Statistics House

{{Infobox building

| name = Statistics House

| location_town = Wellington

| location_country = New Zealand

| opened_date = 2005

| demolition_date = 2018

| coordinates = {{WikidataCoord||type:landmark_region:NZ|display=inline,title}}

| owner = CentrePort Wellington

}}

Statistics House was an office building on the waterfront of Wellington, New Zealand. It was built in 2005 as part of CentrePort's Harbour Quays Project and was the headquarters of Statistics New Zealand. The 2016 Kaikōura earthquake damaged the building and caused a partial collapse, which resulted in the building being demolished in 2018.

Building

Statistics House, on the waterfront in Wellington, was built by the port company CentrePort as part of its Harbour Quays project. The Harbour Quays project was launched in July 2005 with the aim of developing CentrePort's land along Waterloo Quay, between Bunny St and the Sky Stadium, into a business park with office buildings, retail and recreational spaces. CentrePort said there was space for up to 12 multi-storey buildings to house 4000 workers.{{Cite news |last=Mulrooney |first=Paul |date=15 July 2005 |title=Waterfront's big revamp: Port's plans |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/338184847 |url-access=subscription |access-date=5 January 2023 |work=Dominion Post |via=Proquest Australia & New Zealand Newsstream |id={{ProQuest|338184847}}}} The first new building in the project was Statistics House, completed in 2005, and was later followed by BNZ Harbour Quays.

The six-storey{{Cite news |date=28 December 2017 |title=Demolition begins on earthquake-damaged Statistics House in Wellington |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/nz-earthquake/100213379/demolition-begins-on-earthquakedamaged-statistics-house-in-wellington |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=Stuff}} building was the headquarters of Statistics New Zealand, and housed a few other government departments as well as a cafe. About 500 people worked at the building for Statistics New Zealand.{{Cite news |date=15 November 2016 |title=Statistics NZ Wellington building floor pancaked in earthquake |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/statistics-nz-wellington-building-floor-pancaked-in-earthquake/JJYXKDYYHM6YECAVHGTJBYBTYQ/ |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=BusinessDesk |publisher=The New Zealand Herald}}

Earthquake, investigations and demolition

{{External media

| float = right

| caption = via Stuff

| image1 = [https://www.stuff.co.nz/media/images/9Tzi8ywRz924XE3uHaD6DfGZQfjEdZd7oKlsiR53VLHvSZExpMzuRmKdwHbkL9PkVPC9gGJGYW1rx8xI39XzJPNNba2tJCjYevoQfw0GHQ8 Result of the partial collapse on the ground floor]

}}

The 2016 Kaikōura earthquake caused two concrete beams to disconnect from the building's outside wall, which caused a partial collapse of some of the ceilings. One "large beam" collapsed onto the ground floor.{{Cite news |date=31 March 2017 |title=Statistics House collapse in Kaikoura Earthquake 'could have caused fatalities' |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/statistics-house-collapse-in-kaikoura-earthquake-could-have-caused-fatalities/H53RDJNJ6ZI2W3UTXPJJKIDOPM/ |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=The New Zealand Herald}} Nobody was inside the building when the earthquake struck, as the earthquake occurred two minutes past midnight.{{Cite news |date=10 October 2017 |title=Statistics House set to be demolished due to earthquake damage |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/97725902/statistics-house-set-to-be-demolished-due-to-earthquake-damage |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=Stuff}} Statistics New Zealand chief executive Liz MacPherson was thankful for this, and questioned how such a new building could suffer damage to that extent.{{Cite news |date=15 November 2016 |title=Stats NZ boss: I'm asking the same questions that you're asking about our headquarters |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/86465916/Stats-NZ-boss-I-m-asking-the-same-questions-that-you-re-asking-about-our-headquarters |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=Stuff}} In 2017 Nick Smith, the Minister for Building and Construction, said that the damage was "unacceptable and could have caused fatalities".{{Cite news |date=31 March 2017 |title=CentrePort warned of 'critical issue' in Statistics House in 2013 |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/91056583/official-report-on-damage-to-statistics-house-due-to-be-released |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=Stuff}}

