Art Deco heroes honoured

A record 33 awards recognising smart deco updates and features of Napier were handed out at the Art Deco Trust's annual general meeting held on Wednesday night.

"The large number of awards is unprecedented and highlights the huge amount of preservation and restoration work occurring within the Art Deco quarter," trust general manager Sally Jackson said.

Among the 33 were five Supreme Awards for what Mrs Jackson described as significant examples of restoration or refurbishment.

The awards went to the Chisholm Building (home to the Red Cross charity shop) for the restoration and reinstatement of a major Art Deco building; the MTG Hawke's Bay for the restoration of the original entrance to the Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery; Farmers for the retention of two Art Deco facades in its new store development; the Paxies Building for the restoration of its facade; and the Haynes Building (home to the new Charleston Pharmacy store) for the restoration of its Hastings St frontage and its interior fit-out.

Also presented were Merit Awards, Shopfront Awards, a Landscape Award, Residential and Garden Award and Signage Awards.

"They are an excellent way to showcase positive changes within the city and emphasis good examples of business signage, appropriately designed Art Deco-stylegardens and quality renovations to heritage buildings," Mrs Jackson said.

The Heritage Committee of the Art Deco Trust, which judged the awards earlier this month noted that the unusually large number of award recipients revealed that there were many building developers, building owners and business owners who understood the importance of restoration and preservation of the Art Deco heritage of Napier.

"There is a lot of collaboration between the owners and the developers and it is so good to see. The city is looking very smart," Mrs Jackson said.