Earthquake risk discovered in Wellington’s largest office building

KEVIN STENT / Stuff

Staff at the Astron Center were sent home after seismic problems were identified in the building.

More than a thousand office workers are working from home today after it was discovered that seismic problems in Wellington’s largest office building are worse than previously thought.

The 17-story Asteron Center, a 48,000-square-meter modern office building located on the corner of Bunny St and Featherston St, is the latest in a series of major buildings in Wellington that have been identified as having a potential earthquake risk.

Inland Revenue, Asteron Life, Civil Aviation Authority, and Aviation Security Service are among the organizations that have sent employees home at least through the weekend while further assessments take place.

The issues were discovered after Inland Revenue requested a fully detailed seismic assessment while considering whether to renew the lease on the building’s seven floors of office space.

Read more: *John Goddard: Confusion and lack of clarity over assessment of earthquake-affected buildings *Caution pushes owners to close Wellington buildings *Astron center safe, developer insists as IRD moves staff to other offices

The evaluation found that the building has a lower level of seismic resilience than previously assessed.

Understandably, the report found local areas of concern, but the building is still 100 percent above the required standard and can still be occupied.

Inland Revenue was first notified of the matter on Monday and nearly a thousand employees in the building were sent home on Wednesday afternoon.

“What we’ve been told gives us enough concern that we will be leaving the building until a repair plan is in place to raise the sides of the building to an acceptable level,” said Inland Revenue spokeswoman Jay Cavill.

Other companies and agencies soon followed suit after Inland Revenue informed them of the seismic assessment.

Catherine Dixon of Suncorp New Zealand, which includes Asteron Life, said about 180 employees have been sent home out of extreme caution.

Martin Hall/Staff

An appraisal request from Inland Revenue revealed seismic concerns about the building.

“While we understand that the building is considered safe to continue operating in, the safety of our employees is the highest priority, so we are taking a conservative approach as we get more advice,” Dixon said.

Civil Aviation Authority and Aviation Security Service employees are also working from home until at least Friday while they await independent advice.

The building is listed as owned by One Featherston Ltd, which is run by prominent real estate developer and philanthropist Mark Donajczyk known for donating a $50 million children’s hospital to the Capital and Coast Board of Health in 2017.

Robert Kitchen/Staff

Building owner Mark Donajczyk declined to comment.

Donajcic declined to comment when asked about the newly identified seismic issues.

The Asteron Center was built from June 2007 to September 2010 at a cost of $120 million and has won awards in architectural design.

It is not one of about 560 buildings in Wellington listed on the government’s register of earthquake-prone buildings but it has had a series of problems in recent years.

A number of cracks were first found in the building’s staircase after the 2013 Seddon earthquake, but they were considered superficial and then plastered.

Those same cracks reappeared after the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, and 2,500 people were evacuated from the building.

The 2016 incident was due to mixed opinions among experts – one commissioned by Inland Revenue who found problems with the building’s stairs while the building owner’s expert said it was safe.

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