The Dilworth Building is a heritage mixed-use (residential apartments and shops on the ground floor) building at the corner of Customs Street and Queen Street

Queen Street, Auckland

Queen Street is the major commercial thoroughfare in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand's main population centre. It starts at Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront, adjacent to the Britomart Transport Centre and the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and runs uphill for almost three kilometres in a...

 in the Auckland CBD

Auckland CBD

The Auckland CBD is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. Bounded by several major motorways and by the harbour coastline in the north, it is surrounded further out by mostly suburban areas...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. The building by William Gummer & Reginald Ford

Gummer and Ford

Gummer and Ford was an architectural firm founded in 1923 in Auckland, New Zealand by William John Gummer and C. Reginald Ford. It was among the country's best-regarded architectural firm of the first half of the 20th century, designing numerous iconic buildings, including the former National Art...

 was constructed between 1925 and 1927, and is listed as a "Historic Place - Category I" by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust

New Zealand Historic Places Trust

The New Zealand Historic Places Trust is a non-profit trust that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buildings in New Zealand...

.

At the lower entry to Queen Street, the massive building was once envisaged as one half of a 'gateway' to the city, and hailed as a visionary concept. However, the mirroring building on the opposite side was never constructed.

It has housed the American consulate, and during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

served as headquarters for the U.S. Army.