Bledisloe House

Heritage-listed Bledisloe House opened in 1959. The seven-storey former Auckland Council-owned building sits next door to the Symphony Centre, which shares the same owner, MRCB.

As it did on the Symphony Centre, RCP held a dual development and project management role. RCP negotiated the development agreement with Eke Panuku on behalf of the Malaysian property development company, and led the due diligence, feasibility analysis and master planning phases, exploring various concepts for the site before the decision was made to refurbish the existing office building.

RCP took a holistic view of the precinct, working to unlock as much value as possible through the redesign and to make sure it had a positive effect on the Symphony Centre. The ground floor plane was an important focus, because the two buildings share a laneway. The aim was to take a once inward-looking building and open it up, an outward-looking and inclusive ground floor with shared office spaces and commercial hospitality, with the upper floors refreshed to deliver a textured, character-filled working environment.

Working with heritage buildings, the most desirable features are often the least compliant, and RCP led the team in reaching a solution that satisfied both the building regulations and the heritage aspects.

RCP completed the upgrade to a new transformer, extensive external façade refurbishment and internal demolition to provide flexibility for future use.