Constructed of reinforced concrete, with its foundations extending below the Huatoki Stream bed, this building was originally constructed as a bakery for the firm May and Arrowsmith during 1917-1918. Plans held by NPDC seem to indicate that the client was W. C. Phillips Esq - it is unclear who this was.
A permit for the erection of a bakehouse for May & Arrowsmith was granted by the Borough Council on 5 November 1917 - James Bennie is noted as the architect and the estimated construction cost was £1116. A permit for alterations to the now demolished tea rooms (fronting Devon Street) was also granted at this time.
Bennie had called for tenders in July 1917, and in December the Taranaki Herald reported that the tearoom was finished, although work was continuing on the "three-storey concrete bakehouse at the rear".
Rather oddly, in January 1918 the lease of May & Arrowsmith's tearoom was being advertised - perhaps the company deciding to concentrate on the baking side of their business. The bakehouse was in operation by March of 1918 and was described in detail by the Taranaki Herald, with the reporter commenting at the end that it would be "hard to find its equal among the bakehouses of New Zealand".
The building was designed by well-known Wellington based architect James Bennie, who designed over 200 Wellington buildings in the early twentieth century - his designs include some of Wellington's best known heritage buildings, including the Albemarle Hotel on Ghuznee St, The Vic on Cuba St, Paramount Theatre on Courtenay Place, and Mansfield Court Hotel in Newtown. It is unclear if Bennie designed any other New Plymouth buildings, or how many buildings he designed outside of Wellington.
In August 2019 the New Plymouth District Council announced that it had purchased the site for re-development, along with the Metro Plaza and Hallenstein's Building on Devon Street. Demolition work began in March 2026 as part of a $10 million City Centre Strategy aiming to open up a section of the Huatoki Stream.
Related items:
Town Section 683, Taranaki Land Deed Index I1 page 35. (Archives New Zealand)
Town Section 683, Taranaki Land Deed Index I5 page 357. (Archives New Zealand)
Taranaki (cropped) DP2572 Sheet 1 (1908), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
Taranaki DP3077 Sheet 1 (1912), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
Taranaki DP6849 Sheet 1 (1950), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
Taranaki (Lot 2) DP15492 (1986), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
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