National Tobacco Company Building

heritage preservation — Ahuriri · Napier

About National Tobacco Company Building

A 1930s commercial building on the corner of Ossian Street and Bridge Street in Ahuriri, Napier, also known as the Rothman's Building. It was built as the main frontage of the National Tobacco Company factory, and is on the Heritage New Zealand List. Tenders went out in October 1932 and the work was nearly done by the end of that December. The architect was Louis Hay, of Napier, who designed a deceptively simple building based on an arch within a square, decorated with roses, raupo and vine leaves. Inside, the foyer has a marble dado, oak panelling and a domed lead-light skylight, and the design reflects the Art Nouveau style of the turn of the twentieth century. The building was made for Gerhard Husheer, a founder of the New Zealand tobacco industry, and the company was one of the largest employers of local labour in Napier at the time. The factory's external walls collapsed in the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, but the internal structure stayed largely intact.