Art Deco Trust chairman and Napier historian Michael Fowler said he was glad their building had come through the flood undamaged.
Art Deco Trust chairman and Napier historian Michael Fowler said he was glad their building had come through the flood undamaged.
While they came into existence due to the 1931 Hawke's Bay Earthquake, Napier city's iconic art deco buildings are now under threat from new natural disasters.
As evidenced by last week's heavy rainfall, some shopkeepers contended with stormwater at the doorstep, sandbagging front doors and pushing water back with amop, while at the same time overwhelmed guttering caused massive leaks overhead.
"I thought I had everything watertight but nothing could cope with that," said Tony Jeffrey, who owns part of the Chambers Building in Emerson St.
"The big problem with the art deco buildings is that they've all got internal guttering.
"Once they reach capacity it doesn't flow outside the building, it runs through the building over skylights."
Despite the installation of a secondary flow last year, the system still reached capacity.
"There was too much rain even for that."
Many of Napier's buildings were destroyed in the 1931 earthquake and the city was redeveloped with art deco flair. Photo / File
He said while the buildings were designed to withstand once-in-50-year adverse weather events, they were now being exposed to weather that extreme annually.
Even modifying the building had come with challenges.
It took him six months liaising with three regulatory bodies to get the sign-off for the secondary-flow installation – during which time there was another flood.
He said dealing with the Napier City Council and the Art Deco Trust had been a good experience but the "elephant in the room" was Heritage New Zealand.
He said the heritage agency requested that he replace the roof with a sloping one rather than install "two small holes in the façade".
"To get everything signed off is a very onerous process."
He said building owners were "hamstrung" by national guideline standards.
Whether a building met resource consent conditions was ultimately decided by the council, but Heritage New Zealand provided free advice to both the council and building owners, which guided them.
Dr Jamie Jacobs, Heritage New Zealand director for the central region, said all buildings had the potential to leak and the onus was on building owners to ensure proper maintenance and efforts were undertaken to minimise this risk.
"The recent flooding in Napier has widely been acknowledged as an extraordinary event and many buildings – young and old – suffered significant damage as a consequence.
"Prudent and timely maintenance of all buildings is about owners getting ahead and being prepared rather than being surprised when the rain comes."
He said owners were encouraged to explore improvements or modifications that were sympathetic to the heritage and historic values of their property.
In the case of the Chambers Building, a listed Category 2 historic place, retention of the building's structural integrity is very important when considering changes.
"It is acknowledged that buildings with internal gutters can be problematic and require modification, such as allowing for wider and deeper gutters to accommodate a larger volume of water or even a new roof.
"If a full replacement is required then HNZPT's recommendation is 'like for like' where appropriate."
Napier historian Michael Fowler pointed to the Masonic Hotel as one of several art deco buildings which had been redone. Photo / File
Despite the headaches that have come with owning art deco buildings for more than 40 years, Jeffrey - a fifth-generation Napierite - said he had no plans to sell.
"There's quite a lot of work involved.
"I've grown attached to the old things."
He said he felt for the tenants – five of his seven tenants were impacted by the flooding – but was impressed and appreciative of the level of support offered by insurance companies.
Napier historian and Art Deco Trust chairman Michael Fowler said he was glad their building had come through the flood unscathed.
"We thought the Art Deco Trust building was going to flood but we survived perfectly okay."
He said a lot of the art deco buildings had suffered problems with their original flat rooves and gutter systems, which were "renowned for not really coping with heavy rain", but many had since been fixed up. The Masonic Hotel was one example he cited.
There had also been a lot of changes with the advent of new CBD apartments.
"It's not only the commercial buildings but also residential ones."
