Aorangi House
NZIA Wellington Architecture Award (Sustainable Architecture), 2009
This 12 storey building on the edge of the CBD has been revitalised with a complete renovation, transforming it into Wellington's latest green building. Constructed in 1970, the relatively drab building had remained largely unlet since 2005 due to issues of heating, ventilation and cooling, as well as an out-dated and leaky external façade. Prime Property commissioned Studio Pacific in 2008 to completely refurbish the building, utilising the latest green building principles to give the building a new lease of life. The team of Beca and Studio Pacific were retained for the fitout, providing synergies of efficiency and continuity of design intentions.
Externally, the effect is modern, with a crisp new double glazed curtain wall system throughout in black powdercoated aluminium, with striking flashes of red glass panels that offset the rigour of the black and white vertical façade. An innovative Sto plaster system encapsulating 100mm of external insulation to the white plastered columns on the façade, vastly improves the thermal performance. Sunshading louvres (brise soleil) cover the building on 3 sides, providing maximum solar shading for summer heat loads and still permitting maximum daylight in and views out to the stunning sea, city, and hillside panoramas.
While the external skin of Aorangi House was being upgraded under the base build refurbishment, the office floors were completely stripped back to bare concrete, to maximise the ceiling height available and avoid the monotony of dull commercial suspended ceilings. The thermal mass of the exposed concrete allows for reduced thermal peaks and troughs within the office environment. Air handling continues to utilise mainly natural ventilation across the open plan floor space, although a VRV system was installed to provide an integrated tempered air supply. All waste material was sorted to minimise landfill waste. The building demonstrates key leadership in the way forward to refurbish Wellington's aging building stock. This project shows the way for other CBD buildings to be renovated via careful consideration of sustainable building issues and intelligent design interventions in an effective manner.
Client: Prime Property Group
