Stage 1 rebuilt two architecturally significant post-war towers, the 1962 Bowen State Building, Wellington's first government skyscraper, renamed Defence House, and the Charles Fergusson Tower. Both were stripped back to their concrete frames, seismically strengthened to 100 percent of the New Building Standard and rebuilt as modern A-grade workplaces, Defence House now home to the New Zealand Defence Force and Charles Fergusson to the Ministry for Primary Industries. Government tenant changes during construction added complexity, the Defence Force move bringing high-security requirements and a redesign RCP coordinated while the build carried on. RCP also procured long-lead items like structural steel and façade glass early, and called for investigative trenching to pin down a new stormwater main before it could threaten the programme.
A city block in the shadow of the Beehive remade into a four-building office campus for the heart of government and corporate Wellington.
Bowen Campus
Stage 1 & 2Bowen Campus is Precinct Properties' redevelopment of a one-hectare site beside the Beehive and Parliament, in the heart of Wellington's government precinct. The plan was to turn a disparate, underperforming block of buildings and land into one connected, resilient campus. Two post-war government towers were comprehensively rebuilt alongside two new commercial buildings, tied together by landscaped laneways, retail and hospitality and a shared public realm. RCP managed the delivery across the whole redevelopment, from 2013 through both stages.
Bowen Campus | Stage 1
Bowen Campus | Stage 1
Stage 1
Bowen Campus | Stage 2
Bowen Campus | Stage 2
Stage 2
Stage 2 completed the campus with two new office buildings at 40 and 44 Bowen Street, sharing an entrance atrium and basement, built over Wellington Water's critical Central Wellington Sewer Interceptor. RCP engaged the authority early and the design put no building load on the asset. When Covid landed mid-planning, RCP developed a contingency design that let 40 Bowen be made weathertight and occupied even if 44 Bowen did not proceed, giving Precinct programme and cost certainty while the second building was unconfirmed. Both went ahead, LT McGuinness carrying its Stage 1 knowledge into the build. 40 Bowen opened in 2022 and 44 Bowen in 2023, both to 5 Green Star, their rippling façades referencing the historic Waipouri watercourse and cultural panels at 44 developed with Te Āti Awa Taranaki Whānui.
Leased ahead of completion, Bowen Campus now brings more than 5,000 workers together across four buildings, a government precinct remade as a mixed government and corporate one, the Defence Force, MPI and Waka Kotahi alongside EY, KPMG and others.
Awards
- 2020 Property Council New Zealand Property Industry Awards, Best in Category, Commercial Office (Defence House)
- 2023 Property Council New Zealand Property Industry Awards, Excellence, Commercial Office (40 Bowen)
- 2024 Wellington Architecture Awards, Commercial Architecture (40 and 44 Bowen)
Bowen Campus | Stage 1
