Berhampore State Flats
The Berhampore State Flats at 493–507 Adelaide Road, Berhampore, Wellington, New Zealand, are an example of mass housing designed in the international style. The flats were designed by F. Gordon Wilson, chief architect at the Department of Housing Construction.
Context
The New Zealand government had first become involved in the provision of housing when the Workers’ Dwelling Act,which allowed the state to build and lease houses to workers, was passed in 1905. However, only after the election of the First Labour Government in 1935 was there large-scale state involvement in the New Zealand housing market. One of many measures that was undertaken by the First Labour Government was the launch of a state housing scheme to provide every New Zealander with a home that, in Walter Nash’s words, would be “fit for a cabinet minister”. The Department of Housing Construction, with its own architects, was established, and by 1940 almost 10,000 new single-unit dwellings had been constructed.
In March 1938, the government announced the construction of the first block of multi-unit flats, at Berhampore. Although single-unit dwellings had been preferred, the government felt that the housing problem was of such magnitude that every approach should be encouraged, and that advances in multi-unit complexes were such that they had become more socially acceptable.
The location of the flats, a short tram ride from Courtenay Place, was intended to give convenient access to the tenants’ workplaces, and reduce urban sprawl.