Ministry for Culture & Heritage
It was 1991 and the newly established Ministry of Culture was setting up shop, having been initially incubated within the Department of Internal Affairs.
We managed the fitout of their first official premises, and after a decade of growth were contracted again in 2000 to assist with the sourcing and negotiations for new premises, as the Ministry of Culture became the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
After finding a suitable building on The Terrace in Wellington, the fitout began. A number of special artefacts that had been used in the original fitout had to be incorporated into the design for the new premises. These included tuatara casts as handles on sliding doors, feature woven and carved carpets in the reception area and leadlight doors with steel panelling, which were used for the meeting room.
One of the challenges was to make the internal areas feel light and open. Designer Neville Parker came up with the idea to use backlit Perspex panels to create the illusion of skylights above the reception area, in the meeting and conference rooms and in the kitchen.
Since that fitout the Ministry has taken on more responsibilities and we have provided project management services for two separate office expansion projects.
We have also worked on a variety of cultural projects with the Ministry, including the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Wellington, the ANZAC memorial project in Canberra and the New Zealand Memorial in London.