Central Te Awamutu Character Guidelines - Waipa District Council

DG3-2
Street, the main retail street. Street landscaping is a feature of Te Awamutu, adding to the
character of the town and improving pedestrian amenity (Photo 1).
DG3.4 Building Character
DG3.4.1 Building heights range from two storey buildings with a parapet at the central intersection on
Sloane and Arawata Streets to a predominantly single level height with a parapet extending
west past Churchill Street.
DG3.4.2 The upper level of the buildings from the inter‐war period generally have a stepped parapet
containing building name and/or date in relief, regular fenestration with casement windows
and fanlights plus suspended awnings extending across the width of the footpath. This is
illustrated in the Burchell’s Building (1924) & Thompson Building (1937) located on Alexandra
Street (Photo 3).
DG3.4.3 The buildings from the inter‐war period are generally concrete with a paint finish. The upper
level of these art‐deco buildings is often painted in a two tone colour with architectural
features including the top cornice, window sills and heads featured in a darker colour (Photos
3, 5, 7). Architectural detailing is more simplified when compared with the Victorian buildings
and horizontal lines are accentuated as illustrated in the Commercial Tavern on Alexandra
Street (Photo 4). The lack of large signage on upper parapets assists in making these
architectural features able to be read at street level. The location of future signage will be
important in order to maintain legibility of the existing buildings.
DG3.4.4 Below the canopy level these inter‐war period buildings have large display windows (Photos 5,
6, 8, 9) with transom windows in clear, textured or stained glazing. At the base are tiled stall
boards. The buildings have recessed entries finished with floor tiles or a terrazzo finish. Some
of these original elements have been removed through shop front refurbishment.
DG3.4.5 These art‐deco buildings are significant as they are located in a row. It is this clustering of
buildings from a similar era that conveys an art‐deco style in the town centre.
DG3.4.6 It is recommended that new buildings or alterations should continue the two storey high shop
frontage with awnings suspended across the footpath width. The building style should reflect
either the surrounding art‐deco style interwar buildings or the Victorian era buildings if located
around the central Arawata, Alexandra and Sloane Street intersection.
The following photos highlight the existing building character of Te Awamutu.
Photo 1: View looking towards the junction of Alexandra and Sloane Streets showing existing building character.