Mt Albert Chambers

The former Mt Albert Chambers was constructed in 1927 as a center for the local borough council. It was sold off by the council, and had spent decades being insensitively altered, and extended. During this project we uncovered and restored layers of heritage features that had been hidden away, and reorganised circulation and amenities to create modern and functional office spaces, with a high level of flexibility with regards to tenancy sizes and functionality. The double-skin brick building required extensive seismic strengthening, and we strove to minimise the impacts of the structural work on the character and openness of the spaces. We peeled the 1970’s extension off the rear of the building, to expose and refurbish the more utilitarian, rear heritage facade. The 1970’s extension was then extensively renovated, including a new roofline, that transformed the building to respond to the rear facade of the Chamber building. New steel trusses were used to create airy, modern interiors that reflect the vaulted ceilings of the Chambers. This consenting process for this project was split into three stages, enabling a faster start on site, and a high level of cooperation and coordination between Architect and Builder.