Pastoral House
Pastoral House sits at the northern end of The Terrace in Wellington, towering over the neighbouring buildings. An elongated office building, it shows its full elevation to The Terrace and the Lambton Quay frontages.
It was prime for refurbishment following purchase by AMP NZ Office Trust in late 2003.
We carried out the project in three stages, working around existing tenants. To begin, we literally gutted the majority of the tower floors, leaving a concrete shell and minimal air handling equipment. We then proceeded to refit upgraded mechanical plant, new ceilings, lighting, new toilet areas and upgraded stairwells for building code compliance, followed by full decoration and new carpet.
To ensure the best quality outcome for future occupiers, floor levelling was recommended on some floors. Due to the additional weight that floor levelling would impose load testing was required. Showing typical kiwi ingenuity, we purchased four large paddling pools and set them out within a controlled grid on the floors requiring testing and began to fill them. Each pool preloaded the floors by approximately 10 tonne. The deflections were measured and calculated, and the proposed additional floor loading confirmed compliant with current structural requirements.
Each stage of the project was completed on time and, thanks to some astute management, the refurbishment came in $1 million under the client’s original budget.