Outdated, half falling-down ceiling grids, accumulated layers of adaptation, lost architectural clarity and heritage elements largely obscured: the Chief Post Office Building refurbishment was a multifaceted mission.
Add into the mix the project’s location above the country’s largest, live transport hub, a place where sequencing, access and coordination were critical.
But Cooper and Company is a market-leading mover and shaker, equipped with a bold, big-scale agenda of world-leading green outcomes backed by its 18 year relationship with the NZGBC.
Owner: Cooper and Company
Architect: Cheshire Architects with advice from Salmond Reed
Project GSAP: NYD, Shelly Thompson
Project status: design phase commenced 2022; construction started August 2024; handed over to occupants for fitout September 2025; occupancy May 2026
Project certification: 6 star Green Star Design and As-Built NZ v1.0 rating
The company’s dynamic Britomart cityscape now boasts six Green Star rated buildings with a further project underway.
It says while the ambitious Chief Post Office refurbishment originally targeted a 5 Star Green Star rating, during construction learnings from its previous developments and evolving the sustainability ambition reframed that outcome to 6 Stars.
“The rating process pushes you to embed sustainability deeply in projects, to stretch beyond comfort zones, think flexibly about how to achieve sustainable outcomes and validates your efforts to the public. As a tool to extend and focus your sustainability thinking Green Star is invaluable,” says Cooper and Company’s development director, Campbell Williamson.
Green finance was central to the CPO project:
funded via Cooper and Company’s green finance agreement; a programme of green loans (led by Westpac) with a collective of local banks
green loans are linked to Cooper and Company’s specific building projects in the Britomart neighbourhood
green loans offer competitive lending
green loans allow Cooper and Company to align debt with its environmental responsibility
Cheshire Architects principal architect, Lucy Hayes-Stevenson, says design inspiration for the project centred on creating a sustainable, high-quality workplace giving people a reason to come into the city.
In tandem with this was an imperative to celebrate and reveal the historic architectural language of the Chief Post Office.
“Its Imperial Baroque character, craftsmanship, proportion, symmetry and generous spaces offered so much to build on,” she says.
“Good heritage practice isn't about keeping a building frozen in time. We wanted the building to evolve with changing performance standards to be useful, healthy and relevant.”
Lucy says in many ways “the Green Star framework and the approach to heritage buildings are incredibly aligned.”
That shared language includes:
making every intervention count
removing or demolishing the minimum
retaining embodied carbon investment; not throwing it away
meticulous decision-making around materials during the design process
An LCA signposted the high value of retaining the existing building; the project achieved an approximate 97 percent reduction in upfront embodied carbon compared with an equivalent new building.
Balancing performance and preservation saw:
seismic strengthening concealed beneath the original Kauri flooring (removed and reinstated) and in ceiling spaces
building services consolidated into linear zones so columns, cornices and open-plan character could still be read
“For me the highlight has been the idea of doing less. A lot of the work was about revealing, editing and carefully connecting new interventions to the existing fabric. That’s a really good model for both sustainable design and good heritage practice,” says Lucy.
The Chief Post Office project is the first 6 Star Green Star rated heritage building refurbishment in Aotearoa. Lead GSAP, Shelly Thompson, says this world-leading sustainable certification in a heritage-listed building is rare.
It demonstrates heritage buildings can meet modern expectations for:
high-level workplace performance
occupant wellbeing
sustainability
without a loss of cultural significance
“The project shows that with careful design, engineering coordination and a commitment to adaptive reuse, existing buildings can be transformed into high-performing assets that rival new developments,” says Shelly.
The GSAP’s most exciting sustainable features:
adaptive reuse of a heritage landmark
the transformation of the central atrium converting an underutilised void into a naturally lit, thermally comfortable indoor garden and social space with measurable wellbeing benefits for occupants
prioritising durable, low-carbon materials and reclaimed timber; extending the life of valuable resources; maintaining heritage integrity
support for active transport and lower-carbon commuting; state of the art EOT facilities
The reach of Green Star also impacted the daily routines of main contractor, Bracewell Ltd says project manager, Richard Jones.
“Green Star made us connect with all personnel and employees onsite in a way we had never before experienced. We really concentrated on improving personal wellbeing.”
“Waste and recycling are a core focus of our business, but dealing with heritage fabric took this to another level. Numbering, photographing, and storing all items were critical to ensuring anything removed for construction went back in the same place – right down to the last mosaic. We are now bringing this level of detail to all our projects.”
81 percent of construction and demolition waste diverted from landfill
predicted peak electricity demand reduction of 62 percent compared to a reference building
predicted reduced energy use of 24 percent compared to a reference building
at least 60 percent of the nominated area has a clear line of sight to a high quality internal or external view
reduced noise transmission; strategic acoustic treatments to achieve comfort without hiding significant heritage fabric
commitment to measure environmental performance of at least 80 percent of the building’s gross floor area
Name: Chief Post Office Building Refurbishment
What: major refurbishment of three upper floors (levels 1 to 3); 5500 square metres; rebuilt as a premium office environment with upgraded seismic capacity; New Zealand Heritage Pouhere Taonga Historic Place Category 1 listed building
History: constructed in 1909-1912; levels 1 to 3 (in a derelict state) came under Cooper and Company’s management in 2004; purchased by Cooper and Company in 2005; modernised; closed for the City Rail Link tunnelling works (2017); closed again in 2024 for refurbishment
Location: Te Komititanga; high-profile civic plaza at the harbour end of Queen Street; Britomart neighbourhood
Tenant: NZ Super Fund
Daily occupancy: approximately 230 people
Address: 12 Queen Street, Tyler Street and Galway Street, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Images via Britomart.org by Samuel Hartnett and David St George