Destinations and further information
Starting Point: Begin your journey at the entrance of Auckland Central City Library Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero, 44-46 Lorne Street, Auckland 1010. Walk to the corner of Wellesly Street East and Lorne street and turn south to look down Lorne street towards Rutland StreetTour Stops (in order)- St James Theatre- MLC Building-Auckland Town Hall-Aotea Square-The Civic Theatre-Smith and Caughey's-Darby Building-The Strand Arcade-Auckland Art Gallery Toi o TāmakiNavigation: Use the map icon at the bottom of your phone or tablet screen to guide you to each site. Each site is GPS plotted on the map, and you will get a pop up on your screen when you are within the area of the site.Audio Guide: This walk includes an audio component. Make sure your device volume is on and headphones are recommended for the best experience.Images: You’ll encounter a mix of slider images and static images. Tap on the images to interact and explore moreParking: Civic Carpark, 299 Queen Street or Victoria Street car park, 30 Kitchener StreetTerrain and Safety: This walk is along public roads. Jaywalking is illegal, so please use pedestrian crossings. Please respect the environment and do not trespass on private property. Neither Auckland Council nor private property owners accept responsibility for any loss, damage, or injury to you or your property arising from use of this tour.
Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero - Auckland Central City Library
Originally located at the site of today’s Auckland Art Gallery – Toi O Tāmaki, the current Central Library building was designed by Auckland City Council architect Euan Wainscott and opened in 1971. Described as a “supermarket-style” library, it sits on land bordered by Wellesley Street East, Rutland Street, and Lorne Street. Construction began in 1967 but was delayed until its formal opening by Governor-General Sir Arthur Porritt on 25 November 1971.The library launched with 350,000 books, 70 staff, and modern features like CO₂ fire suppression, Telex machines, and vinyl flooring. In the 1990s, the second floor was altered and the Whare Wānanga added. A café and enclosed balcony followed in 2007, and major interior refurbishments were completed in 2017.Today, it houses rare collections of photographs, maps, and documents, along with the Auckland City Archives and the Academy Cinema in the basement.
St James Theatre
St James Theatre was built in 1928, designed by notable theatre designer Henry White, constructed especially for live theatre. It was built for the Fuller Brothers, who owned several theatres in Australasia, and built to replace the Fullers Opera House on the corner of Wellesley and Elliot Streets which had burned down in 1926. The new building was built in Spanish Mission style and the auditorium design combined elements of English theatres and American movie palaces. The theatre was initially intended for vaudeville* acts only, but projection equipment was installed a year after it was completed.Fullers later picked up the Metro-Golden-Mayer contract, which held top quality films, and the St James became the MGM theatre. In the 1940s, the orchestra pit was enlarged, which reduced the number of seats from 2100 to 1940. The theatre was big enough to warrant bringing over shows from overseas and live shows included the Bolshoi Ballet Company, The Royal Variety Performance Company and the NZ Ballet Company. In 1953, the theatre was painted for the first time in preparation for Queen Elizabeth's visit. It has been the venue for many important cinematic and theatrical events for royal and significant occasions.*Vaudeville is a theatrical genre focused on light entertainment acts such as Burlesque comedy, magicians, acrobats, singers and dancers.
Mutual Life and Citizens Assurance Co Building
At the corner of Airedale and Queen Street stands the Mutual Life and Citizens Assurance Corporation building. It was once the tallest building in Auckland occupying an important triangular corner site opposite the Town Hall. It was the first major office building erected in the business heart of the city since 1940. It was designed after the Second World War by Allan Hawthorne Mitchell and built by Fletcher Construction and was opened in December 1956. The external appearance of the building was built to resemble MLC's office building in Wellington. The site had previously been occupied by a famous dinner dance venue “Trocadero” which had been popular with American servicemen and their ‘gals’ in the high-living days of World War II.At the top, you can see the MLC logo of a worker attempting to break a bundle of reeds and the motto ‘Union is strength’. The logo and motto come from the Australian Widows Fund, which was founded in 1871 and taken over by MLC in 1910. MLC adopted the logo and motto (with some variations) for their own.
