By Herriot Melhuish O'Neill Architects Ltd
HMOA's three-year project to restrengthen and refurbish the heritage-listed Harbour City Centre annex also provided a contemporary makeover for this 1920s building.
Originally home to the DIC department store, the building on Wellington's Golden Mile was at just 20% of code and most recently used as a carpark.
HMOA separated the services from the adjoining front building and completely redesigned new services for the annex. The car parking and ramp have been shifted to a new main entry on Brandon St.
A grand, contemporary staircase has been inserted into the core of the building and a light-well introduced to flood natural light throughout. The staircase balustrade is clad in black steel with the floor openings in timber panels. These finishes are carried through into the fit-out for the building's main tenant, FNZ.
The existing top level has been redesigned and rebuilt, and the roof raised. The addition is set back to meet heritage requirements.
HMOA has also completed the design for Wellington's new public library, Te Awe, on the ground floor of the building.
Awards: NZIA Wellington Architecture Award 2020, Heritage.
Herriot Melhuish O’Neill Architects is an NZIA award-winning practice with studios in Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland and Tauranga. Established in 1997, our rich portfolio of commercial and residential work demonstrates a strong commitment to creating beautifully-crafted architecture that enhances the lives of those who experience our buildings – both inside and out.
We believe that enduring architecture is a delicate balance of factors – our clients’ needs and aspirations, our professional training and expertise, the history and nature of the site – but also intuition and commonsense. Every design decision, from materials to how the building complements the landscape, matters to us and adds to the experiential qualities of our projects.
Directors Max Herriot and John Melhuish in Wellington, Duval O'Neill in Christchurch and Matt Pearson in Auckland are committed to the best architectural design practices. HMOA Associate and registered architect Jenny Duck runs the Tauranga studio.
As well as new homes and house renovations, we have experience in the education, recreation, heritage, health and hospitality sectors, office interiors, multi-unit developments, civil projects and master-planning.