Te Pu

  • 178 Willis Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011
  • Completed Date: March 2023
  • $24M
  • Office to Unit Conversion, Interior Fitout
  • Architect: Seddon Associates
  • Client: The Wellington Company

Te Pu (formerly known as Education House) was a retrofit and conversion of an existing 13-storey building on Willis Street, Wellington from commercial office space to 110 residential apartments (studio, 2- and 3-bedroom). This project was a development by The Wellington Company for Wellington City Council, with the Council taking a long-term lease on the building to manage the complex as part of the Te Kainga programme – aiming to provide secure, long-term rental accommodation for low-med income level families in public sector service roles.

Project PDF

The scope of the project included:
• Demolition of all interiors including asbestos removal (floors, windows).
• Seismic strengthening to 80% NBS
  - Support angles to existing stahlton beams
  - Steel portal frames
  - FRP wrap to concrete sheer wall structure
  - Exterior works - concrete strengthening works to existing sheer walls for new window openings
• Refurbishment of floors to create individual apartments, all of which had a unique footprint
• Installation of a new warm roof Viking TPO membrane system

The Client had planned to move some existing commercial tenants into another building prior to the commencement of works, however this move was delayed by several months. Three of the floors (Level’s 4, 7, and 8) therefore remained occupied and we staged the demolition works around them until they could move into the new space. Noise was carefully managed during this period in order to minimise disruption to the tenants, all services to those floors remained functional, and the floors/walls/ ceilings were kept intact, resulting in a good solution for both the Client and tenants!

A big tick from the Council - Throughout this project our team communicated closely with Council inspectors on site, and received the rewarding feedback that our QA systems are top notch. Discussions are underway to use our systems as best practice examples for others to follow.

Project Manager: Aaron Worthy
Quantity Surveyor: Emma-Jane Kortegast
Site Manager: Jacob Purdie Smith, Zane Wilson