Wellington Railway Station

Category
Engineering Plant (eg railway, locomotive, car, plane)

Description
In 1937, this railway station was New Zealand’s largest building. One of the first seismic proofed structures in the country, it was built on reclaimed land.

Once New Zealand’s largest public building, Wellington Railway Station was also the first major New Zealand structure to incorporate a significant measure of earthquake resistance.

When opened in 1937, this was the largest building in New Zealand. It covers 0.6 hectares and the original floor area was 2 ha, comprising 250 rooms and 1.2 km of corridors. Two storeys were added to the northern end of the Featherston Street wing during World War II.

The station was built to accommodate 675 head office and district staff and also to replace Wellington’s two former stations, Lambton and Thordon.

It was built on reclaimed land and was designed in accordance with studies of seismic effects on contemporary buildings in Japan. The steel frame is encased in reinforced concrete and supported on groups of reinforced concrete piles. Bricks used for the outer cladding are of a special design with slots to accommodate vertical rods reinforcing the brickwork and binding it to the structural members. The building required 1.75 million bricks, plus 1500 tonnes of decorative stone (granite and marble).

The station was among the first modern seismic-resistant structures in New Zealand to be built on this scale. It was also a large structure for recently reclaimed land.

Wellington Railway Station has worn well. It still copes with daily passenger loads with very little alteration having proved necessary. In its first year, 7600 passengers made 15 200 trips on 140 trains daily. Today, 22 000 passengers make 44 000 trips on 390 trains. (These figures exclude long distance services).

As well as an impressive functional record, the building is a dignified and largely undated structure, the architecture of which is impressive. It is listed by the NZ Historic Places Trust.

IPENZ “Engineering to 1990” project
This item of New Zealand’s engineering heritage was recognised as part of the IPENZ “Engineering to 1990” project which the Institution organised to help celebrate the country’s sesquicentenary in 1990. A plaque was unveiled to mark the significance of this power station as part of the development of the nation.

Owner: The Crown
Design: Peter Holgate & Chief Engineer N.Z.R.
Construction: Fletcher Construction Co. Ltd

Location
Bunny Street, Wellington

Region/s
Wellington / Kapiti

Access Info
The railway station is open at all times.

Nature of Engineering
Rail Transportation, Building and Construction

Lat: -41.279505 Long: 174.780035