After eight years and many frustrating delays, New Zealand’s tallest building is now officially open.
The PwC Tower stands 180-metres and 41 storeys high, with 39,000sq m of office space, on top of a commercial centre that boasts 120 stores across a further 18,000sq m.
It sits at the foot of Aucklandโs CBD, towering over the Waitemata Harbour.
According to Stuff.co.nz, the PwC Tower contains New Zealand’s fastest lifts, which hurtle along at eight metres a second.
โI must admit itโs pretty exciting going up in the lifts, certainly those on the outside where itโs fully glazed and you get to look out over the city as youโre travelling that fast up 180 metres,โ said Scott Pritchard, Chief Executive of Precinct Properties, owners and developers of the $1 billion tower.
The tower was scheduled for completion in mid-2019, before costing issues blew the timeline out. COVID-19 caused addition delays to the opening. The retail precinct at the base of the tower was opened to the public on June 11.
โCertainly, in a value sense itโs the biggest commercial project in New Zealand,” Mr Pritchard continued.
“Iโd say as far as Iโm aware itโs definitely the most complex vertical construction project in New Zealand.
โItโs an enormous investment and, to be honest, it feels a little bit surreal at the moment because thereโs a huge team that has worked on this project for eight years and itโs now complete.
โThe technology and the quality of the amenity and the thinking that has gone into this tower, it is world class and weโve done a huge amount of research globally and taken the best of what weโve seen and tried to instill it in this building.โ