The National Bank is a two-storey reinforced concrete building on the prominent Devon Street West/Brougham corner.
It is described in the N.P.D.C. heritage study as "a restrained and careful piece of design, a good example of bank architecture of the 1930s."
The architects were Mitchell and Mitchell of Wellington. The firm were also responsible for designing the Bank of Australasia in Manaia.
The National Bank of New Zealand first opened a branch in New Plymouth in April 1873. These first premises were also in Devon Street - where the Deare's Building is located - and in 1878 the bank purchased this corner section. In 1884 a wooden building was erected and the bank moved to the present site. More land was acquired in 1901 and eventually the present building was erected.
In 2020 the ANZ bank occupies the building, continuing the long association the site has with the banking industry.
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