Designed in the 1950's by architects Ian Reynolds and Jock Beere under the supervision of
Government Architect Gordon Wilson for the
Ministry of Works, construction began in 1958 and the building was competed in 1961. The building had 10 storeys and a penthouse and cost £1 million. It was officially opened on 7 November 1961 by Prime Minister Keith Holyoake. From 1962 until the
Ministry of Social Development moved out in 2016 the building housed a variety of different government agencies. Following the building's acquisition in 2012 as part of the purchase of several Bowen Campus buildings by Precinct Properties (then ANZO) for , Precinct began a refurbishment of the building in November 2016. In August 2017 it was reported that once renovated the building would house the
New Zealand Defence Force,
Ministry of Defence, the
Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), the
New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) and the
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC). In late 2016, during the building's redevelopment, a time capsule was discovered buried in the walls of the building. On 2 October 2019, the New Zealand Defence Force and other agencies moved into the Bowen State Building, renaming it Defence House. The refurbished building won the award for 'Commercial Architecture' in the 2020
New Zealand Institute of Architects' Wellington regional awards. The Institute of Architects stated that the renovation and extension by architects
Warren and Mahoney was "a fine example of sustainability in action". The architects had adapted a
Brutalist Modernist building into a modern government workplace while respecting "the muscular form of the original building". ==See also==