Aon Centre (Wellington)

The building was designed by Stephenson & Turner Architects in the late 1960s. BNZ (Bank of New Zealand) began purchasing land for the building in 1969. Approval to build was granted by the Town Planning Committee on 14 June 1972, after the building codes were rewritten to allow the development "out of common interest". The dispute was characteristic of the time, disrupted construction for six years and discouraged construction of steel buildings across the country. In response to the problem, the government of the day deregistered the Wellington Boilermakers Union. The dispute would lead the building to be four times over budget, ultimately costing $93 million. By 2013 the building had been sold to Precinct Properties. In 2018, insurance brokerage Aon purchased the naming rights to the building, naming it the Aon Centre. Aon have been tenants in the building since 2013. ==Design==

The building draws inspiration from Mies Van de Rohe's tower buildings (Lakeshore Drive apartment buildings in Chicago and Seagram Tower in New York) and Yuncken Freeman's BHP House in Melbourne. Members of the BNZ development team travelled with Stephenson & Turner Architects to view architecture in the USA, Europe and Australia. it was New Zealand's tallest building from 1984 to 1986, until eclipsed by buildings such as Auckland's BNZ Centre. It was Wellington's tallest building until 1991, when the Majestic Centre was built on the same street. Because of its sheer size and steel construction the building is relatively flexible. Its response to earthquakes is relatively good. Of greater effect is Wellington's wind which is accommodated by the building's ability to flex by up to 300 mm in hurricane-force winds, The seismic and wind-resisting frames of the building consist of a steel "tube" built around the perimeter of the tower connected via floor diaphragms to the stiffer central core. The floors are steel decks with concrete topping. The façade consists of precast concrete units faced with black Brazilian tijuca granite, Window panes have shattered and fallen from the building on several occasions. Underneath the building was a shopping centre and food court. There were also underground passages that passed under Willis Street to the nearby Old Bank and Grand Arcades, but these have since been blocked up. The food court area was remodelled and reopened in 2023 as a new entertainment venue called Willis Lane, which includes a mini-golf course, bowling alley and various bars and eating places. Above ground the tower is accessed by a two-storey-high glazed lobby. The BNZ originally occupied 10 floors: three levels were used for the branch office, and the top seven floors were occupied by their head office. The Rock, a sculpture by Neil Dawson, was originally suspended above the open area at the front of the building, but after the open area was closed in the sculpture was relocated to the Willeston Street frontage. ==See also==