A 2013 report made after the 2013 Seddon earthquake{{Cite news |date=31 March 2017 |title=Statistics House: CEO says she didn't see 2013 report |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/327910/statistics-house-ceo-says-she-didn't-see-2013-report |access-date=25 March 2025 |work=RNZ}} found that the building was 90 per{{Nbsp}}cent of the new building standard,{{Cite news |date=6 April 2017 |title=Engineer defends assessment of quake-damaged building |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/328265/engineer-defends-assessment-of-quake-damaged-building |access-date=27 March 2025 |work=RNZ}} indicating that it was not earthquake prone as the percentage was above 34. 'Earthquake prone' is a term used to describe buildings that would be a hazard to people or other buildings in the event of a moderate earthquake.{{Cite web |date=25 February 2021 |title=Earthquake-prone buildings, explained |url=https://wellington.govt.nz/news-and-events/news-and-information/our-wellington/2021/02/earthquake-prone-buildings-part-2 |access-date=26 April 2025 |website=Wellington City Council}} A Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment inquiry into the building released in March 2017 also found that the building met the building code when it was built.{{Cite news |date=10 October 2017 |title=Statistics House in Wellington to be demolished |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/341233/statistics-house-in-wellington-to-be-demolished |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=RNZ}} However, the 2013 report found a flaw in the building: "The seating of floor units at the four corners of the building were identified as a critical element". Work to fix this problem started in September 2016, but it was not finished by the time the quake struck. Where the work was done, including partly, the earthquake did not cause any problems, but a partial collapse occurred where the upgrades had not been done. MacPherson said that she had not seen the 2013 report before the earthquake, and if she did, she may have ordered the upgrades to speed up.

After the earthquake occurred, the building was kept empty. In October 2017 insurers of the building decided to demolish it because a repair would not be economically feasible, and demolition started in late December 2017, with the expectation that it would be finished within two to three months. In April,{{Cite news |date=4 July 2018 |title=Expert panel told Wellington's Statistics House not built to design |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/105234869/expert-panel-told-wellingtons-statistics-house-not-built-to-design |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=Stuff}} the ministry started its engineering investigation again because during demolition, demolition engineers discovered that "the seating provided for some of the precast concrete floor units was less than what was shown on the original design documents", meaning that the building had not been built entirely to plan. The building standard required that this gap be at least 60mm, but the overlap in the actual building ranged from 38mm to 120mm, meaning that it did not meet the building code.{{Cite news |date=4 July 2018 |title=Wgtn's Statistics House floors not built as planned |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/361083/wgtn-s-statistics-house-floors-not-built-as-planned |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=RNZ}}

The 2017 inquiry resulted in four recommendations:{{Cite news |date=31 March 2017 |title=Govt calls for check for serious design flaw |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/327886/govt-calls-for-check-for-serious-design-flaw |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=RNZ}}{{Cite web |date=March 2017 |title=Investigation into the performance of Statistics House in the 14 November 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake |url=https://www.mbie.govt.nz/assets/058a9fcb92/investigation-into-the-performance-of-statistics-house.pdf |access-date=26 March 2025 |website=Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment |pages=4–5}}

"Investigation of existing buildings in the Wellington region with a similar design that may have been damaged by the Kaikōura earthquake"
"Notify the industry about issues with existing buildings with pre-cast floor systems and frames that may be affected by beam elongation"
"Access technical expertise to consider the implications for this type of design for new buildings"
"Review and undertake research into the provisions in the Earthquake Actions standard to ensure they reflect current knowledge of earthquake engineering practise"

=Effects on other buildings=

In 2017, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment started public consultation on a proposed ban on the floor supports used in the building that failed,{{Cite news |date=10 October 2017 |title=Call for Stats House floor hangers to be banned |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/97677562/call-for-stats-house-floor-hangers-to-be-banned |access-date=25 March 2025 |work=Stuff}} known as loopbar floor supports or pigtails. In April 2018 the ministry warned engineers not to use the type of floor supports, and said that buildings with them would probably fail the building code. The Structural Engineers Society had also warned against using them in 2008.{{Cite news |date=3 April 2018 |title=Engineers warned not to use 'pigtail' construction |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/354001/engineers-warned-not-to-use-pigtail-construction |access-date=25 March 2025 |work=RNZ}} The Wellington City Council later created a list of buildings that may have had a similar flaw to what Statistics House had. This list which started out at 155 buildings but was reduced to "tens". One building that was closed due to this was the Wellington Central Library.{{Cite news |date=19 September 2019 |title=Statistics House collapse haunts Wellington building owners |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/statistics-house-collapse-haunts-wellington-building-owners/MIUXALB6RHBBXUIX7KVFLMLMSY/ |access-date=22 March 2025 |work=The New Zealand Herald}}

Statistics House

Building

Earthquake, investigations and demolition

=Effects on other buildings=

References

Further reading