The Birdcage

The former Rob Roy Hotel, renamed The Birdcage in 1981 was designed by prolific architect Edward Mahoney whose work remains evident in many commercial, residential, school and church buildings still standing in Auckland which contribute substantially to Auckland’s architectural heritage.

Once the reclamation was done, Samuel Jagger, a well-known brewer, purchased a vacant site on the corner of Franklin Road and Patteson Street (renamed Victoria Street). The Rob Roy, now located on the corner of the newly formed Drake and Centre Streets had been operating since the early 1860s, but in June 1885 the Licensing Committee would not renew its license so Samuel Jagger undertook the construction of a new hotel utilising the earlier name. The temperance movement had gained power when the Licensing Act of 1881 was passed, implementing stringent hygiene, comfort and accommodation requirements in public houses. Such upgrading was designed to minimise alcohol consumption’s worst excesses. Contrary to the temperance movement’s expectations the new law led to a hotel construction boom, with older licensees upgrading their establishments.

Edward Mahoney designed a highly ornamented facade for the Rob Roy Hotel in the Victorian Italinate style which was commonly used in 19th Century British public houses and emulated here on corner pubs. They provided elaborate separate spaces within the buildings to cater for technical requirements and groups of differing social status. The Rob Roy’s facade was divided into bays with expressed pilasters and pediments that capped the central bays. Each level was defined with a string course and the parapet incorporated sections to open circular balustrades above the windows. It was visually impressive with decorative plasterwork and two plastered brick chimneys.

When the new Rob Roy was completed in 1886 it had 25 rooms. A kitchen, pantry, scullery, coal cellar, storeroom and three servants’ bedrooms were on the basement floor. The kitchen had every convenience such as a lift up to the dining room plus hot and cold water taps. The bar was on the ground floor facing a 24 by 20 foot furnished room and a large dining room fronted Drake Street which had three adjoining sitting rooms with electric bells connecting them to the bar. A staircase led up to the top floor which contained nine bedrooms, a bathroom, WC and linen closet. There was also a 20 x 16 sitting room with an oriel window that afforded a view over the harbour. In spite of all this splendour, the Temperance candidates for the licence committee election made it clear they would not grant the Rob Roy a licence. The election attracted wide public attention, was won by the Temperance movement’s opponents and immediately the licence was transferred from the old hotel to the new one.

The Rob Roy has historical significance for many reasons: The land-use changes in Auckland; the foreshore reclamations; it demonstrates the importance of public houses as centres for recreation and relaxation; the impact of the Temperance movement; its association with brewing companies and Mayor John Banks who co-owned the building with Tony White in the 1980s, renaming it ‘The Birdcage’; its importance to a notable industrial working class community in Freemans Bay; the impacts of the Great Depression; the 1913 Waterfront Strike when 64 hotels were closed since they were deemed places where radicals met to discuss labour relations. On 11 November 1913, one thousand strikers marched past the closed Rob Roy on their way to a rally in Victoria Park.

The hotel was purchased by the Crown under the Public Works Act and its temporary relocation in 2010 reflected Auckland’s ongoing motorway development. (Deirdre Roelants) www.birdcage.co.nz