The Victorian Italianate administration building at 90 Beaumont Street is all that remains of the once large complex that made up the Auckland Gasworks Company’s ‘new’ gasworks development of 1902-1904. The company was fi rst established in 1862 but construction of the gasworks was delayed by the New Zealand Land Wars of the 1860s. Consequently, it was not until April 1865 that gas was supplied to the city’s first 43 street lamps.

The first works were located less than one kilometre away at the corner of Nelson and Wyndham Streets and produced gas through the process of continuous destructive distillation of coal heated to 1,000°C. In 1871, the company was authorised by an act of parliament to lay gas mains within a 19.3km radius of the Chief Post Office, located at the bottom of Queen Street. The Auckland Gasworks Company was also granted monopoly supply rights. In 1884, a 14,726m3 capacity telescopic gasholder with two 9m lifts was built at Freemans Bay and another with a capacity of 2,945m3 subsequently followed. These large tanks stored the gas which was then fed into the system during periods of peak demand.

Construction of the new 5.2ha works at Beaumont Street involved excavation of vast amounts of fi ll which was then used by the Auckland Harbour Board in the Western Reclamation Project. The complex of buildings once included the retort house (where the gas was manufactured), the administration offices, laboratories and stores.

The ‘golden years’ for the Auckland Gasworks Company were 1908-1910. Competition from electricity reduced demand and wartime coal shortages affected supply. Many of the buildings were demolished in the 1960s and early 1970s when natural gas came on stream from Taranaki. The administration building was restored and converted into modern offices in the late 1970s. The retort house was built up the cliff face and the only remaining building, thought to have been the retort manager’s office, is now a gymnasium.