Hannah's building, Greymouth

Hannah's building
Hannah's building
	Hannah's building in 2011
General information
Type	Commercial
Architectural style	Pared back neoclassical
Address	Corner of Mackay and Tainui Streets
Town or city	Greymouth
Country	New Zealand
Coordinates	42°26′55.8″S 171°12′40.7″E / 42.448833°S 171.211306°E
Opened	1928
Technical details
Material	Plastered brick
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Henry Johns
Heritage New Zealand – Category 2
Designated	21 September 1989
Reference no.	5062

The Hannah's building is a commercial building in Greymouth, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Completed in 1928, the building was designed by Wellington architect Henry Johns. In 1989, the Hannah's building was granted historic place category 2 status by Heritage New Zealand.

Context

Irish immigrant Robert Hannah established his bootmaking business in Charleston in 1868, but moved to Wellington as gold production declined, opening his first footwear store on Lambton Quay in 1874. The business grew, and R. Hannah and Company opened their first Greymouth shop on Mawhera Quay in 1887. By 1900, the company had 10 stores across the North Island.^[1]

Architecture

In the 1920s, the retail centre of Greymouth was gradually moving from Mawhera Quay to Mackay Street,^[2] and in 1926, plans were drawn up by Wellington architect Henry Johns for a new two-storey building for R. Hannah and Company, on the corner of Mackay and Tainui Streets.^[1]^[3] Johns had previously designed a new four-storey plastered brick factory for Hannah's in Wellington, completed in 1923.^[4]^[5] The Greymouth building would be one of Johns' later commissions, as he died in 1928.^[6]

The new Hannah's building in Greymouth included two shops, and was constructed with plastered double-brick walls, concrete piles, and a corrugated iron roof. Tenders for its construction closed in September 1926, and construction was completed by 1928.^[1]^[3] The exterior of the building has a pared-back neoclassical style, with three bays of triple-light windows surmounted by curved pediments, each flanked by pilasters, on the two street facades, and cornices framing the top and bottom of the building's parapet.^[1]

Current status

In 1989, the Hannah's building received historic place category 2 classification by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand).^[1] An outlet for the Hannah's footwear chain still occupies part of the ground floor.^[1]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Burgess 2014.
^ Hokitika Guardian 1927.
^ ^a ^b Evening Post 1926.
^ Auckland Council Heritage Unit 2017, p. 17.
^ Evening Post 1922.
^ Evening Post 1928.

References

Auckland Council Heritage Unit (February 2017). "Heritage evaluation: W H Murray Shoe Factory (former), 28 Crummer Road, Grey Lynn" (PDF). Auckland Council. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
Burgess, Robyn (26 March 2014). "Hannahs building". Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
"Local and general". Evening Post. 5 August 1922. p. 6. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
"To builders". Evening Post. 7 September 1926. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
"Personal matters". Evening Post. 11 June 1928. p. 11. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
"Untitled". Hokitika Guardian. 7 May 1927. p. 2. Retrieved 30 September 2020.