The Mason Bros. building in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter has been officially opened following a 13-month redevelopment
Located at 139 Pakenham Street, Mason Bros. is the first completed development by Precinct Properties within the Wynyard Quarter Innovation Precinct.
Designed by Warren and Mahoney, the extensive redevelopment of the 1920s warehouse has retained many of the existing character features, while creating a completely modern working environment.
The distinctive saw-tooth roof remains a feature and the original red brick façade has been exposed.
A new internal ‘laneway’ runs nor h to south through the building creating a social gather space for occupants.
Precinct CEO Scott Pritchard says Mason Bros. is unlike anything in the Precinct portfolio. “Mason Bros. is such a special building,” he enthuses.
“We have preserved and celebrated as many of the original features as possible while creating an internal environment that is very contemporary. The construction has been much like creating a ship within a bottle.”
Precinct Properties entered a development agreement with Panuku Development Auckland (formally Waterfront Auckland) to develop up to 46,000m2 of commercial space within the central area of Wynyard Quarter in 2014.
Mason Bros. is the first completed development, with the next building, 12 Madden Street due to be completed in the middle of the year and leasing underway for a further building at 10 Madden Street.
Mason Bros. forms part of the Wynyard Quarter Innovation Precinct, an initiative driven by ATEED (Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development).
Pritchard says that there has been “real demand” to be located within the Innovation Precinct.
“Businesses are really coming to see the benefits of proximity to tech entrepreneurs and start-ups to support business growth and spur innovation,” he believes.
“That partnered with the fantastic amenity and design of the Wynyard Quarter makes for an incredibly attractive location.”
Panuku Development Auckland CEO Roger McDonald is delighted that the building is complete.
“Precinct Properties has done an outstanding job in redeveloping the Mason Bros. building in a way that retains its heritage aspects while reflecting the innovative character and aspirations of the space which forms part of the Wynyard Quarter Innovation Precinct,” he says.
“Panuku has high standards of its developers and has maintained 100 per cent trust in Precinct as the right development partner to deliver a quality product to its present and future tenants and in turn continue the success story of the Wynyard Quarter.”
The building was originally home to Mason Bros Engineering Co. Ltd, an engineering and ship building firm.
Precinct have celebrated the heritage of the building by reinstating ‘Mason Bros’ as the official name of the building.
As part of the official opening the original name plaque was reinstated. The plaque was gifted by Kevin Schulz, who began as an apprentice at Mason Bros Engineering in 1966.
In keeping with the sustainability targets for Wynyard Quarter, Mason Bros. has been designed and constructed to target a 5-star green star rating and a NABERSNZ rating of 4.5 stars.
A world-leading building information management system created by Beca has been installed to help deliver on this goal.
Mason Bros. is fully leased, Warren and Mahoney having occupied the building in December 2016 and Mott McDonald and ATEED due to move in over the coming months.
The redevelopment was delivered by NZ Strong with Beca as project managers and Mott McDonald as engineers.
