How Jack Ilott Green came to be

There was little construction until just before the turn of the 20th century when a substantial collection of Edwardian buildings began to emerge. One of them was a building constructed in 1899 and designed by Clere, Fitzgerald and Richmond for Turnbull, Hickson and Palmer (printers, bookbinders and lithographers) at the corner of Harris Street and Jervois Quay (1-7 Harris Street), on land acquired from the Council.  

This lease was taken over by J. Ilott Advertising in May 1928. The firm, started by John Ilott and continued by his son Jack, a noted benefactor, occupied the building until 1975. 

The Illott building was later taken over and used by Circa Theatre, who used it as a simple theatre space for a breakaway group of actors and theatre practitioners, before it was demolished in 1995 due to earthquake hazard. 

The open space created by the building’s demolition came to be known as Ilott Green. 

Various proposals for the redevelopment of the site failed to gain momentum following the demolition and it was instead reformed in conjunction with the design of the Civic Centre as a small landscaped green. 

The green is the only feature of the area that is not entirely bounded by buildings; it instead has a road edge at Jervois Quay. The green features the broken remaining lower walls of the Ilott Building and as the principal 'soft' area of the area is a popular location for a wide variety of activities. This space is also home to the Victor Vito statue, which was created by Weta Workshop and commissioned by Wellington City Council.  

At the time, the statue aimed to link the Rugby World Cup Fanzone to Civic Square and the Wharewaka. The sculpture is roughly four-metres high and eight-metres wide, and features natural features such as earthquakes, waves and rocks. 

While this area is an available green space in the city, over the next few years there are some key decisions that need to be made when it comes to the remaining buildings and spaces in Te Ngākau, including Jack Ilott Green. The Te Ngākau Precinct Development Plan will guide the redevelopment.     

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To find out more about the works in Te Ngākau, you can visit our website or keep up to date with the projects happening in Wellington city on the Positively Pōneke site.