New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 33/04C | Page 39

Left:Two Chapman Tripp client
meeting rooms lie beyond the
wood floor, wood ceiling and
wood-fronted reception desk.
Below left:The Chapman Tripp
law offices feature a variety of
meeting and break-out spaces.
Below:The top floor tenancy
enjoys spectacular views from its
terraces, situated at both ends of
the ideally located building.
“This building isn’t on piles, the entire structure is
on a seismic-resistant giant raft of concrete, heavily
impregnated with reinforcing steel. Partly under-
ground, this also forms part of the one metre base
seen above ground,” says Coote. “The base was an
ideal grounding for the building’s speedily installed
buckling-restrained brace system, too, which also
allowed for largely uninterrupted floor plates.”
With the main service and lift core spread thinly
along the less sunny, south side of the building, the
upper floors are fully open-plan and designed for a
variety of tenancy configurations, big or small. The
lower floors have an access corridor running the length
of the building and are suitable for multiple tenancies.
The ground floor lobby is activated by a café and
is the main public space in the PwC Centre, while
retail will activate the building’s exterior at street level.
And the modern office block is as green in
terms of sustainability as its fritted glass is shady.
Built to 130% of the New Zealand Building Standards
it includes the latest in structural technology and
mechanical and electrical elements designed to
NABERSNZ 4.5 standard. There’s even a discreet
entrance and serviced showers for lycra-wearing
cyclists, encouraging pedal power over petrol power.
On the top floor, Chapman Tripp’s internal
premises are 1178m 2 , along with balconies totalling
190m 2 . The lower floors weigh in at 1754m 2 . Given
the long footprint, the law firm asked the fit-out
architects, also Warren and Mahoney, to set up
a saw-tooth screen, much like an art gallery wall,
opposite the elevators which are halfway down the
space. This directs visitors to reception while the
lawyers workspaces are behind this wall. A herring-
bone floor adds to the refined ambience here.
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