ground floor display - a restored room and panels on the building's construction.
• The lawn and setting - the open green in front, one of the few in central Wellington.

When to go

Ground floor access is weekdays during office hours, so weekend visitors get the exterior only, which is admittedly most of the point. Morning light hits the main facade squarely. The lawn is a reliable lunch spot in fine weather. Twenty minutes is enough unless the display detains you; combine it with the walk along Lambton Quay or up into Thorndon.

Practical notes

It is a working building, so the great majority of it is off limits and there is no tour of the upper floors. The display is small and takes ten to fifteen minutes. Outside weekday hours there is nothing to enter. The paint scheme works so well that many visitors stand in front of it unconvinced it is timber at all.

Nearby

Old St Paul's, the waterfront and the Wellington railway station concourse are all within a short walk.

Key facts