Enjoy Napier Art Deco Buildings with a Walking Tour

It doesn’t take long to appreciate why Napier New Zealand is the Art Deco Capital of the World. Simply taking a walk down the main road, we found ourselves surrounded by fun and funky examples of Art Deco. There are 140 Art Deco buildings, doors, sculptures, and more in this town.

The Daily Telegraph building is a classic example of the Art Deco architecture and design found throughout Napier. It was completed in 1933.

I instantly fell in love with these Art Deco bronze figures on the main street in town. She stands prominently on Emerson street, while he is a bit less noticeable, hanging onto a street lamp across the street and waving back.

Napier is one of a few world cities that was given a chance to reinvent itself. A devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake destroyed the city in 1931. As New Zealand does, it turned this disaster into an opportunity. With so many people unemployed during the depression era, the rebuilding of Napier attracted skilled and talented workers from around New Zealand.

The result: Napier is an Art Deco city brought alive for us through an Art Deco Walking tour with Napier’s Art Deco Trust. In just 2 hours we learned about various Art Deco elements and Napier history. We walked past classic examples while our passionate volunteer guide highlighted the nuances and finer details. The tour is our top recommendation, a must do for any visitor, and the highlight of our time in Napier.

Napier Art Deco Tour Options

Napier Art Deco Buildings

Criterion Hotel is Spanish mission style with cordoba tiles, arched windows, symmetry, ziggurats, and false balconies.

Bowman building is one of the many designed by Louie Hay with reinforced concrete covered in brick.

This design won awards for its ziggurat and lines.

An example of classical revival (with Art Deco columns) built in 1921 and repaired after the quake.

T&G building (now A&B) is an example of stripped classical style.

Art Deco Patterns and Features

The 1920-30s were an age of change with new technology and materials. A faster-paced modern lifestyle included the availability of travel and a new freedom for women. From the Napier Art Deco trust, “Art Deco expressed all the vigour and optimism of the roaring twenties and the idealism and escapism of the grim thirties.”

Art Deco’s worldwide popularity was born in Paris in 1925 at the great Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts).

Details from a few of the Napier Art Deco buildings and streets highlight some of the Art Deco features including ziggurats, chevrons, sunbursts, fans, speed lines, optimism and colours, and Maori motifs.

Once you know what to look for, Art Deco decor is easy to identify. The style radiates optimism, speed, the dawn of a modern age, and a bit of breaking the rules. There are several Art Deco geometric patterns and other shapes that define the era. Primary Art Deco colours are bold, bright, or metallic, yet they often include combinations like black and white; creams, taupes and medium browns; silver, gold, blue, and charcoal grey; or, dandelion yellow, forest green, peacock blue, royal purple, and cherry red. Key Art Deco detail to look for in the architecture include:

• Ziggurat
• Chevron
• Trapezoids and other geometric shapes
• Sunbursts
• Sweeping curves including fans and fountain shapes
• Long vertical lines – symbolise skyscrapers
• Horizontal “speed” lines – Symbols of speed, power and flight
• Ancient cultures (mostly civilisations of Egypt and Central America).

See more in these Art Deco books:

Napier Art Deco Buildings with Maori Motif

The integration of Maori motifs with the Art Deco features gives Napier Art Deco a distinctive flavour found nowhere else. It is uniquely New Zealand. Much of this design is the work of local architect Louis Hay.

The ASB bank building’s ceiling is a fabulous example of Maori Motif used in Art Deco architecture.

Briasco’s building, rebuilt after a 1978 fire, is in stripped classic and Art Deco architecture style with Maori motifs.

Napier Art Deco Buildings: A Closer Look at Some of the Features

Central Hotel – classic Art Deco elements

The original entrance to the Hawke’s Bay Museum

The Art Deco walking tour took us inside the Municipal Theatre where we found classic Art Deco carpet, lighting, seating, and designs.

Blooms Jewellery’s entrance is an example of an “ingo” with leadlight and terrazzo features.

Leadlight and chevron designs are prominent on these Art Deco doors at the Masonic Hotel.

Art Deco Art Nouveau

Mixed amongst the Napier Art Deco, the Australian Mutual Provident building is in Art Nouveau style as evident in the details.

Tremains Art Deco Weekend

Like a scene from Back to the Future, Napier’s Art Deco district steps back in time for one weekend each February. It’s a Napier Art Deco festival that attracts over 40,000 people over four days. (In comparison, the town’s population is 57,000.) Visitors and residents don Art Deco costumes all weekend long and enjoy events like vintage car parades, Art Deco fashion shows, outdoor concerts, and Great-Gatsby-themed picnics and dances. If you are thinking about heading to this Napier art deco weekend, you might want to book your hotel now.

Practical Information on Visiting Art Deco Buildings in Napier

Hurst’s building had been built to be safe with reinforced concrete, but after the quake, only the outside was still intact.

• There are 140 Art Deco buildings in Napier. If you are in a hurry and want to see some of the best examples, head to the centre of town and walk along Emerson, Tennyson, and Hastings Streets.
• Many of the building interiors are not open to the public without a tour.
• If you want to know more, visit the Art Deco Trust’s official website.
• If you are interested in the finer details of any of the buildings featured here, download the Napier Architecture Reference page.
• Bring a camera. I shoot with an Olympus OMD em5.

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Which is your favourite of the Art Deco buildings in Napier?

Disclaimer: As media guests of the Art Deco Trust we were provided with complimentary walking tours to assist in the writing of this review. The opinions expressed here are strictly our own.