Parliament Executive Wing façade remediation

Our Wellington team replaced the glazed façade and steel wind beams around the entire perimeter of the Category 1 listed Executive Wing (Beehive). Associated works included the assessment and remediation of the concrete soffit and radial beams on level 3 and the marble-clad columns on levels 1 to 3, and refurbishment of the balcony surrounding level 1.

With an extensive programme of works spanning multiple floors, we needed to observe stringent heritage requirements and preserve the security of the building, all while remaining as unobtrusive as possible. We worked with the design team for months to devise a methodology, supported by our BIM team who used digital collaboration tools to model our proposed methodology and communicate it to the wider project team.

We solved access, security, noise/dust and hoisting challenges by installing an extensive curtain-clad scaffold both inside and outside the building, allowing us to remove 20 to 30 metres of glazing at a time. With each bay in the distinctive round building slightly different, there was plenty of site measuring to get replacement elements millimetre-perfect and some tricky manoeuvring required to get them into place. We preserved as much of the marble cladding on the columns as possible, carefully cataloguing and handling the heritage material and ensuring that any replacement panels were a close match.

Our team excelled at working closely with all the project stakeholders, from subcontractors and security through to Parliamentary Service, meticulously planning the work while remaining ready to pivot as required to accommodate the dynamic, highly sensitive live environment.