The old Public Trust Building: a renovation case study

Abstract

This report is a case study of the renovation of the Old Public Trust Building on the corner of Lambton Quay and Stout Street in Wellington. The aim of the research was to identify the factors which influence whether old buildings are renovated or replaced when their owners believe them to no longer perform their function satisfactorily. Lessons drawn from the case study form the basis for a discussion of the prospects for renovations of old commercial buildings in Wellington. The report first introduces the Old Public Trust Building and its history, architecture and role in Wellington's townscape. The story of the renovation is then told chronologically from the late 1960s, when the building's replacement was first mooted, through the efforts of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and the Wellington City Council to save the building, the purchase and renovation of the building by a developer, up to the time of writing. The conclusions attempt to identify the factors that influenced the decisions and actions of the parties involved, under the following headings. Roles of Central and Local Government Renovated buildings on the commercial rental market Riddiford's financial problems Renovation techniques and costings The prospects for renovations of commercial buildings in down Wellington are found to depend critically on the financial circumstances of each individual case. If the owner is unsatisfied with the building's performance (usually evaluated in financial terms) and renovation is not financially attractive then its future is bleak. If a redevelopment of the site is financially attractive then the building will almost certainly be replaced, if not, the building will be left unmaintained indefinitely. Public interest can influence the above decision process through the actions of Central and Local Government, and directly, but only in exceptional cases is it decisive.