312 Lambton Quay, Wellington

Naylor Love carried out the seismic strengthening of the former Whitcoulls Building on Lambton Quay.

The strengthening work involved first gutting the building, then placing new concrete foundations, driving numerous ground anchors, installing new steel and concrete beams and columns, and applying shotcrete to the walls throughout the multi-storey building. The original roof, Category 2 listed façade and brick boundary walls were retained and we reconfigured the interior space to allow for two levels of retail space on the ground floor and first floor and two levels of office space on the upper floors – one of which we fitted out for Harrison Grierson.

All this on an extremely confined site and on one of the busiest streets in Wellington CBD.

The project methodology and programming was a complex undertaking, but we still managed to complete stage one on time, a great achievement considering the challenges of two major earthquakes, record breaking rainfall and archaeological remains clashing with our foundations.