Gladstone Chambers, Napier

The Gladstone Chambers in Tennyson Street, Napier is a simple single storey building like many constructed immediately following the 1931 earthquake.

The Art Deco Inventory compiled by the Art Deco Trust and Napier City Council lists Finch & Westerholm as the architects with construction being completed in 1932.

Gladstone Chambers has very little decoration along the roofline, normally a mainstay of Art Deco buildings. The lettering in the name, set on the facade, is very simple with a decorative row of semi-circles interspersed with pendant shapes.

Above the doorway and each of the two windows there is a more complex design consisting of rounded shapes layered with two sizes of triangles.

The building also features a decorative grill on the window above the door.

Yet another arrangement of geometric shapes provide the decoration in the recessed rectangular panels under the windows.

At the very base of the building the vents at footpath level are very stylish and as can be see in the photo below are placed below the windows according to the deco rule of three.