New lease of life for old Northland bank

The Category 2 listed building on the corner of Nova Scotia Drive and Cove Rd in Waipū which has been restored by Lindy Davis.

Author and journalist Lindy Davis and her family took ownership of the old Waipū National Bank of New Zealand building just over a year ago.

It is listed as Category 2 with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (Category 2 historic places are of historical or cultural significance or value), limiting the work that could be done on it.

"It was a beautiful building with essentially good bones, but I could see it slowly disintegrating," Davis said.

What followed was a hands-on apprenticeship on the rudiments of heritage conservation. She engaged an all-local crew of tradies and builders who have taken pride in the Nova Scotia Junction project but border closures meant she had to take on the role of project manager herself.

Unlocking the secrets of the building wasn't always straightforward. There were three chimneys but two were difficult to locate and turned out to be in awful condition behind gibbed walls.

But Davis said the quality and workmanship of timber joinery from last century was superior to anything she had seen mass-produced.

She found a wedding album that belonged to a doctor and his wife who had lived in the house 20 years earlier, it had slipped behind the facade of a gibbed wall.

The entrance to the restored Waipū former National Bank building.

Her son tracked down the doctor's wife and returned the album. She also found a signature in the ceiling of the vault dome dating back to the original 1934 pour.

Feedback from the community about the renovation has been overwhelmingly positive and complimentary, and Heritage Northland Inc has agreed to fund an HNZPT listing plaque in appreciation of the restoration work Davis has done on the Waipū landmark.

"The old National Bank of New Zealand building is an iconic landmark in the Waipū township. There are even photos of the Queen's visit outside the bank," she said.