Auckland Town Hall
When the site for the Council Chambers and Town Hall was chosen in 1908 it was laughed at for being in the valley and that a building on a triangular site would look ‘exactly like a deformed wedge of cheese or a decrepit flat iron’.The design competition was won by J. Clark & Sons from Australia and the foundation stone laid in February 1909. Public criticism continued during construction; it was described as a ‘monument to the stupendous folly of the City Council.’ The Town Hall - constructed out of Oamaru limestone and Melbourne bluestone is seen as an example of Italian Classical Revival Architecture. It was opened on 14 December 1911 by New Zealand’s governor, His Excellency Baron Islington.The main auditorium seated 3000 and the concert chamber 880 and filled a great need for a capacious public hall. It was used as council headquarters until 1955. Conservation efforts are ongoing into restoring the building from environmental and atmospheric decay.
Aotea Square and Aotea Centre
In pre-European times this open space was a rush-filled swamp rich in bird life and the source of the Waihorotiu stream that ran down Queen Street Valley. In 1855 a Crown Grant designated this area for the purpose of a public market to Auckland City. In 1868 it was drained and filled and in June 1873 the New City Market was opened. Brett’s 1878 Auckland Almanac describes it as “the Market House, with galvanized roof, in cruciform shape. The stalls are neatly formed, and on Saturday evening present a very animated sight – almost every kind of trade being represented, from the purveyor of mutton and beef to the garrulous itinerant vendor of smoked fish, sweetmeats, crockery, and children’s toys.”Generations later, the buildings on the southwestern edge of Aotea Square became the Cook Street markets of the hippie era, selling arts, crafts and exotic Asian products. Also in the buildings was the nightclub named Ace of Clubs, which hosted the talented artists of the day.Since the 1960s many schemes have been proposed for the area to be developed as the Civic Administration Centre for government and city council offices – one plan included eight high rise buildings. The Civic Administration Building and Bledisloe House form part of this planned development. Aotea Square was created in 1974, and the Aotea Performing Arts and Conference Centre was completed in late 1989.Wahora the carved ceremonial gateway with Māori motifs was created by Selwyn Mutu. It represents a welcome to the city and the Civic Centre.
The Civic Theatre
In the 1920s this area was the theatre district of Auckland, with the picture-palaces like the Majestic, Regent and the St James on Queen Street. In 1929 Thomas O’Brien secured the lease to the Civic site and commissioned a new theatre to be the ‘largest in the Dominion”. It was to seat over two thousand people and the distance from the projector to the screen was only slightly less than that at Radio City Hall in New York. It accommodated live performances of dancing and music as well as tearooms and dances.Designed by Bohringer Taylor and Johnson, the amazing interiors of this “atmospheric theatre” with Persian, Moorish and Hindu motifs create an exotic and magical world. The ceiling over the main auditorium gives the illusion of a starlit night sky. The Wintergarden Night club - famous for the legendry dancer Freda Stark who is reputed to have danced in nothing but gold paint – earned a reputation with American GIs in World War II.Alterations over the years saw the removal of some lavish decoration. The Civic Theatre was conserved and upgraded in the late 1990s. Equipped for both film and live shows it remains one of the most memorable and best-loved venues in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Smith and Caughey's Department Store
Smith & Caughey’s is the archetype and was the sole survivor of the great family department store era. Marianne Smith, a pioneering businesswoman, started a drapery store in 1880 and was joined by her brother Andrew Caughey in 1882. In the mid-1880s the store moved to its site on Queen Street. The fine art deco building, built 1927-29, was designed by American Roy Lippincott, of the Chicago architectural school. A meeting room especially for the Auckland Lyceum Club was included.Formed in 1919 as the Auckland Women’s Club, the aim was to ‘establish a club for women interested in social, political and artistic affairs.’ Members were active in campaigning for women’s and children’s welfare, standing for public office and parliament. Ellen Melville, a founding member of the Lyceum, was the first woman elected to the Auckland City Council in 1913.After 145 years in the business, Smith & Caughey’s store officially shut its doors to the public in 2025.
