List of tallest buildings in Wellington

Tall buildings in Wellington
Wellington Central
Tallest buildingMajestic Centre (1991)
Tallest building height116 m (381 ft)
Number of tall buildings
20 stories or more11 (2025)
Taller than 100 m (328 ft)3 (2025)

This list of tallest buildings in Wellington ranks the tallest building's in the New Zealand capital city of Wellington by height. This ranking system, created by the US-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat includes the height to a spire but not to an antenna.[1] The Majestic Centre is the tallest skyscraper in the city at 116 metres (381 ft).

Tallest buildings

The list below contains the top 60 buildings in the city at 50 m (164 ft) high and above. All are high-rises except for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd ranked buildings which are skyscrapers.

Name Height[2] Floors[2] Built[2] Purpose Notes
1 Majestic Centre 116 m (381 ft) 29 1991 Office
2 Aon Centre (Wellington) 103 m (338 ft) 27 1984 Office Originally opened as the BNZ Centre
3 HSBC Tower 101 m (331 ft) 25 2003 Office Is 94 m to roof height and 101 m to the Spire[3]
4 NTT Tower 93 m (305 ft) 25 1998 Office Formerly Mobil on the Park, Vodafone on the Park and Dimension Data Tower[4]
5 Bowen House 90 m (295 ft) 22 1991 Office
6 James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor 88 m (289 ft) 26 1972/1998 Hotel
7 Plimmer Towers 84 m (276 ft) 25 1975/1986 Hotel/Office Originally opened as the Williams Centre
8 125 The Terrace 77 m (253 ft) 21 1986 Office
9 Morrison Kent House 76 m (249 ft) 21 1969 Office [5]
10= 113 The Terrace[6] 72 m (236 ft) 19 1988 Office Formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers Tower; currently the home of Wellington City Council[7]
The Beehive 72 m (236 ft) 10 1981 Office
12= 111 Dixon Street[8] 70 m (230 ft) 20 2019 Residential Tallest residential building in Wellington.
Maritime Tower 70 m (230 ft) 18 2006 Office
Grant Thornton House 70 m (230 ft) 18 1983 Office Formerly known as ANZ Tower
Westpac Tower 70 m (230 ft) 18 1978 Office
Chews Lane Tower 70 m (230 ft) 19 2009 Office/Residential
17= Aurora Centre[9] 68 m (223 ft) 19 1968 Office Was the tallest building in Wellington when completed. Underwent a major facelift in 2016-17
Equinox House[10] 68 m (223 ft) 16 1987 Office
Radio New Zealand House 68 m (223 ft) 13 1963 Office [11]
20= Fujitsu Tower 66 m (217 ft) 18 1985 Office Formerly known as Caltex Tower[12]
Novell House 66 m (217 ft) 17 1975 Office
No.1 The Terrace 66 m (217 ft) 17 1978 Office Headquarters of the New Zealand Treasury
Vogel Building 66 m (217 ft) 17 1966 Office Was the tallest building in Wellington and the 2nd tallest building in New Zealand when built[13]
Reserve Bank of New Zealand[14] 66 m (217 ft) 16 1972 Office [15]
25= AXA Tower 65 m (213 ft) 17 1989 Office
The Freyberg Building[16] 65 m (213 ft) 15 1979 Office The adjoining 7-storey Freyberg House (2007) was demolished after the 2016 earthquake.[17]
27 One Whitmore Street[18][19][20] 63 m (207 ft) 14 2023 Commercial BNZ's Wellington office.
28 20 Customhouse Quay[21] 62 m (203 ft) 14 2018 Commercial Replaced BP House, which was originally built in 1968 and demolished following the 2013 Seddon earthquake.[22]
29 Charles Fergusson Building 61 m (200 ft) 17 1976 Office
30 New Zealand Police National Headquarters 60.47 m (198 ft) 17 1979 Office [23] Formerly FAI Insurance House.
31= Bolton Hotel 60 m (197 ft) 20 2004 Hotel
Sovereign Insurance Centre 60 m (197 ft) 17 1984 Office
Bayleys Building 60 m (197 ft) 16 1989 Office
Two Hunter Street 60 m (197 ft) 16 1991 Office
City Tower 60 m (197 ft) 16 1991 Office
Jellioce Towers 60 m (197 ft) 16 1965 Residential Was the tallest residential building in Wellington when built[24]
Forsyth Barr House 60 m (197 ft) 16 1989 Office
Pastoral House 60 m (197 ft) 15 1978 Office
39= Rydges Hotel 57 m (187 ft) 16 2006 Hotel Originally opened as a Holiday Inn
Alcatel Lucent House 57 m (187 ft) 15 1988 Office Formerly Telecom House
41= Quest on Johnston 55 m (180 ft) 18 2000 Hotel
Terrace Heights Apartments[25] 55 m (180 ft) 17 1999 Residential
Stafford House 55 m (180 ft) 14 1977 Residential Originally an office block, now university housing.
Avalon Studios 55 m (180 ft) 11 1969 Office Lower Hutt. Tallest building in the Wellington region outside of the Wellington CBD.
45 Sir Robert Jones Tower 52 m (171 ft) 14 2019 Office [26]
46 National War Memorial 51 m (167 ft) 1932 Bell and clock tower
47= 20 Oriental Parade 50 m (164 ft) 16 Residential
Mercer Tower 50 m (164 ft) 15 1989 Office
Public Trust Building 50 m (164 ft) 15 1982 Office
Investment House 50 m (164 ft) 15 1977 Office
Simpl House 50 m (164 ft) 15 1987 Office
Willeston Centre[27] 50 m (164 ft) 14[28] 1984? Office Originally the Colonial Mutual Life Insurance Building.[29]
AMI Plaza[30] 50 m (164 ft) 14 Office
Rutherford House 50 m (164 ft) 14 1975 Office Originally the headquarters of the NZ Electricity Department.[31]
Sovereign House 50 m (164 ft) 14 1988 Office
Castrol House 50 m (164 ft) 14 1987 Office
Westpac Trust Investment House 50 m (164 ft) 14 1982 Office
Technology One House 50 m (164 ft) 13 1987 Office Formerly known as the Renouf Centre and Terenco Finance House
BNZ Trust House 50 m (164 ft) 13 1985 Office
Guardian Trust House 50 m (164 ft) 13 1984 Office
Optimation House 50 m (164 ft) 12 1979 Office [32]
Pinnacle on Victoria[33] 50 m (164 ft) 17 2021 Residential

