Antipodes Headquarters
153 Thorndon Quay
Pipitea, Wellington 6011
New Zealand
Overview
Located in one of Wellington's well known heritage sites is the new head office and retail space for global skincare brand Antipodes.
The beautiful restoration of the historic 1930's Art Deco building started in late 2016 and was completed late 2019. 103 Ghuznee Street underwent a full refurbishment and strengthening; the structure's strength now stands in excess of 100% NBS as it has been designed as an Importance Level 3 (IL3) building to provide greater resilience in a major event.
The design brief on this job was to seismically strengthen the building to a high level, in sympathy with the existing heritage fabric of the building and the new fit-out for Antipodes. The strengthening allows for the future construction of two additional floors above the existing building, providing a greater level of robustness.
Design & Construction
Key features of this project are seismic strengthening with Micropiles and sprayed concrete shear walls in the longitudinal direction, and steel EBF frames with removable active links in the transverse direction. The removable links can be replaced after a major earthquake for the continued operation of the building.
The finished effect is both historic and modern, a light-filled, functional and stylish place with sensitivity to the original structure. This iconic Wellington building is now restored to its former classical glory.
Awards: NZIA Architecture Wellington Regional Award (Commercial Architecture Category, 2020); NZIA Architecture Wellington Regional Award (Heritage Category, 2020); Interior Awards Finalist (Workplace over 1000m2, 2020).
Other projects
This aged care facility for Bupa in Upper Hutt consists of three three-storey high apartment buildings.
