Former regional council building assessed by engineers

Former regional council building assessed by engineers

Following a request from Wellington City Council, the former Greater Wellington Regional Council headquarters has been assessed by engineers and added to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's list of buildings with non-ductile columns.

Prior to this a decision had been made in September 2012 to relocate to alternative leased premises as a consequence of the earthquake prone status of the building.

The building, at 142 Wakefield Street, Wellington, suffered damage to its stairwells during the first of the 2013 earthquakes causing the council to temporarily relocate staff and bring forward a planned move into its current premises at Shed 39 on the Wellington Waterfront.

After the 2013 series of earthquakes, Spencer Holmes Ltd was commissioned to further look at the structural integrity of the building. The engineer's report found that the building has non-ductile columns capable of withstanding an earthquake up to 70% of the New Building Standard Code, while overall the building has been assessed at 30% of the code. The building is currently unoccupied and is unlikely to pose a safety risk.

The building is owned by Pringle House Ltd - a subsidiary of GWRC.

The council is planning to sell the building. The full engineer's report will be available to prospective buyers.