Built in 1900 for the London jeweller David Stewart Dawson, it was located on a prominent corner where major thoroughfares Lambton Quay and Willis St meet.

[2] In 1900 Dawson commissioned Wellington architect William Charles Chatfield to design a building to fit the triangular site.

Chatfield designed a three-storey building with a front that followed the angle created by the junction of Lambton Quay and Willis Street.

Italianate in style, it has a well proportioned façade with pilasters heavily decorated with fine floral ornamentation.

[5] The building will be fully electric and energy efficient and will be leased by the Department of Statistics and the Ministry for the Environment.