Gordon Wilson Flats: Demo funding secured, wrecking ball within year

Monday, 7 July 2025

Private developer partnerships or philanthropic contributions are on the table as Victoria University of Wellington seeks funding options for new student accommodation on the site of the condemned Gordon Wilson Flats.

RMA Reform and Housing Minister Chris Bishop’s recent move to strip the building of its heritage status marked the end of a battle spanning more than a decade ‒ one that divided advocates fighting for preservation and those who deemed its crumbling exterior a lost cause.

Victoria chief operating officer Tina Wakefield confirmed the university had set aside funding for demolition across the 2025 and 2026 financial years. The flats would be gone within the next 12 months though.

It was working through a detailed business case and the new build’s timing would depend on funding and consents.

“As we are very much at the very beginning of this project, with the legislation still to pass, no designs are under way yet. However, we have done some early bulk and location assessments to better understand the site’s capacity,” Wakefield said.

The university’s 2024 financial report showed a small surplus of $5 million or $13.8m including the university’s foundation. At a meeting in February, vice-chancellor Nic Smith said financial sustainability is a priority for 2025, given the possibility of cuts in government funding in 2026.

Refurbishment ‘a financial loss’

Mayoral candidate Alex Baker, who worked for Kāinga Ora on the business case for the demolition and rebuild of the Gordon Wilson sister building in Auckland, said any option that involved refurbishment would result in immediate and ongoing financial losses.

The Upper Greys Avenue Flats building was demolished in 2020 and replaced with a multi-level high-rise building, a courtyard and a rooftop garden.

The 276 apartment units cost $196m in total, including $5m for demolition.

The business case concluded repairing the flats to keep the heritage status would result in financial loss and significantly underutilised land ‒ and the building was up to earthquake standards and in good condition.

“There is no viable commercial option to reinstate it, so any owner won’t,” Baker said.

He argued demolishing and rebuilding was also the best option from a climate change perspective, as it would be built to an energy efficient building code.

A 2015 feasibility study for the Wellington City Council to delist the Gordon Wilson Flats found refurbishment was not practically or economically feasible and did not meet modern design requirements.

The study investigated whether the building could be refurbished for student accommodation, university offices, private rental or social housing.

The building was declared earthquake-prone in 2015 due to its facade, which had deteriorated significantly and required replacement. The most feasible option for its replacement was a curtain wall facade, the study concluded, but this affected its heritage and was unlikely to fully remove the safety risks of falling debris from the building.

The quality of the building piles were unknown and testing was difficult and costly.

The report detailed rotting timber railing, part of the roof at the end of its useful life and some instances where corrosion had advanced to a stage where there was no visible evidence of remaining fixing support.

Strip it back and save it

Heritage advocate Bill McKay, who is a senior lecturer for architecture and planning at University of Auckland, believes the building can keep its heritage intact by stripping the building back to its skeleton.

Auckland University’s Building 201 was done in a similar fashion, taken back to its concrete columns, floor slabs and beams, which he said shortened the design and build time by a year and resulted in an estimated cost saving of 25%.

The Gordon Wilson Flats could be strengthened by replacing the heavy facade system with lightweight cladding, he said. As the foundations had not been investigated in depth, there was a chance only the facade needed replacing.

A engineering report from 2010 said significant additional work was required to the remaining shear walls and foundations.

But the 2015 seismic assessment that declared it earthquake-prone noted there was “currently no evidence that the foundation system is not satisfactorily supporting the building gravity loads”.

A structural engineer presenting at the council’s district plan hearing although the quality of the foundations had not been investigated, there was no evidence of building settlement, which might be attributable to poor pile condition or foundation failure.

On whether the building would be completely up to seismic code through his approach, McKay said every person lived in houses with earthquake, fire and flood risk.

“It’s where you draw the line in terms of risk.”

McKay is advocating for a sustainable solution and said the increase in carbon footprint that would come from demolition was massive.

“We have a saying these days that the greenest building, the most sustainable building is the one that’s already standing there.”

He argued the loss of heritage had not gone through proper process.

The flats are significant not just in their design, but for their association with the state housing programme initiated by the first Labour Government in 1935 and for being the country’s sole remaining example of 1950s high-rise state housing.