The seismic retrofit of an eight-storey building in the heart of Wellington, New Zealand’s commercial district. The engineers used a revolutionary low carbon, high performance design that greatly increased the building's seismic rating while also adding five storeys to increase its commercial potential.
A well-considered project highlighting the value that the structural engineer brought to the project. Fluid viscous dampers have been used in a technical and elegant way to significantly improve earthquake resistance of the building. The thoughtful placement of the dampers has maintained open spaces, uninhibited by the structure, unlike other highly resilient seismic retrofits and new builds, where primary structural components tend to dominate the interior.