About the Building

Before

before image of parkers apartment pre renovation art deco building restoration napier city hawke’s bay new zealand parkers apartments
before image of parkers apartment pre renovation art deco building restoration napier city hawke’s bay new zealand parkers apartments
 

2019 - 2020

Level One

The front of the building on level 1 that is now home to the apartments was being used as a function room.  In the past the building had been used as a nightclub and patrons could stand upstairs and look down over the balustrade through the cavity to the dance floor below (now Indigo restaurant).  During the renovation we have reinstated the floor and created two brand new apartments.  Historical features were restored back to the original fabric where possible and retained as features of the refurbished building. 

Wood Flooring and Oak panelling under the windows were some of the only things we could save due to the previous renovations, as well as the red brick feature wall in our studio. 

The main stairwell rimu wood work took two people eight working days to restore back to the beauty you can see today. 

In November 2020, Parker’s Apartments were awarded the Art Deco Trust Heritage Building Adaptive Re-use award, in recognition of the efforts required to undertake such projects to breathe life back into Napier’s heritage buildings.

After

before image of parkers apartment postrenovation art deco building restoration napier city hawke’s bay new zealand parkers apartments
before image of parkers apartment pre renovation art deco building restoration napier city hawke’s bay new zealand parkers apartments
a small art deco icon to separate the page parker’s apartments napier

Original brick feature wall in the studio

after image of parkers apartment post renovation art deco building restoration napier city hawke’s bay new zealand parkers apartments
a small art deco icon to separate the page parker’s apartments napier

Stairwell Before & After

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1932 - 1953

Restoration

Post-quake reconstruction reduced the Hastings Street building from original three storeys to two. Tom Parker (the original owner) was a Napier menswear retailer who gave the Tom Parker fountain to the city, and donated the flowering gum trees in Tom Parker Avenue after it was named after him. Hawke’s Bay Museum has photos in the Louis Hay Collection illustrating the changes to these buildings resulting from the earthquake.

 
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1932

Earthquake

This photograph depicts the Herschell Street façade of Parker's Chambers after the Hawke's Bay earthquake on the 3rd of February 1931.
Parker and Company Limited, outfitters, were located in this building. Other tenants included Mrs Olds, a hair specialist, and Robert Currie, a clerk, who occupied part of the first floor.
Rubble from the damaged brick façade lines Herschell Street.

The photographer is thought to be Frank L Moodie, architect.