Napier is one of the world's most prominent Art Deco cities. Photo / Hawke's Bay NZ
Napier is one of the world's most prominent Art Deco cities. Photo / Hawke's Bay NZ
Arising from the ashes of the 1931 earthquake, Napier's Art Deco style is a huge drawcard for visitors. Today the city by the sea boasts 140 buildings, constructed between 1920 and 1940, making it one of the world's top Art Deco cities.
The annual Art Deco festival hasn't been able to take place over the last couple of years because of Covid, but the next is planned for February 15-19, 2023. However, you don't need to wait until then - a boutique Winter Deco festival will take place from July 15-17, with the programme about to be announced - see artdeconapier.com for more details.
And you can also view the best buildings in town any time you visit - they're best seen on a guided walking tour or vintage car tour, where an expert will give you fascinating insights into heritage and design. Here are some of the highlights to look out for.
A favourite with locals and visitors, Napier's Daily Telegraph building dates back to 1932 and stands proudly on Tennyson Street. Photo / Hawke's Bay NZ
A favourite with locals and visitors, this is the city's hero building. Built in 1932 by architect E. A. Williams, the two-storey cream edifice stands proudly on Tennyson St, a thoroughfare of historic buildings. Illuminated at night, it shows off a wealth of Art Deco features, including a ziggurat frame around the door, zigzags, and carved lotuses above the exterior pilasters (flat columns).
T&G Insurance Building
The former T&G Building, now The Dome, is the go-to backdrop for selfies during Napier's annual Art Deco festival. Photo / Hawkes Bay NZ
Built in 1936 and once home to the romantic-sounding Silver Slipper nightclub, this cream and pink building topped by a copper dome and clock lantern is the go-to backdrop for selfies during the annual Art Deco festival. Vintage cars park out front and flappers pose with parasols. Today, it's The Dome, home to luxurious hotel suites and penthouses.
Next door to the Dome, this 1932 hotel was considered the most modern-looking building of its day. It's painted cream, like many buildings of the era, and decorated with coral columns and a green leaded glass canopy over the entrance. An unusual green loggia covers the first-floor terrace, from where the Queen and Prince Philip waved to the crowd during their 1954 royal tour. The Lounge Bar is decorated with rich velvet sofas and chandeliers and the lobby boasts original fireplaces, warm timber panelling and the most amazing striped carpet in of gold, green, blue, red and grey, ascending the staircase in true ziggurat style.
The Sound Shell
Nothing quite says fun like an outdoor stage and this 1935 seaside venue, fashioned after the Hollywood Bowl, was the centre of entertainment for many decades. Painted in various shades of pink, it is flanked on one side by a curved pergola - the Veronica Sunbay - built to honour the crew of the British naval vessel Veronica, who assisted in the rescue of earthquake survivors, and on the other, by a buttercup colonnade and the New Napier Arch, built in 1937. This collection of buildings, by architect J. T. Watson, form the city's only public memorial to the earthquake.
Tom Parker Fountain
While not the largest of fountains, this squat cream and blue structure has the perfect location, with its Pacific Ocean backdrop. Built in 1936 with funds donated by menswear merchant Tom Parker, the illuminated fountain became the city's beacon of hope during the Great Depression. Children often waded in its waters... as they still like to do today. Scoring a spot nearby to set up table and chairs for the Gatsby Picnic, on the last day of the Art Deco Festival, is considered a coup.
ASB Bank
Sitting in the shadow of the T&G Building, the ASB Bank, completed in 1934, is one of a handful of prominent Napier buildings still used for its original purpose. Everyone is free to admire the interior, a grand chamber with six-metre ceilings held up by pillars adorned with ornate capitals. The dramatic ceiling is comprised of sunken squares, set with skylights, and a border of carved kowhaiwhai in red, black and white. The exterior, which created a stir when originally painted apple green, is now a soothing palette of creams and greys.
Napier Municipal Theatre
The townsfolk had to wait seven years after the earthquake before their theatre was rebuilt from the ground up. The design incorporated features from Streamline Moderne, a new aspect of Art Deco, that included chrome "speed lines", nautical light fittings and a huge oval neon light on the ceiling. The red velvet seats, zigzag carpets and pair of "leaping nudes" near the stage, are more classic features of the era.
National Tobacco Building
Designed by prominent architect Louis Hay, Napier's National Tobacco Building is a study in pinks and salmon with strong use of floral motifs. Photo / Hawke's Bay NZ
One of the best-looking buildings of all is 2km north of town, sitting pretty in the suburb of Ahuriri. Designed by prominent architect Louis Hay, it is a study in pinks and salmon with strong use of floral motifs. A huge semi-circle sunburst set with flowers spans out from the carved oak front doors, while the ziggurat theme is represented in the stairs leading to the entrance.
A visit to the Art Deco Centre, run by the Art Deco Trust, is essential. Formed in 1985 to preserve the city's heritage, the trust arranges walking and vintage car tours and sells a treasure trove of artefacts and accessories. It is the brains behind the Art Deco Festival, first staged in 1989.
MTG Hawke's Bay
Finally, don't miss the city museum - the MTG Hawke's Bay - whose permanent earthquake exhibition tells the harrowing story in pictures, survivor recordings and film. mtghawkesbay.com
For more things to see and do in the region, go to hawkesbaynz.com
