Provincial Hotel. Napier. New Zealand.
S 39° 29.470 E 176° 54.845
60H E 492611 N 5628711
The Provincial Hotel is a fine example of the art deco style buildings in the city of Napier, rebuilt after the disastrous 1931 earthquake.
Waymark Code: WMAPTR
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 02/08/2011
Views: 5
On February 3, 1931, most of Napier was leveled by an earthquake. The collapses of buildings and the ensuing fires killed 258 people. The centre of the town was destroyed by the earthquake, and later rebuilt in the Art Deco style popular at that time.
The Provincial Hotel Building was designed by architect Finch & Westerholm (Napier) and built by Holder Bros in 1932 after the earthquake. The art deco style is Spanish Mission.
SPANISH MISSION STYLE:
Used in New Zealand from c1913 to the 1940s. By the 1920s, Spanish Mission had become extremely popular in Southern California, partly
because it was promoted by cement manufacturers as suiting earthquake-proof reinforced concrete construction, and partly because it was becoming identified as the style used in the homes of movie stars. The style is characterised by smooth cream walls, which echo the limewashed plaster mud brick walls of the early Spanish Mission stations, tiled parapets to protect the walls from erosion by rain, small square or larger round-arched windows, balconies, and the usual
elements of Spanish ornament – inlaid tiles, wrought iron, and baroque decoration. There are many buildings that have been built in this style in Napier.
Although a few Art Deco buildings were replaced with contemporary structures during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, most of the centre of Napier remained intact for long enough to become recognized as architecturally important, and beginning in the 1990s it has been protected and restored. Napier and the area of South Beach, Miami, Florida, are considered to be the two best-preserved Art Deco towns.
Napier prides itself as being New Zealand's 'Art Deco Capital'.
Provincial Hotel History.
Original finish was pink plaster with lettering in buff
Dining room featured a decorative mural by WE Gunn
incorporating Maori motifs
1935 - Heath sold to Gleeson, £14 500 pounds
1936 - Gleeson sold to Sunshine Brewery Co, £14 750
1954 - Sunshine Brewery Co sold to Provincial Hotel, £27 500
1971 - Provincial Hotel sold to Burgess & Wilson, $110 000
1990 - alterations to restore old ceiling
1990 - re-opened featuring a lot of interior glass and mirrors
Original plaster ceiling hidden for 20 years
2001 – Corner bar remodelled.
Style: Art Deco
Structure Type: Commercial/Retail
Architect: Finch & Westerholm (Napier)
Date Built: 1932. after the Napier Earthquake.
Supporting references: Not listed
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