Heritage and conservation

Within our practice we have several staff with specialist skills in heritage building work. We are experienced in developing conservation plans and remedial/maintenance plans for significant heritage buildings and have acted as project architects for a number of heritage building refurbishments.

Emphasis is always put on understanding the existing building, and developing sensitive and appropriate strategies for adaptive reuse. Rather than demolishing and replacing them, we believe that the best of modern technology can be used to strengthen, restore and modify existing buildings to extend their working life. As well as representing a more sustainable approach, this allows us to preserve, and add to, our architectural heritage. Recent examples of our award-winning refurbishment work include Xero House (formerly called the John Chambers building), and Chevening Apartments, in Wellington. Both buildings are listed heritage buildings.

We are also architects for extensive refurbishment projects of two heritage buildings at Massey University, the Sir Geoffrey Peren Building and the Refectory, together forming part of Turitea Campus in Palmerston North. These refurbishments exemplify a meeting of old and new; preserving two significant examples of New Zealand's architectural history, while ensuring each facility can continue to provide world-class learning and teaching environments into the future.