LT McGuinness delivered a stunning, well balanced, award-winning five storey building at a prime Wellington waterfront location. The team work demonstrated a great level of trust, collaboration and a high standard of workmanship across all trades.

Judges’ comments, NZ Commercial Projects Awards 2019

A striking feature of the five-storey PwC Centre, the latest building to enhance Wellington’s popular waterfront, is its cantilevered southern end. From ground level, the exposed underside of level 3 with its cedar weatherboard cladding, makes an impressive sight.

The building itself sits on 33 lead rubber bearing base isolators and 31 slider type isolators, and its foundations include over 1200 piles. Along with other structural elements, these give the building a seismic rating of 180% NBS (New Building Strength), a very high standard of design. The building can move up to 650mm in any direction during an earthquake.

The two-year programme was extremely compressed with most trades working on top of each other, particularly down the home stretch. Finishing trades did not enjoy the normal luxury of working in clear areas. This, combined with very tight in-ceiling space, made the ceiling and services installation challenging.

To avoid any clashes, our services managers were heavily involved in day-to-day works and made constant but minor tweaks to service runs. Regular programme checks and meetings with subcontractors were part of an overall coordination effort which saw the project delivered on time.

The Centre, which is five minutes’ walk from the railway station, includes an underground carpark, smart retail and restaurant spaces on the ground floor, and four floors of high quality open-plan offices. These are tenanted by PwC, rural insurer FMG, the Co-operative Bank and the Medical Assurance Society.

Architects: Athfield Architects