Deloitte House extension
& refurbishment

DELOITTE - WELLINGTON

In 2006, we refurbished and extended Deloitte House on Customhouse Quay, Wellington. The 1980s office tower needed a complete overhaul to attract and retain top tenants.

The redevelopment plan took advantage of the redundant airspace along one road boundary by ‘clipping’ a new tower onto the original, and adding four new floors to the roof. This significantly changed the appearance of the building, giving it a stronger, rectilinear form and contemporary exterior façade. High-performance curtain-wall glazing, clean lines, and modern materials now ‘wrap’ the older style.

There are a number of significant challenges in this sort of project due to its scale and city location. Relocating the roof plant, connecting into existing structure, and working through a robust resource consent process were issues we sorted out early in the project. All the while expressing a design aesthetic that allowed a modern extension to be complementary to, and sit comfortably with, the original building.

The final stages of transforming this high-rise to A-grade commercial space was a comprehensive upgrade to existing building services and interior finishes. The result is an ‘adaptive reuse’ project that has given the building a longer life, providing modern facilities without the need to demolish the old. As long as they have a solid structure inside, CBD buildings can be recycled in this way for the next generation.