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		Daily Telegraph Building The Daily Telegraph Building is considered to be one of Napier's classic Art Deco buildings. It is the third Daily Telegraph building to be built in Napier. The Daily Telegraph newspaper was established in February 1871. In 1886 a fire completely destroyed the first Daily Telegraph building as well as 25 other buildings. Within a week of the fire, work began on constructing a new premise across the road from the original building. Following the 1931 earthquake the Napier Borough Council delegated the task of rebuilding Napier to two government commissioners. A moratorium was placed on construction while the commissioners and the Napier Rehabilitation Committee devised a building plan for the city. Eventually the task of designing the Daily Telegraph building was given to Ernest Arthur Williams (1875-1962). Williams chose a simple Art Deco design to house the offices and printing presses. Art Deco was fashionable, suited the needs for safe construction (many Art Deco buildings were built of reinforced concrete, and the geometric designs in low relief reduced the potential risk of masonry falling off buildings during an earthquake), and economic to construct. The latter was of major concern given that the country was in the midst of the Great Depression and that, since insurance companies had ruled that the earthquake was an act of god, little or no money had been paid out. The tender to erect the building on the site of the previous building was awarded to the Fletcher Construction Company in November 1932, and the building was finished in May the following year.		So as not to cause any delay in printing the, the presses were moved on the Saturday night from their temporary accommodation and were up and running in time to print the Monday edition of the paper on 8 May 1933. At the time the Daily Telegraph Building was completed it was hailed for its modernity. However, not all staff were moved into the building on completion, and the press continued to operate from the Vulcan Foundry for the next three years. The Daily Telegraph Building is one of Napier's outstanding Art Deco buildings. In addition, the building represents over one hundred years of newspaper publishing in the one location and over fifty years of publishing from the one building. The construction of the present Daily Telegraph Building, along with many other buildings, represents the resolve of Napier's citizens to rebuild their town following the devastating earthquake of February 1931. Today the building makes a handsome contribution to the townscape within the Napier City Centre Historic Area. I designed a first version of the building in BrickLink Studio in the current colours. However, I have seen it in various colours and it would be interesting to know which colours it had back in the 1930s. If anyone knows, please contact me :-)
		(c) Christina McRae