High St's association with the medical profession dates back to at least the 1880s, when the Mornington cable car started running and some impressive new houses were built along its route.
In 1920 there were no fewer than 10 doctors among the residents and the street was a logical location for one of Dunedin's first medical centres.
The company behind the venture, Medical Buildings Ltd, was incorporated on March 1, 1926, and the shareholders all took professional rooms in the new property.
The first occupants were John Finlayson Cardno (radiographer), James Alfred Jenkins (surgeon and urologist), William Elliott Carswell (ophthalmologist), Cecil Haden Tait (dentist) and Charles Ritchie Burns (cardiologist and medical administrator).
The architect was Eric Miller and the builder George H. McGregor.
A contract for 3590 was signed in May 1926 and the building was completed in 1927.
The name chosen for it was ''Cavendish Chambers'', presumably taken from Cavendish Square, a site of medical practices in London.
The main portion of the new building was two storeys high.
It contained five suites of professional rooms set up with consulting rooms, examination rooms and laboratories, and an X-ray room and a darkroom for the radiologist.
There were waiting rooms on each floor and a system of electric bells for communication.
Nurses' accommodation was in a single-storey portion at the rear. Construction was cavity brick, with rimu floors and green concrete roof tiles.
Garden walls to the street were finished with Moeraki gravel and clinker brick.
The style drew from Revived Georgian and English Domestic influences favoured by Miller.
The steel-framed windows facing the street are mullioned and surrounded by subtly varied brickwork.
Other features include corbels, a cornice and brick quoins, while coloured terracotta tiles are a feature of the entrance porch.
James Alfred Jenkins occupied rooms from 1927 to 1952.
A surgeon and urologist, he was lecturer in clinical surgery at the Otago Medical School.
William Elliott Carswell kept rooms from 1927 to 1958.
He was an opthalmologist and lecturer at the Medical School and in World War 1 had been instrumental in founding a department for the rehabilitation of ex-soldiers.
He became head of the ear, nose and throat department at Dunedin Hospital and was later chief of the eye department.
Charles Ritchie Burns was a cardiologist and medical administrator.
His rooms, which he occupied from 1927 to 1939, contained an early example of an ECG machine.
Burns was later director of medicine at Auckland Hospital, head of cardiology at Wellington Hospital and a specialist in alcohol addiction.
Cecil Haden Tait was the only dentist to have rooms, which he occupied from 1927 to 1960.
Although he remained in general practice all his life, he practised oral surgery extensively.
John Finlayson Cardno was a radiographer who kept rooms from 1927 until his death in 1958.
He was one of the first radiographers in private practice in Dunedin, and the first associated with the Dental School.
Cardno served in both world wars and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Jack Dinham Cottrell occupied rooms from 1939 to 1945. He worked at Dunedin Hospital as medical registrar, honorary assistant anaesthetist and honorary assistant physician.
He served in the New Zealand Army Medical Corps during World War 2 and was awarded an OBE for gallant and distinguished service.
He was later a leading figure in the World Health Organisation.
Denholm Carncross Cuddie, a general practitioner, kept rooms from 1945 to 1986.
He had served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during WW2.
Cuddie was president of the Otago Branch of the New Zealand Medical Association and was medical examiner for the Civil Aviation Authority.
Victor Tomlinson Pearse had a suite from 1952 to 1988.
A surgeon, during WW2 he served as a senior medical officer and was awarded the Military Cross.
Pearse was senior registrar at Dunedin Hospital from 1951 and was the first to concentrate on paediatric surgery at Wakari Hospital.
Charles Wynn Squire (Peter) Jerram was a radiotherapist who kept rooms from 1952 to 1963.
He was director of radiotherapy services at Dunedin Hospital from 1945 and launched the appeal that raised funds for a new unit at Wakari, opened in 1958.
Norris Roy Jefferson occupied rooms from 1959 to 1970.
A radiologist, he was founding president of the New Zealand Sports Medicine Federation.
In 1979 he was awarded the OBE for his services to disabled sports and sports medicine.
The final partner to join Medical Buildings Ltd was diagnostic radiologist Ross Smith, in 1960. He remained until his practice was sold around 1988, and the building company was wound up.
From 1988 to 1995 Cavendish Chambers was occupied by Faris Marlow Associates, mechanical services consultants.
In 2002 the building was bought by Elizabeth and Michael Nidd and it has since been used as the central office of Nidd Realty.
The building has seen some major physical changes.
The single-storey portion was extended in 1952, and other additions included a garage in 1962 and a deck in 1991.
In 2004 the single-storey portion and deck were demolished and an auction room was built.
The building was earthquake-strengthened in 2012, improving its compliance from 15% to 67% of the new building standard.
Though some original features were sacrificed in modernisation, Miller's charming facade and much of the internal timberwork have been preserved, and delightful details such as old handles can still be found.
Importantly, the building is in good shape for the future.
Cavendish Chambers
• Built: 1926-1927
• Address: 211 High St
• Architect: Eric Miller
• Builder: George H. McGregor
