Gordon Wilson Flats - Environment Court Decision
Docomomo New Zealand welcomes the recent decision by the Environment Court to overturn the proposed Wellington City
Council District Plan Change to rezone the land on which the Gordon Wilson Flats are located and delist the significant
heritage building, thereby facilitating the Victoria University’s intention to demolish.
The successful campaign by Wellington’s Architectural Centre to retain the listed status of the Flats represents a great
achievement in the face of significant uncertainty for New Zealand’s mid-century architectural heritage. The local
debate that has ensued about a social housing block that was modern for its time, but now empty and disregarded, has
polarised opinions, with reasoned arguments for keeping a representational building that can be ‘purposeful’ again
versus advocacy by those who only want to retain the ‘beautiful’ architecture. To have a meaningful debate is a good
thing, because it provides an opportunity to air the fundamental issues around the reuse of existing buildings – in
particular the valuable contribution of those built during an important mid-century period of developments in design and
construction, that can now be adapted for new use.
The Architectural Centre strongly and persuasively identified the unique qualities of an efficient multi-occupancy
building that has been neglected by its present and past owners, in a time of housing shortage no less.
The acceptance by the Environment Court of the highly significant heritage values of a building that does not fit within
the generally perceived view of the historic, demonstrates that the functional, as well as the beautiful, has a place in
the nation’s cultural heritage.
Phillip Hartley, President, Docomomo NZ
New Zealand chapter of the International Committee for the Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and
neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement
ENDS