80 | NZGBC: Morton Property Group BUILDING Project embraces building’s heritage T T Virginia Wright Morton Property Group was established around 65 years ago by the great grandfather of the two cousins who are now running it, Tom Morton and Sam Winstone-Kight. Clearly it’s a family business, and while historically it was focused on residential development it’s now more of a commercial property business, although as Sam points out they still work on large scale residential projects from time to time, such as a 450 lot resort currently under construction in Queenstown known as Mt Cardrona Station. The project currently taking Sam’s attention involves two historical buildings bordering each other in Auckland Central’s Queen Street and Lorne Street. When a combination of Covid and the ongoing redevelopment of Queen Street meant they lost several tenants the Morton Property Group decided to take the opportunity to give the buildings, one of which dates back to the 1880’s the other to the 1900’s, a new lease of life. “The project is called HB Central named after the original occupants Hallenstein Brothers which is the clothing retailer. In the late 1800’s early 1900’s they built amazing buildings all around New Zealand. “Pretty much every town had a Hallenstein Brothers’ building. We have woven the Queen Street and neighbouring Lorne street building together by creating a stunning glass atrium between the two so that they flow seamlessly into each other,” says Sam. “We wanted to bring out the character of these beautiful buildings that’s been lost in time and reposition them for the demands of modern office and retail tenants.” Having decided to embrace the buildings’ heritage and the character that comes with it, and after enough internal discussion to have some clear design concepts, the Morton Property Group teamed up with architects Warren & Mahoney to repurpose the buildings for today’s market. The resulting space will house retail on two floors totaling 900sqm fronting Queen St., and five office floors totaling 2000 m² with their frontage on Lorne St. With an internal mandate from the Morton Property Group that sustainability has to be taken into account in all their decision-making it’s not surprising that the HB Central project team decided to work with the NZGBC Green Star Design rating tool. They kept their five star rating firmly in their sights throughout the design and build process. Covid, and its impact on the availability and procurement of materials, meant they had plenty of challenges to overcome. Despite these challenges, having previously completed greenstar projects, we were acutely aware of the importance and benefits that greenstar buildings bring to occupiers explains Sam. “Covid-19 has accelerated the changing demands of office occupiers. Employees value an emotional connection to their organization. Great workplace environments and the employee experience within them are a key instrument in enabling and supporting this connection. ” The refurbishment has preserved many of the original kauri and rimu features throughout, including the exposed timber joists on the ceilings, which brought another design challenge to get the desired Green Star tick for acoustics. A raised floor had to be installed on top of existing ceilings with the space between filled with acoustic baffles to allow for noise separation between the two tenancies. Morton Property Group also met stringent criteria on lighting, thermal comfort, and air quality which not only brings points but achieves what the Green Star system is designed to do, which is an appreciable improvement in comfort for the tenants, which Sam is confident will be noticeable. With Warren & Mahoney on board there was nothing last minute about the so-called ‘end of trip’ facilities included in the build, which were carefully thought out, bringing more points to the Green Star rating. “We wanted to provide a level of service that 0800 336 996 2 Rockridge Ave, Penrose, Auckland www.doorwindowsystems.co.nz info@doorwindowsystems.co.nz Proudly supporting Morton Property Group & LT McGuiness Structural Engineering, Construction Planning & Temporary Works Specialists 027 930 6980 nick@bamfordconsultants.net SIZE Wellington (04) 472 5858 | Christchurch (03) 344 6458 | Auckland (09) 307 5851 | Email: info@swpcommercial.co.nz | www.swpcommercial.co.nz C O M M E R C I A L Proudly associated with Morton Property Group
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