KEY POINTS:
Construction of the first phase of Westpac New Zealand's new $140 million national headquarters in Auckland is nearing completion.
Hawkins Construction has finished restoration of the historic Charter House Building in Britomart, two blocks from the waterfront.
The builder is also well advanced on a new building which has risen beside Charter House.
That second building is now at full height and is known as Westpac Charter while construction is under way.
Soon, the next phase of the big job will begin. This will be the construction of a larger new building north of Charter House.
This will be the third and final phase of the Westpac job.
This third building will rise between Tyler and Galway Sts, the central area being used as a carpark between the precinct buildings.
Once all the Westpac buildings are finished, the bank will spread about 1500 staff through the three structures.
The new Westpac structure is called the East Building while the structure is in a development phase.
The East Building will cost $200 million to build and stand 13 levels high, stepping down to six levels at the end adjoining Takutai Square in the middle of the Britomart precinct.
That structure will have 28,500sq m of offices and 1700sq m of shopping area on the ground floor. It will also have 4000sq m of apartment space.
Westpac NZ is taking 13,500sq m of commercial space in the southern portion of the East Building.
The East Building and Westpac Charter House will be connected to each other via a pedestrian bridge and the bank will have naming rights over the two structures which will be linked so they work as one.
In October 2006, Westpac announced it had signed a deal on the new buildings.
Then, the bank said it planned to start consolidating its operations by next year, shifting people from Wellington, Hamilton, and various areas in Auckland to Britomart.
The project is by Peter Cooper's Cooper and Company, a business formerly known as Bluewater.
Cooper is also developing Mountain Landing, a $450 million project to create 41 large housing sections in the Bay of Islands.
Cooper and Company is restoring 18 historic buildings in the Britomart area and plans to develop a five-star hotel.
The project was described as being worth about $350 million when it was announced earlier this decade.
Now, executives close to the project say Britomart estimates it will be worth nearer $1 billion when finished.
TRIPLE WHAMMY
Britomart work is focused on three Westpac buildings:
* Charter House, the heritage building.
* Westpac Charter, new structure.
* East Building, new block about to rise.
PAVILION MAKES WAY FOR $200M PROJECT
The Britomart Pavilion now being dismantled has to go because of the large Westpac job about to start nearby.
Sarah Hull, marketing director at Cooper and Company which is restoring the Britomart precinct, said the area where the structure now stands is needed.
Site offices and equipment will be brought in for the $200 million East Building.
The Pavilion has been sold to the Hampton Downs Motorsport Village and Conference Centre south of Auckland.
The raceway plans to use the structure as an event centre, she said.
Dismantling started at the weekend and the job is expected to be finished by Friday.
The pavilion was built by Whangarei-based Fabric Shelter Systems and that same firm was also removing it, she said.
The structure, designed by architect Pip Cheshire, has been one of Auckland's most popular small event centres since completion in 2005.
"It's been used for everything from boxing matches to car launches to charity events," Hull said.
The tensioned membrane structure building is 30m by 20m and built from Ferrari PVC.
Cooper And Company leased the pavilion as a 600sq m purpose-built event venue including lighting rig, carpet, doors and walls, large access doors for setup, additional walls for entrance and back of house, water, three-phase power and phone connections.
