Two new earthquake-resilient buildings costing $160 million announced for Wellington
Thursday, 13 September 2018
Precinct Properties has announced plans to build two new earthquake-resilient buildings near Parliament that could be re-occupied soon after an earthquake.
The specialist owner and developer of inner city commercial buildings said the two new buildings in the Bowen Campus would cost about $160 million and included advanced earthquake protection with a number of features to minimise earthquake damage.
Precinct Properties chief executive Scott Pritchard said they would be the first new builds in Wellington to employ 'fluid viscous dampers' in the structural frame.
The dampers dissipated seismic energy to protect the building and fit-out and prevent the accumulation of damage over time.
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Pritchard said because the two building sites at 40 and 44 Bowen Street were not on reclaimed land the company had more options for earthquake strengthening.
The company had seen the good performance of the dampers used in other places.
Tenants in Wellington were focused on getting their buildings up and running again after an earthquake and these buildings would be able to achieve that.
'We think properties like these in this market will be very well-received,' he said.
The new buildings would meet 100 per cent of the NBS (New Building Standard) which was essentially a life safety score on the buildings.
They would add 21,000 square metres of office space to Wellington's very tight prime office market.
Structural engineers Dunning Thornton director Alistair Cattanach said in addition to resilient steel framing, the viscous dampers would increase the buildings' performance significantly in an earthquake.
'The technology applied to these buildings will allow the structures to absorb seismic activity, meaning tenants are able to reoccupy the building shortly after the initial event and continue operating, even during the period of subsequent aftershocks,' he said.
Pritchard said the new buildings would achieve a 5 Green Star rating and a 4 - 4.5 energy efficiency NABERSNZ rating.
It would take the company about 2.5 years to build them.
It would start on 40 Bowen Street first and was seeking tenants to pre-commit to leases to give it the confidence and certainty to get underway on the construction next year. The company was looking at completion at the earliest in 2021, Pritchard said.
'With office vacancy in Wellington at record lows, we're seeing strong demand for high-performance workspace and have had a large amount of interest from both private businesses and government agencies for offerings like 40 and 44 Bowen Street.'
The two new buildings have been designed by Wellington architects, Tennent Brown. The building at 40 Bowen Street would have almost 10,500sqm to lease and have five floors while 44 Bowen Street would have seven floors and 11,634sqm to lease.
They will have large floor plates of 1500-1600 sqm, floor to ceiling glass and ceiling heights of 2.95 metres allowing in a lot of natural light.
A network of laneways between the buildings would offer places for workers to sit or move through and would incorporate shops, cafés and other amenities.
Precinct Properties is well into the $203m redevelopment of two other buildings on the campus, the Bowen State and the Charles Fergusson buildings.
Pritchard said Charles Fergusson was set for completion in the last three months of this year and Bowen State, being extended by about 7200sqm, in the third quarter of 2019.
The company had had fantastic uptake in leasing from government agencies for Bowen State and Charles Fergusson.
On completion of the two new buildings the campus would comprise four buildings with space of about 60,000 sqm for a workforce of 5000, he said.