Greenpeace New Zealand Weblog

Battening done, floor grinded and sealed…

Acceleration in the works programme over the last couple of weeks has been spectacular. All the groundwork laid in the preparation of the re-fit while we were waiting for building consent to come through has now started to see things really change on site at Akiraho St.

Chris and his team of builders have now completed almost all the framing and battening of the first floor, mezzanine floor and basement meaning now that the building focus switches to the ground floor area offices and reception. As this has been completed several other teams have been moving behind them completing the large pre-wiring job that needs to be. This involves a substantial electrical rewiring of the whole building with new distribution boards, power into all the office areas and the lights and all associated switches. Nicholas from Anything Electrical and his partner Jim have now completed all pre-wiring elements of these areas. Read more »

Akiraho Street April 2008 (C) GREENPEACE / TAYLOR

We’re cleaning out the inside of the building - lots of dirty work but we’ve had lots of good keen volunteers down to help so we’re making good progress and it’s not costing too much.

Primarily the building was chosen because of it’s proximity to Mt Eden Railway station (right next door), proximity to major bus routes, several on Mt Eden Rd as well as Symonds st and finally as the CBD, very close. Size was also a factor. Greenpeace NZ has grown in size over the last 10 years and continues to do so. The new building offers enough space to combine the functions of the campaigning and operational arms of the organisation and leaves a bit of room to move.

One of the best things about refitting an old building like this is that it gives us a blank slate to work with. We’re now in the happy position of being able to do some ECO innovation that was either infeasible or just plain impossible in our old rented space in Valley Road.

Here’s some of the things we’re trying to fit into the budget. Read more »

The new Greenpeace NZ building in Akiraho Street, Mount Eden, Auckland April 2008 (C) GREENPEACE / TAYLOR

Hi there, My name’s Rob Taylor, I normally work as a Greenpeace international action and logistics coordinator or project manager, I was asked at the beginning of the year to consider doing a couple of contracts with the NZ office. Now this suits me just fine, being based in NZ and having most of my work happen overseas always increases my carbon footprint and takes me away from my family, two very good reasons why I increasingly dislike going overseas.

Read more »