Butterfly

Buildings, like cats and the Dalai Lama, can have many lives.

Take, for example, this art deco building in the far reaches of Ghuznee Street, the Wellington thoroughfare named, somewhat randomly, after the 1839 battle of Ghuznee (Ghazni) in Afghanistan.

Built in 1936, the four-storeyed structure was, for many years, the HQ for Nestlé chocolate. Later, it became an RSA and, in the ’80s, restaurant Brasserie Flipp. Later still, it was the iconic music venue Bar Bodega and home to a youth support group.

In its day, the 1070m building must have been something. Sadly, that day had long since