Under construction or approved

Name Height[2] Floors[2] Built[2] Purpose Notes
1 109 Featherston Street Tower[34] 89 m (292 ft) 19 Commercial Approved resource consent
2 110 Wakefield Street Tower 86 m (282 ft) 22 Commercial Approved resource consent

Demolished

Name Height Floors Built Purpose Notes
Revera House 50 m (164 ft) 10 1990[35] Office Formerly AT&T Tower and Hitachi House. Demolished 2018[36] following damage due to the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake.[37]
61 Molesworth St 37 m (121 ft) 10 1965 Office Formerly ICI House. Demolished 2016-2017[38][39] following damage due to the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. To be replaced with a new 11/12-storey office building.[40][41]

Cancelled

Name Height* Floors* Notes
NZ1 263 m (863 ft) 63 A high rise commercial and mixed use building proposed for Lambton Quay. Project was scrapped after the developer went bankrupt. If completed, the building would have been New Zealand's tallest.[42][43]
Lambton Tower ≈120 metres (394 ft) 31 Proposed in 1991 for the Wellington waterfront.[44]
Wakefield Central ≈75 metres (246 ft) 20 Proposed in 1986 by Chase Corporation on the site now occupied by Courtenay Central.[45][46][47]

History of the tallest buildings in Wellington

Name Height Years Tallest Other Facts
MLC Building 45 m (148 ft) 1939-1961 9 stories high. Was arguably the tallest in NZ when built
Shell House 46 m (151 ft) 1961-1966 Tallest office building in NZ when built.[48]
Vogel Building 66 m (217 ft) 1966-1968 Was the 2nd tallest in NZ when built
Aurora Centre 68 m (223 ft) 1968-1969 Was the 2nd tallest in NZ when built
Morrison Kent House 76 m (249 ft) 1969-1975 Was the 2nd tallest in NZ (to 1 Queen Street, Auckland) when built
Plimmer Towers 85 m (279 ft) 1975-1984 Was the tallest in NZ when built, is 106m and 31 floors from the Lambton Quay side of the tower
AON Centre 103 m (338 ft) 1984-1991 Was the tallest in NZ when built and is one of Wellington's most iconic buildings
Majestic Centre 116 m (381 ft) 1991–present Is the furthest south skyscraper in the world. Was the tallest in New Zealand when built until the ANZ Centre opened in Auckland a few months later.

