The Xero 2 building is a Wellington landmark, located on a key gateway site across a major intersection where five high-traffic roads meet. Built as two separate buildings in 1880 and 1914 respectively, later joined together as one, the project involved innovative structural and architectural solutions to create a modern, five-storey office building affording 6,500m2 of modern flexible office space for Xero 2. The original two-level heritage façades have been retained while a new façade was created for the top three storeys. The existing buildings required significant seismic strengthening to achieve 100% of the new building standard for earthquakes.
The existing foundations were tied into new ones, which facilitated a new superstructure through the existing level one. Innovative piling allowed 18-metre piles to be installed under the existing floor level. The upper floors of the building are wrapped in a pre-tensioned Polyester/PVS mesh fabric that allows light through to create a semi-translucent appearance.
TSA were engaged at Building consent stage and provided full project management and quantity surveyor services, and acted as Engineer to Contract. This included procurement and full contract administration and total redesign of the foundations resulting from unforeseen ground conditions.
