Formerly abandoned, leaking Wellington building is now one of country's best

Friday, 7 September 2018

The refurbished 1970s office block, Aorangi House, in Molesworth St, Wellington has been recognised by the World Green Building Council for sustainable design and performance.

Abandoned and leaking, Aorangi House was saved from the wrecking ball - now it's won an international award.

The refurbished 1970s office block on Molesworth St is now one of New Zealand's most energy-smart buildings.

The World Green Building Council defines a green building as any building which in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts on the climate and natural environment.

BECA building scientist Dr Shaan Cory said just from choosing to refurbish the building, and not bowl it down, they had saved about 3000 tonnes of construction waste from landfill.

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The refurbished 1970s Aorangi House in Molesworth was vacated in 2005 due to issues with heating, cooling and ventilation - even its windows were leaking.

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Construction and demolition waste makes up an estimated 50 per cent of all waste sent to landfill in New Zealand.

Beca building scientist Dr Shaan Cory stands in front of the refurbished 1970s Aorangi House in Molesworth St , which has been recognised by the World Green Building Council for sustainable design and performance.

Shaan said to bring the outdated building back from the brink showed other office blocks in Wellington could also be saved.

'It was getting towards the end of its life, people were saying it was uncomfortable.'

Aorangi House was vacated in 2005 due to issues with heating, cooling and ventilation - even its windows were leaking and sat empty until it was bought by developer Prime Property Group in 2007.

The design team, Beca building services engineers and Studio Pacific Architects, adopted a design approach to the major refurbishment.

Cory said the building had a computer system to monitor the building's ventilation, air quality and temperature.

'We take the data from the control system and we then set up the algorithms and tools to tell us when something is wrong.'

Natural ventilation and lighting had significantly reduced the energy demand the building generated.

Most office blocks had windows which don't open, but Aorangi House has operable windows, he said. 'There's a misconception that that's not comfortable for people, but that's wrong.'

The energy cutting system, which cost $14,000 as a single project, saved running costs by around $11,000 a year - a one to two-year payback.

The refurbishment itself cost about $9 million. If the building was demolished and rebuilt, it would have cost around $25m.

Green building candidates also had to prove people were happy in the building, Cory said.

A Post Occupancy Evaluation carried out by Victoria University of Wellington placed Aorangi House as top building overall in New Zealand.

The building took the international green award at a gala ceremony in Singapore on Thursday, co-winning the Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance Award in the Commercial category as part of the World Green Building Council's .