The quality design of a new, visually inspiring building at 20 Customhouse Quay in Wellington has been recognised with a Gold Award at the 54th ACENZ Innovate Awards held in Christchurch on 9 August
2019.
Dunning Thornton Consultants became involved in this project after the previous building on the site, BP House, was
damaged in the 2013 earthquakes. The replacement 16-level state of the art office tower has been designed as a visually
striking and seismically resilient building.
The development and integration of the base-isolated diagrid system created the right platform to achieve all of the
client’s design goals on a constrained site. Dunning Thornton Consultants applied significant technical skill and
innovation to deliver this new benchmark for New Zealand office design.
A base-isolated building of this height had not been constructed in New Zealand previously, this combined with the use
of a tubular diagrid frame was also a first for New Zealand.
ACENZ CEO Paul Evans said “This is an incredibly high-quality building, and Dunning Thornton Consultants’ received glowing praise from the client,
contractor, peer reviewer and architect. They applied both skill and innovation to deliver this new benchmark for New
Zealand high-rise office design.”
Design and consultation for the 20 Customhouse Quay project was carried out by Dunning Thornton Consultants for the client, 20 Customhouse Quay LP.
About the awards:
The ACENZ Innovate Awards recognise projects that achieve a high level of innovation and excellence that result in
outstanding outcomes. The judging panel evaluates the submissions, conducts client interviews and tours project sites.
This work is then reviewed by a group of peers, which makes the Innovate Awards the pinnacle of achievement in the
engineering and consulting sector. In 2019, 37 projects were submitted from a broad range of disciplines.
For a full list of award winners, please visit: https://www.acenz.org.nz/2019_award_winners