The story behind Man­awa Ora

Photography By Roselyn Fauth

In the first instal­ment of a four-part series, Timaru Civic Trust mem­ber Roselyn Fauth looks at Man­awa Ora, formerly the Ōrari Build­ings, designed by archi­tect Her­bert Hall.

I was walk­ing up Stafford St when I noticed the scaf­fold­ing had come down from the Ōrari Build­ings.

In the late after­noon light, the refreshed façade was glow­ing. The new coat of paint feels sea­side fun and con­fid­ent.

I snapped some pho­tos and on the way home, I real­ised I knew very little about its his­tory.

The Ōrari Build­ings at 327-341 Stafford St were erec­ted in 1925 for Wil­liam Ken­neth Mac­don­ald of Ōrari Sta­tion.

Designed by archi­tect Her­bert Hall and built by J T Hunt, the two-storey com­mer­cial block stands on its tri­an­gu­lar site, its roun­ded corner soften­ing the junc­tion of Stafford St and Port Loop Rd.

Look up and you can see Hall’s dis­cip­lined style. A solid para­pet above a den­tilled cor­nice con­ceals the mono­p­itch roof.

First-floor win­dows sit within arched mould­ings, some dec­or­ated with plaster swags. A sus­pen­ded ver­anda to shel­ter ped­es­tri­ans from the weather wraps the corner. A small dec­or­at­ive bal­cony over­looks Port Loop Rd. Con­struc­ted of brick and cement plaster, I love this build­ing. It is a lovely example of com­mer­cial clas­si­cism.

When it opened, the build­ing con­tained seven shops and tearooms upstairs over­look­ing Car­oline Bay.Early occu­pants included Richard Hill, elec­trical engin­eer, the Misses L and D Ran­some serving tea,

Mrs Vick­ers’ lib­rary exchange, Mrs Lewis the hairdresser and a fur­niture dealer.

In 1954, the build­ing was dec­or­ated for the royal visit of Queen Eliza­beth II. A dec­ade later, a large Player’s cigar­ette sign was removed from the roof.

When I grew up I knew this as Mas­cot House, and have lovely memor­ies of a first fancy date with my now hus­band at Ginger and Gar­lic.

Today the facade dis­plays the build­ing’s new Man­awa Ora, mean­ing breath of life.

The Ōrari still stands. Its grand friend across the street does not.

Next week, we’ll step back to 1912 and revisit the Hydro.

Brought to you by the Timaru Civic Trust, cel­eb­rat­ing our built her­it­age and the people who keep it alive.