It is easy to walk by structures such as the Imperial Buildings and never wonder about its history. This was constructed in 1906 by Mason & Wales. The firm was founded by William Watson. This English-born architect was recruited to Auckland in 1840 to become New Zealand’s first trained architect and Superintendent of Public Works. He moved his practice to Dunedin where he became the city’s first mayor in 1865. In 1871, he partnered with his former clerk, Nathaniel Wales, who was also elected as mayor in 1895. Together, these colonial architects designed many of Dunedin’s landmarks. Their legacy lives on as New Zealand’s oldest architectural firm.
