Architect	Sir Robert Matthews
Date Built	Foundation Stone laid 1959 - completed 1963
Location	Haymarket
Description
New Zealand House has been home to the New Zealand High Commission in London since the early 1960s.  The building was designed by Sir Robert Matthews and built by Holland Hannen & Cubitts.  It comprises a fifteen-storey tower rising above a four-storey podium.  As you can imagine the insertion of a modern office building between the Nash terraces on Pall Mall and the Victorian theatres of Haymarket was not without controversy.  In fact, the final height of the building had to be trimmed to satisfy the demands of the London County Council.  It was the first modern tower to be erected in London after the War. The Twentieth Century Society website has an article about New Zealand House written by Harriet Atkinson in which she says of it that, "The building's design included a number of outside spaces, including a spectacular terrace surrounding the top-floor penthouse with remarkable views in every direction over Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and beyond. There were also two internal gardens, the smaller of which was a courtyard looked on to by the L-shaped library, paved in blue brick and Portland stone and planted with native evergreen New Zealand shrubs including senecios, hebes and olearias. The larger courtyard cleverly abutted the adjoining Her Majesty's Theatre, making a feature of its contrasting back wall." Inside there are a number of artworks by New Zealand artists including Te Pouihi, or “inspired pillar”, carved by Inia Te Wiata.  The artist created Te Pouihi from one giant 600 year old totara tree felled in New Zealand and shipped to Britain.  He carved it in the basement of New Zealand House over a seven year period from 1964 to 1971.  The 51 foot high pillar stands in the reception area of the building rising up four floors from its base.  It was unveiled by the Queen Mother in 1971.

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