Shell House (Former)

• 1945
• Land purchased on The Terrace CT 487/181, 487/182
• c.1950
• Shell approached the council re: proposed motorway WCC Archives file 6/2051, part 1.
• c.1952
• First proposals for development. Some land taken for the purposes of forming the motorway. WCC Archives 6/2051, part 1.
• 1958
• Consent application 00058_77_C3780
• 1961
• Construction complete
• 1964
• (00058:337:C14478); 96 The Terrace, strong-room
• 1992
• Part ground floor modified to form carpark WCC Archives file 6/2051 part 2
• 2003
• Refurbishment, strengthening and interior fit-out.
• 2004
• additions and alterations SR111725
• 2008
• Re-clad SR175244
• 2011
• 3.1 - Commercial - Transpower House - Strengthening work to existing curtain wall facade to resist wind load SR 212247

Not assessed

Not assessed

Shell House remains a landmark commercial building in Wellington, and has been compared to Skidmore, Owings and Merrrill’s Lever House, New York (1951-52). Its form was that of a podium surmounted by a 10-storey tower that was set back from the street edge, and from its (once) domestic neighbours to the north and south of the building.

The lower ground floor provided car-parking, plant rooms and a printing room. The main entrance lobby was on the ground floor and once included a large mural, exhibition area, 100-seat theatrette (now removed), film library and archives store. The first floor was set aside for staff recreation and included a lounge, kitchen and dining room with a roof deck. The floors above the podium were air-conditioned office floors and a managerial suite was located in the upper floors along with a caretaker’s flat, incinerator room and air-conditioning plant.

In the building’s construction extensive use was made of prefabricated elements. It has a steel frame and a reinforced-concrete core for seismic loading, the structural engineering design being carried out by Rankine and Hill, Consulting Engineers. The building’s main feature of note is its curtain wall, one of the first in New Zealand. This wall is structurally independent of the concrete shell and consists of aluminium frames glazed with units of heat-absorbing glass and green opaque glass spandrels. The clean-lined quality of the curtain wall, also seen in Massey House, was revolutionary at the time and brought to New Zealand ‘a scaled-down Kiwi version of the glass skyscraper of America’, as architect David Mitchell put it. It was also the first fully air conditioned building in New Zealand.

The interior preserves the open-plan movable-partition format that was also a novel feature in 1960 but seems dated today. A contemporary mural in the main entrance foyer helps to establish this space as one of some aesthetic merit, and one typical of its time.

Reinforced concrete structure

Curtain wall cladding

Shell House is an early example of the type of curtain wall, high-rise office buildings that have come to characterise The Terrace.

• Architectural

  Does the item have architectural or artistic value for characteristics that may include its design, style, era, form, scale, materials, colour, texture, patina of age, quality of space, craftsmanship, smells, and sounds?

  The former Shell House is both an elegant and an early example of a curtain-wall high-rise office building of the type that has come to predominate the streetscape of Wellington’s CBD. It is notable for the design of its podium and free-standing tower, and for its well-detailed external cladding system. (The current cladding is a good facsimile of the original and dates to 2008).

• Townscape

  Does the item have townscape value for the part it plays in defining a space or street; providing visual interest; its role as a landmark; or the contribution it makes to the character and sense of place of Wellington?

  The building was once a landmark on The Terrace and stood in strong contrast to the large timber houses that were once characteristic of the area. The former Shell House was a precursor to the modern high-rise, curtain wall buildings that now surround it, and the building continues to make a positive contribution to the streetscape.

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important historic event, theme, pattern, phase, or activity?

  The building has an historic association with Shell New Zealand Ltd, a major multi-national company that has been a significant commercial force in New Zealand.

• Archaeological

  Does the item have archaeological value for its ability to provide scientific information about past human activity?

  Central City NZAA R27/270 Central City NZAA R27/270, near a Maori Site of Significance (Kumutoto Kainga)

• Technological

  Does the item have technological value for its innovative or important construction methods or use of materials?

  The building has technological value as an innovative early high-rise office building that was known as the first fully air-conditioned office building in New Zealand, as well as for its well detailed curtain- wall system, its extensive use of prefabrication techniques and its innovative seismic design.

• Identity Sense Of Place Continuity

  Is the item a focus of community, regional, or national identity? Does the item contribute to sense of place or continuity?

  The building’s exterior has had few intrusive recent additions or alterations over the past 50 years and contributes to the sense of place and continuity of The Terrace.

• Authentic

  Does the item have authenticity or integrity because it retains significant fabric from the time of its construction or from later periods when important additions or modifications were carried out?

  Shell house retains much of its original built fabric with the notable exception of the cladding that has been recently replaced with a good facsimile and the building interiors that have been recently refurbished.

• Rare

  Is the item rare, unique, unusual, seminal, influential, or outstanding?

  Shell House is an early and influential example of a curtain-wall high-rise commercial building

• Representative

  Is the item a good example of the class it represents?

  Shell House is a good representative example of a curtain-wall high-rise commercial building.

Not assessed

• Balasoglou, John (ed). Stephenson and Turner. Auckland: Balasoglou Books. 2006.
• Giblin, Alan. ‘Shell House: Conservation Report’ unpublished conservation prepared for Arch 273, (1999)
• Leach, Andrew. ‘Shell House (now Transpower House)’ in Julia Gately (ed) Long Live the Modern: New Zealand’s New Architecture 1904 – 1984. Auckland: Auckland University Press. 2008.
• ‘Office Building for Shell Co. of New Zealand’ WCC Archives Permit C3780
• Shaw, P., Norman and Morrison, R. New Zealand Architecture Auckland: Hodder and Stoughton. 1991.
• ‘Shell House building on The Terrace by Woodward Street, Wellington City’. Further negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: EP/1960/1871-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
• WCC Heritage Inventory 2001 ref Terr4

Not available

Not available