"Pantechnicon" New Zealand Carrying Company Depot Building (1904)

This masonry building was constructed in 1904 for Mr S. W. Shaw, with the architect being James Sanderson.

A permit was granted to Mr S. W. Shaw in October 1903 for a "Shop etc." on King Street - the architect was listed as James Sanderson, Mr Tong the contractor, and the estimated construction cost was £680. 

The Taranaki Herald described the building in good detail upon its completion. The building was originally leased to Mr R. Todd, who used it as a "store room for his own goods, such as lime, pipe, coal etc., and also for goods in transit in relation to his New Zealand Carrying agency". Todd also sub-leased the rear section of the building to the Town Band for practice and meetings.

The building was originally called the "Pantechnicon" - a name borrowed from the famous Pantechnicon building in London. The Herald noted that 'Pantechnicon' "is a rather hard word to pronounce, but almost five minutes' practice will enable the average person to articulate it with perfect confidence". 

In the 1930s it was used by the hardware merchants C. & A. Odlin and in the mid-1990s was occupied by the upholsterer Arnold White. In the 2010s the hairdressing salon "42 on King" occupied the building. 

The 1995 NPDC CBD Heritage Study suggests it "represents a transition from the 19th century timber buildings of the CBD, some with masonry party walls, to the plastered concrete buildings that are common in the 1920s".