100 Cuba St / Greater Wellington Regional Council

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Located at 100 Cuba Street the heritage listed Farmers department store building is a key landmark in central Wellington. The buildings redevelopment resulted in protection of the unique historical fabric of Wellington’s Cuba street, maintaining the much-lovedstreetscape.

The brief required a mixed-use development with retail along Cuba Street and large open plan office space on the two floor levels above. The outcome was a basebuild redevelopment and seismic strengthening of 100 Cuba Street (with integration of two neighbouring buildings) for Willis Bond, and an integrated fitout for Greater Wellington Regional Council(GW).

The design response retained the original Farmers building in its entirety, using a new building structure to seismically strengthen both the Farmers building and the heritage facades. Internally the original department store lightwell and skylights were re-established to illuminating all three floors. On the ground floor new retail spaces were scaled to complement the existing character of Cubastreet.

The buildings refurbishment has created one of the City’s largest open plan commercial spaces and given GW a modern and vibrant new home, enabling new ways of working across theorganisation.

In recognition of its location, the concept of Mountains to Sea was adopted as the driving theme, reflecting the unique physical and cultural landscape of Te Whanganui-a-Tara, and GW’s partnership with Mana Whenua. At ground level an urban forest floor has been reimagined with dappled light filtering through the central atrium and hanging garden. The upper levels convey a sense of the forest canopy through finely detailed timber screens, with the central lifts the ‘trunk’ of the workplace. Within the workspace, fit-out elements feature as contemporary sculptural items, creating more intimate spaces - celebrating the sense of scale, historical texture and detailing of the heritagebuilding.

GW has a diverse range of operational and functional requirements, from typical workspaces through to specialised environmental science facilities, areas of public engagement and the Council Chambers. Sustainable transport is promoted for staff with 120 bike parks and accompanying end of trip facilities. It is a core responsibility of the organisation to ensure the region’s environment is protected, and this has been reflected in theirworkplace.

The sustainable retention of the shell and structure of the original building along with the reuse and reinstatement of materials from the heritage building was central to the design. Pressed tin, salvaged matai boards and totara floor structure were used throughout the fitout for feature timber ceilings and wallpanels.

When introducing the new location GWRC used the statement: “Working together for the greater environmental good, starts with a greater environment”. Demonstrating this statement and market leading performance, the building achieved a 5 star NABERSNZ™ Energy Whole Building rating in 2023.

“There is no doubt this interior uplifts the human spirit.” - 2021 Wellington Interior Architecture AwardCitation

“Athfield Architects have delivered a cohesive and sensitive example of how to maximise heritage value at scale through this beautiful restoration, both of a façade and of interior details.…This is a well-balanced design response that both captures the spirit of the original heritage building and meets commercial demands.” - 2021 Wellington Heritage Architecture AwardCitation

100 Cuba St / Greater Wellington Regional Council

Awards

Key contacts

Katherine Dean

Michelle Cooper