Heritage Meets Innovation:
Fire Safety in Hotel Indigo Auckland

Working with historical buildings is both a privilege and an almighty challenge. We’ve tackled a few in our time and as many of our colleagues will know, they’re the type of projects that are complex, but well worth the effort at completion.

The Hotel Indigo Auckland, completed in January this year, is an awesome example of how integrating heritage conservation and modern construction can create something really spectacular. We think projects like this are particularly rewarding in that they allow past endeavours to continue enriching and inspiring future generations. Despite modernisation, history shines through. The buildings are interesting, filled with character and they’re exciting sites to be on. (Retaining elements from the past helps with waste minimisation too!)

This building comprised a 41-storey tower with a Class B heritage-listed façade dating back to 1912. The architectural vision focused on retaining the historic façade while introducing a reinforced concrete core, post-tensioned floor slabs and a curtain wall system sitting atop large diameter, deep bored concrete piles. With 225 hotel rooms, 30 luxury apartments and multiple hospitality spaces, fire protection in this mixed-use development needed to meet strict compliance standards and also preserve the historical authenticity for contractor Icon.

Situated on a compact Tāmaki Makaurau site, with a small building footprint, Hotel Indigo Auckland is surrounded by other historic, landmark buildings such as St Patrick’s Cathedral. Our technicians worked seamlessly to execute superior quality passive fire solutions with best-practice conservation techniques aligning with New Zealand Building Code regulations. (That is how we roll!) This beauty is now filled with modern innovation and trusted safety solutions, all the way up.

Retaining the façade was a powerful way to pay tribute to the past whilst  allowing the story to continue. Tu meke! The Passive Fire NZ team is proud to have been part of this building’s next chapter while ensuring top-quality fire safety for the future. Thanks for having us!