Wellington Fire Station

Moderne and masculine, the wings of the 1937 fire station spread across Oriental Parade toward the city in a protective stance. Initially planned in 1932, it wasn't until 1937 that the new concrete fire station was opened in the Windy city, to much fanfare. Behind the impressive facade are garages for nine trucks, a large enclosed courtyard, with accommodation at the rear and above the garaging. The architect was C H Mitchell of Mitchell and Mitchell.

The town's clock atop represents a bit of an 'in-joke' to locals, it was a gift from the Blundell family in 1922, and was moved here from the town hall to keep it safe in case of earthquakes, but is reported to have never told the time accurately. Though it was given pretty new faces in 2014, it was then said to have 'eaten itself alive', the chain mechanism becoming fatally tangled during the 2016 Kaikoura 7.8 earthquake. It's stopped face has read 12.54 since, even though the quake happened at 12.02, as the clock had already been on typical inaccurate form before the quake.

The building itself is earthquake-safe though, even by Wellington and millennium standards after massive piles were driven into the bedrock below, and 80 tonnes of reinforcing steel added in 2015.