BNZ changes tack on damaged office entry

Bank of New Zealand is committed to moving back into its Harbour Quays building in Wellington, despite pushing back the timetable for re-entry from days to months.

The building on CentrePortowned land was one of the worst affected in the 2013 earthquake, and was immediately closed following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on November 14.

Initially the bank said it was working on a timetable to re-enter the building, which typically has 1100 staff working in it, suggesting a reopening was imminent.

But late last week BNZ announced it would be out of the building for months.

Richard Griffiths, BNZ’s director of strategy and business performance, said the information about the quake changed throughout the week.

‘‘The damage that occurred in Wellington kind of unfolded. The size of the quake unfolded. It was two or three days before the quake was upgraded in magnitude,’’ he said.

‘‘In a nutshell we had a look at the building, we went through. There was lots of broken glass around and lots of broken gib [board].’’

In the 2013 earthquake, large ceiling panels fell onto desks below, leading to significant repair and redesign before the building was reoccupied. Griffiths said the ceilings ‘‘worked brilliantly well’’ in the recent quake.

However, the amount of broken glass in the latest quake would likely lead to further redesign.

‘‘Given the volume of glass that was in the building and the cracked gib, once you start investigating that, you also start asking further questions,’’ Griffiths said.

Despite the disruption, Griffiths said BNZ was still committed to returning to Harbour Quays, its principal building in Wellington.

‘‘Our intention starts with our going back. [The] primary concern is always health and safety for our people. We look to get complete assurance that the building’s completely up to speed,’’ Griffiths said.

The 2016 earthquake was significantly different and bigger and the damage was more widespread than in 2013, Griffiths said.

Griffiths rejected the suggestion that BNZ was ’’lucky’’ that both of Wellington’s two major earthquakes had occurred at times when the building was virtually empty.

‘‘I wouldn’t want to use the word lucky. The building’s designed to bend and flex. Cracked gib [board], cracked glass occurs when you bend a building. We did a lot of work last time. That’s worked really well ... Lucky’s a bit harsh.’’