Darby Building
From the corner of Darby and Elliott Streets, you can see the Darby Building—an excellent example of Victorian-era warehouses built during Auckland’s rapid expansion. The surrounding block, once home to the Auckland Gaol and Supreme Court, was originally swampy land near the Waihorotiu Creek. Archaeobotanical evidence shows that lower Queen Street was once dense bush cleared for crop cultivation.As the city grew, the gaol became an eyesore and was relocated to Mt Eden in 1864–65. The original site was offered for sale in 1864, then subdivided and re-listed in 1875, likely leading to the creation of Darby Street.Built in 1899–1900 for Herbert Thompson, the Darby Building was commissioned by landowner Patrick Darby, a notable figure in early colonial Auckland. Designed by architect Arthur P. Wilson, it features two brick warehouses for soft goods across four levels, including a half-basement, and was estimated to cost £5,000.Today the Darby Building is still well used. The basement and first floor have been the home to restaurants and bars over the years and more recently, the student haunt, Bar 101 has occupied the basement and part of the first floor.Walk back onto Elliot Street and turn left into the Strand. Walk through noticing the interior. Cross Queen Street and look back at The Strand Entrance
The Strand Arcade
The Strand was once described as “incomparably the largest and finest building of its kind in New Zealand.” Designed by Auckland architect Arthur P. Wilson, it was originally intended to include a theatre. Despite a shortage of skilled labour caused by the South African Boer War, the arcade was completed in 1900. With its ornate design, the Strand Arcade holds significant aesthetic value and was constructed to reflect emerging trends in retail as a fashionable activity. Many shops were leased to prominent city businessmen, and by 1905, tenants included tailors, mercers, jewelers, dressmakers, a picture framer, and more.After a major fire in 1909, the Strand Arcade was rebuilt with a more modern look. The Elliott Street side was raised to four storeys, and the Queen Street façade was updated with bay windows and a wrought iron balcony. Fire-resistant materials were used inside, while the layout retained its original galleries and central lightwell, now crossed by ornate bridges. In 1910, a glass roof was installed after owner Arthur Myers was inspired by the glass-domed Burlington Arcade in London. The Strand Theatre opened in 1916, with a wide marble staircase leading from the arcade to its foyer.In 1971, Auckland's first Chinese restaurant to gain a full liquor license—the Orient Restaurant—opened in the arcade’s basement.In 1993, the building was sold to the New Zealand Guardian Trust and later subdivided into six unit titles in 2003. The ground floor remains in retail and restaurant use, while the upper floors have been adapted for backpacker accommodation and English language schools.
Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tāmaki
Our final stop takes us back to 1842, when the Auckland Mechanics Institute—an organization for local craftsmen and skilled workers—established a library service for its members. By the late 1870s, financial troubles led the Institute to hand over the library to Auckland City Council. In 1880, it reopened on Chancery Street as the Auckland Free Public Library. Although the library was free to access for all citizens, it didn’t offer a lending service until 1889. To borrow books and take them home, users had to pay an annual subscription fee, which remained in place until 1942.When Sir George Grey, governor of New Zealand from 1845 to 1853 and from 1861 to 1867 donated a significant collection of rare books, manuscripts, and art, it prompted the need for a dedicated library building. The City Council selected a prominent hillside site and held a design competition, won by Melbourne architects Grainger and D’Ebro. Their French chateau-style building opened on Friday 17 February 1888 as the Library, Art Gallery, and Municipal Offices.Today, the building houses only the Auckland Art Gallery - Toi O Tāmaki, home to New Zealand’s largest collection of national and international art with over 18,000 works in its collection.
