NZ Visual Diary - entry 233

186 Ponsonby Road

The street-facing facade of 186 Ponsonby Road may have lost its aesthetic skin. There appears to have been significant architectural ornamentation in the upper portion of the building face.

Three clues are suggestive: the metal support beam above the window lintel isn’t load bearing, so it may have been the lower anchor for a decorative plaster mould or coving that was affixed to the scored surface. The scoring provides a second clue because the markings may be indicative of a covering, perhaps that decorative plaster coving, which was pressed against it. Lastly, there are rounded rectangular anchor holes evenly spaced across the upper facing, which may suggest they served as additional anchor points.

As handsome as the building facade is, if one can look beyond the grim, I believe number 186 Ponsonby Road was once an exemplar of understated but graceful architectural beauty in this fashionable suburb. The restoration of the building’s upper facade could begin with a thorough but delicate washing to remove the layers of urban grim. At the same time, graduate students in architectural studies could scour photographic archives to uncover evidence of the building’s former visage, which could inform a design competition intended to restore the building’s erstwhile lustre.

In my humble opinion, number 186 Ponsonby Road is a worthy candidate for such an ambitious restoration project. An abundant expression of civic pride could propel projects in public-private partnership to target worthy candidates, like 186, for architectural rehabilitation.