Napier Three

Commendation for this building's owner. This was a service station, now a shadow of its former self as a dry-cleaners. I strongly suspect the ornamentation along the parapet is not original, but perhaps was added when the building was repainted for its current use. Napier does not have any local controls on new construction. Modifications and demolition of existing Deco buildings is regulated, but if it's new construction, you can build just about whatever you want, as can be seen at the bottom of this page. So, a gold star for this building for it's efforts to maintain a harmonious existence with its neighbours.

Three styles in a row. Don't quite know what to make of the parapet ornamentation on Supre, but the juxtaposition of styles is interesting.

While I was traveling in New Zealand, Telecom New Zealand was receiving considerable criticism for its mismanagement of Internet infrastructure development. In fact, New Zealand's Internet capacity is third-world at best. One analyst was quoted in the papers saying that nowhere in the world, would you have a board of directors remaining in place, after a wholesale mismanagement of infrastructure development. If they did not deserve to be bounced out on their asses for mismanagement, they certainly deserve to be fired for this horror.

Corrugated steel is used quite frequently as a construction material in New Zealand. You see it very frequently as a roofing material. Perhaps this building is meant to be some type of honor to the role of the corrugated steel in New Zealand culture. However, in reality, it looks just like two shipping containers placed next to each other. And yes, it's in Napier. Train wreck.

Here's the 'official' for the Napier Art Deco Trust: