Bay of Plenty Regional Council has almost finished $22.6m upgrade of Regional House

You can't miss it, driving over the Tauranga Harbour Bridge. Where once stood a grim, concrete-coloured building - then a building tightly wrapped in white plastic - now stands the same building covered in glass in shades of green, designed to echo the harbour the building overlooks. Like so many public construction projects in Tauranga, the refurbishment of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council's Tauranga offices, Regional House, has not been without time delays and unexpected discoveries - and the cost increases that go with them. Samantha Motion reports.

In by Christmas for staff, but the public will have to wait.

That is the latest on the 2.5-year, $22.6 million project to upgrade the Bay of Plenty Regional Council's offices in Tauranga, Regional House.

The budget for the refurbishment project, which also includes an upgrade for Wallingford House next door on the waterfront, was set at $20m in 2015 but has since been increased to $22.6m.

The council's project manager, Annabel Chappell, said the increase was due to unexpected discoveries during the construction phase.

The total cost included the interior fit-out as well as the refurbishment.

The council bought Regional House - at 1 Elizabeth St, near Devonport Rd and overlooking Tauranga Harbour - in 2009.

The 1986 five-storey building was leaky with failing air conditioning and joinery, so a refurbishment was planned from the start.

Work started 31 months ago in March 2017 and the project timeframe was 18 months, according to an April 2017 council statement.

Regional House in 2014, pre-refurbishment. Photo / File

Chappell said this week the 18-month timeframe only referred to the construction phase, which did not start until February 2018 due to demolition and tenancy delays, meaning it was a few months behind schedule.

Today, Regional House is close to being finished. The plastic wraps came off earlier this month, revealing a new exterior in shades of green glass - a different look from the old grey cladding.

Chappell said the council's staff would move in November.

She said it had been hoped the public interface for the building would open at the same time, but that has been pushed back to next year.

The start of work on Wallingford House, which was initially intended to happen alongside the Regional House project, would also start in 2020.

The new-look Regional House. Photo / George Novak

Chappell said delays were common in projects like this.

Contributing factors included demolition phase hold-ups, design complexities with Wallingford House, resourcing linked to pressures across the construction industry and the discovery of poor ground conditions at the entranceway that prompted a redesign and consent amendment.

Back in 2017, the council had 65 staff working in Regional House and was intending to have 160 working there after the refurbishment.

That would leave it two floors of vacant space to lease to offset costs.

With 210 due to move in from November, the council will take up an extra half-floor, leaving one-and-a-half levels available to lease.

Chappell said the council was looking forward to having all Tauranga-based staff working from one location, rather than being in four offices across the city.

She said Vodafone was a tenant of the building before and during the refurbishment and would be staying on.

There had been strong interest in the rest of the for-lease space but no agreements had been made.

Regional House will also have new sustainability features, including solar panels on the roof.

"When we are not using all of the power generated by them it is being fed back into the electricity grid," Chappell said.

"We'll have screens in our reception areas showing the real-time data around this – energy used, energy produced and also information around the stormwater harvesting the building also incorporates."

A wind turbine will be installed once Wallingford House is upgraded.

Workers at neighbouring businesses said the new look Regional House was a big improvement on the old building.

They said the construction period had put a bit of pressure on parking but had been overall fine.

Arthur Christie of #Square Roots Hair Design said the building looked "very nice".

While the project was taking longer than expected, that happened in construction and, in the end, transformations like this what the CBD needed, he said.

Regional House refurbishment timeline

2009: Council buys regional house
2015: Refurbishment budget set at $20m
2017: Refurbishment work begins, demolition
2018: Construction begins
September 2019: Wraps come off
November 2019: Staff move in
2020: Still to do: Public entrance, start work on Wallingford House.

Source: Bay of Plenty Regional Council