Office tower refurbishment kicks off

Published: 14 October 2024

Deconstruction of some parts of Napier City Council’s former office building on Station Street begins tomorrow, with native timber and carpet tiles among the items being repurposed.

The building is being refurbished over the next three years. It will be used as workspace for over 200 council staff currently occupying three leased buildings in central Napier.

Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise says starting some of the refurbishment work now reduces risk to the timing of the project.

“It’s possible that a building of this age could throw us some curve balls. We’re starting early in case the deconstruction aspects take more time than expected.”

The deconstruction work will involve stripping out solid items and concrete facades, then hard demolition of the solid structures. Visible works will begin in November, with much of the early work happening inside the tower block until then. The project is aiming to divert 85 to 90 percent of all materials away from landfill. As with rest of the project environmental sustainability is a key priority.

“Sustainability is a feature of the refurbishment of this building. We are only deconstructing some parts of the building and leaving as much as possible. It’s upcycling on a grand scale!” explains Mayor Wise. “We’re not demolishing the tower and starting from scratch, so this means we have greatly improved the carbon neutrality of the project.”

The deconstruction work involves removing the east-facing staircase, the north-facing former library annex, the south-facing garage annex, some of the building’s façade and surrounding landscaping.

Items that will be salvaged and repurposed include cycle racks, bins, carpet tiles, fans, heating and ventilation equipment, and pipework. Native timber will be re-used within the building itself as visible joinery.

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