Bledisloe House: Giving an old soul a new heart

Built in the 1950’s, Bledisloe House is a bastion of mid-century architecture and plays a defining role in out city's built history.

Designed by architects Francis Gordon Wilson and Douglas Jocelyn 'Jock' Beere, Bledisloe House represents a unique period of post-war Auckland development, with a Modernist Le Corbusier slab structure and a highly organised façade particular to this time.

The heritage-listed building is an undeniable display of mid-century architecture where Modernist and Brutalist design philosophies collide - clean geometric forms, raw exposed concrete and a monochromatic colour palette are all some of the hallmark features of the building’s iconic identity. Stripped of ornamentation, Bledisloe House in form and function depicts an architectural expression of honesty, functionality, and social purpose.

Initially labelled as ‘Bledisloe State Building’ it was used for government staff up until the early 2000’s. Later known as Bledisloe House, it became home to Auckland Council’s customer service centre, until the recent sale to MRCB. Purchased as part of the world-class urban regeneration project in Aotea Arts Quarter, Bledisloe House forms part of The Symphony Centre development and will be a prominent feature of the new precinct on the doorstep of Te Waihorotiu Station.

Historic and listed buildings have a vital role to play in Auckland’s built future. Through their preservation, restoration and adaptive reuse comes a safeguarding of the city’s character and identity whilst creating unique and sustainable environments for live, work, play.

When MRCB purchased Bledisloe House, absorbing it into the adjacent Symphony Centre development, it sought to restore the building making it fit for purpose for today whilst respecting its iconic heritage.

Under the guidance of masterplanners and design consultants at Cheshire Architects, a carefully considered redesign concept was presented by the team at PeddleThorp who will lead Bledisloe House’s transformation.

“Bledisloe House is immersed in this urban grain of the laneway and its overarching concept looks to work at this humanist scale with a series of reentrant spaces, slowing people down along its extensive façade to interact with the social offerings.” - PeddleThorp

The upcycle will offer ground level lobby, with retail and hospitality, under nine levels of reimagined commercial space.

Harnessing direct Te Waihorotiu Station frontage the key to the occupation and activation of Bledisloe House will be the reentrant internal lane through to the lobby of the building, bringing the identity of the laneway inside. The restaurants and bars will be uniquely positioned to embrace the coming torrent of people released into the city, hungry for food and excitement, while the upper floors will be refreshed to deliver a textured and character-filled working environment.

Restored to achieve a 5 star NABERS rating, a global benchmarking system for high-performing energy efficiency of commercial buildings, Bledisloe House will soon become a bastion of heritage upcycling. While the bones remain the same, this old soul is about to find its new heart.