See also

References

  1. ^ CTBUH Height Criteria. CTBUH. Retrieved on 4 March 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Buildings of Wellington". Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Google Earth". earth.google.com. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Google Earth". earth.google.com. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Morrison Kent House – Emporis". Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
  6. ^ "113 The Terrace for Wellington City Council refurbishment & fitout". Workspace Architects.
  7. ^ "Emporis- PWC Tower". Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
  8. ^ "111 Dixon Street- Emporis".
  9. ^ "Emporis- Aurora Centre".
  10. ^ "Equinox House- Emporis". Archived from the original on 7 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Emprois- Radio New Zealand House". Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  12. ^ Ray Pigney (10 December 1988). "View of The Terrace, Wellington, from Talavera Terrace - Photograph taken by Ray Pigney". National Library of NZ.
  13. ^ "Emporis- Vogel Building". Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Reserve Bank building". Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
  15. ^ "Emporis- Reserve Bank of New Zealand". Archived from the original on 13 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Freyberg Building". Precinct Properties.
  17. ^ "Why did modern Wellington buildings fail in Kaikoura quake?". New Zealand Herald. 18 November 2016.
  18. ^ "One Whitmore Street".
  19. ^ "Wellington skyline gets a facelift as BNZ's new building in the central city officially opens". BNZ. 20 June 2024.
  20. ^ Marta Steeman (12 December 2019). "Base-isolated and Green star building to be developed for the BNZ HQ in Wellington". Stuff.co.nz.
  21. ^ 20 Customhouse Quay – Official site
  22. ^ Schouten, Hank (28 March 2015). "$80m hi-tech tower to replace Wellington's BP House". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  23. ^ "New Zealand Police Headquarters". Emporis. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018.
  24. ^ "Jellioce Towers". Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  25. ^ "163 The Terrace, Wellington". Property Values NZ. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
  26. ^ "Emporis- Sir Robert Jones Tower". Archived from the original on 9 December 2021.
  27. ^ The Wellington Company – Willeston Centre
  28. ^ Emporis – Sovereign Centre
  29. ^ Julie Iles (6 June 2017). "Top floor with waterfront views for sale in central Wellington". Stuff.co.nz.
  30. ^ "AMI Plaza, Wellington". Emporis. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021.
  31. ^ Friends of Te Papa – Rutherford House Art Collection
  32. ^ "Emporis- Optimation House". Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  33. ^ "Pinnacle City Residence". Stratum Management.
  34. ^ "109 Featherston". Athfield Architects.
  35. ^ "AT&T Tower Emporis". Archived from the original on 9 December 2021.
  36. ^ "Revera House in Wellington to be demolished, says spokesman". Stuff. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  37. ^ "Revera House slated for destruction". RNZ. 3 April 2017.
  38. ^ Melissa Nightingale (24 November 2016). "Demolition work of earthquake-damaged 61 Molesworth St building in Wellington to begin today". The New Zealand Herald.
  39. ^ John Weekes (2 February 2017). "New chapter for 61 Molesworth St as demolished building handed back to owner". Stuff.
  40. ^ "61 Molesworth Street". Precinct Properties.
  41. ^ "61 Molesworth Street". Jasmax Architects.
  42. ^ "Lambton Quay NZ1 Tallest Building Design Proposal". Architecture Design NZ. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023.
  43. ^ Chloe Winter (7 March 2016). "Terry Serepisos companies owe millions, despite sale of all available assets". Stuff News NZ.
  44. ^ Kate Chapman (13 July 2015). "Wellington's waterfront – 20 years in the making (Picture 6 of 13)". Dominion Post.
  45. ^ "It's sold. What next?". Scoop. 9 January 2025.
  46. ^ Carole van Grondelle (19 July 1986). "Planned tower over height limit". The Dominion.
  47. ^ "Hotel-shop giant planned". The Evening Post. 19 July 1986.
  48. ^ "Shell House (Former)". Wellington City Council – Wellington City Heritage. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
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