Introducing New Zealand's greenest building

The Meridian Building | 33 Customhouse Quay | Wellington Waterfron

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Entrance

Feature Lighting

The lighting system throughout the building has been designed to minimise energy use, while maintaining appropriate light levels and maximising light quality and ambience, especially on the working plane or desktop. Daylight is maximised wherever possible, and DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) lighting has been used throughout to achieve the power savings required in the performance specification. All the lighting is on sensors to ensure only occupied areas are lit.

Accessible Stairwell

In order to help discourage lift use, Meridian specified the building must have a central, accessible stairwell. As well as helping reduce overall power usage by encouraging staff to take the stairs, it also helps with staff inter-connectivity. The stairwell also performs a key function in the building’s air and ventilation control.

Structural Concrete

One of the key objectives for the Meridian Building was to ensure its embodied energy levels - the energy used in making the construction materials – was minimised. The structural concrete in the core of the building and in its piles use a mixture of new and 65% recycled materials.

LCD Screens

LCD screens use less power than other forms of digital display. All screens and computer monitors throughout the building are LCD and therefore help to contribute to the overall power savings achieved. The seven screens in the foyer are used to help augment a visitor’s first impression of the building, as well as contribute to the general working environment.

Reception

Laminex Corain Bench

To help ensure the embodied energy of the Meridian Building remained low, materials with a high recycled or reused component have been used wherever possible. The beautifully crafted bench in the reception cafe area is made from Laminex Corain, a laminate material that uses a number of low emission and recycled components.

Designer Furniture

To help ensure sustainability, as much furniture as possible throughout the building has been reused from Meridian’s old premises. As well as reduced overall resource use in the construction and fit out, this also meant a lower capital outlay. Where new furniture was purchased, items with low emission construction processes and recycled or sustainable materials were sought.

Wooden Veneers

Three kinds of timber have been used in the Meridian Building – Victorian Ash, Canadian Cedar and New Zealand Pine. As well as being aesthetically pleasing, these timbers were chosen as they are all from renewable sources, and all share the International Forrest Stewardship Council’s “sustainably harvested timber” certification.

Chilled Beams

Heating and cooling is traditionally one of the biggest uses of power in building. The chilled beams work like a basic radiator by pumping hot or cold water through the radiator, and then pumping fresh air from outside across them and into the working environment. As well as being highly efficient for temperature control, this technology also ensures a high standard of air quality.

Reception 360 View

Flash Virtual Reality (VR) allows you to view a subject with a 360 degree perspective.

To open the VR, just click on Open the Virtual Reality Tour. The VR will open in a separate box. To navigate your way around, just drag and click the image. For example, to view left, drag and click left. To view right, drag and click right, and so on. To close the VR, just click on the close button.

Landing

Stairwell

In order to help discourage lift use, Meridian specified the building must have a central, connecting stairwell. This helps reduce overall power usage by encouraging staff to walk. It also performs a key function in the building’s air and ventilation control by drawing the hot air out from the floors and expelling it at the top, helping ensure optimal temperature in the working environment.

Low Energy Photocopiers and Printers

Office equipment such as computers, monitors, photocopiers and printers are a significant drain on the overall energy use of the building. To help minimise this power consumption, Meridian uses low energy photocopiers and printers. All staff are also equipped with laptops which can be charged and then run on batteries.

Meeting Room/Whiteboards

An important technological feature of the building is the use of electronic whiteboards. To help reduce overall paper use, the whiteboards are able to copy whatever is on them and transmit this information using the building’s wireless network. The information can be shared organisation-wide, including Meridian’s buildings in other locations.

Waste Principles

Meridian is committed to greatly reducing its overall carbon footprint. The organisation has waste management systems in place that help minimise waste to landfill, and include full recycling of all paper, plastic and glass products used in the building.

Landing 360 View

Workstations

DALI Lighting

Sustainable Furniture

To help ensure sustainability, as much furniture as possible throughout the building has been reused from Meridian’s old premises. As well as reducing resource use in the construction and fit out, this also meant a lower capital outlay. Where new furniture was purchased, items with low emission construction processes and recycled or sustainable materials were sought

Double Skinned Facade

The double skinned façade is a key feature for controlling the building’s temperature and ventilation requirements. It has a cavity between the two facades through which air is allowed to circulate, providing both insulation and a pathway for air to travel in and out of the working environment. This feature significantly reduces the overall energy needed to keep the building at an optimal temperature.

Low Energy Screens

Thermal Mass

One of the building’s key features is the way it uses the concrete floors as thermal mass to reduce the amount of mechanical heating and cooling required to keep the building comfortable. During the day, heat is absorbed through gaps in the ceiling, and is released back into the environment at night. It is then expelled from the building in a night purge, leaving a cool environment for the next day.

Natural Light and Views

Given its iconic location on Wellington’s waterfront, it was essential to ensure that the sea views were maximised for all staff. Floor to ceiling glass helps connect the building to the sea right next to it, as well as allowing for large amounts of natural light to most areas of the building.

Automatic Blinds

Managing solar gain into the building is critical to maintaining an optimal internal temperature range. As well as the hydraulic louvres that adjust to the sun, automatic blinds are housed within the double skin façade. The blinds are controlled by the building management system and drop and recede in response to the external temperature, and the amount of solar gain affecting the building.

Workstations 360 View

Kitchen

Efficient Dishwasher/Fridge

Kitchen and household appliances can be high users of power. The Meridian Building uses energy efficient digital screens, fridges and dishwashers to help meet the energy savings set out in the building’s performance specification.

Sustainable Wood Partition

There are a number of wooden features throughout the building that been designed to add to the overall design aesthetic. All of these are made from wood that has been taken from sustainable sources, including Victorian Ash, Canadian Cedar and New Zealand Pine, and all share the International Forrest Stewardship Council’s "sustainably harvested timbers" certification.

Solar Powered Hot Water

One of the most effective ways to reduce energy use is to use solar energy water heating. The building has eight solar hot water collection panels placed on the roof, which supply hot water for 80% of the building’s domestic needs, such as showers, cleaning and kitchen hot water.

Kitchen 360 View

Washroom

Waterless Urinals

The Meridian Building uses waterless urinals to help meet its water saving requirements. Being 100% water free this system avoids a significant amount of fresh water being used as is the case with traditional urinals.

Low Flow Sensor Taps and Low Flow Showers

The Meridian Building uses low flow sensor taps and low flow showers to help meet its water saving requirements. Having the taps on sensors ensures that there is no wastage from people not fully turning off the taps by accident. The low flow shower heads help provide excellent pressure while using up to 50% less water than traditional heads, and also contribute to hot water heating energy savings.

Rain Water Toilets

The Meridian Building harvests water from the roof and feeds it into a single 16,000 litre tank held in the services area. This water is then used for approximately 80% of all the toilet flushing in the building. To help ensure further water savings, the toilets all use low flow technology.

Exterior - East

Double Skinned Facade

Solar Hot Water Heating

Rain Water Collection

To assist with water conservation, all the rain that falls on the building is collected to a single point and then fed into a 16,000 litre tank held in the services area. This water is then used to supply between 70 and 80% of all the toilet flushing that occurs in the building, depending on how much rain there is in any particular season.

Roof Design

The early sheds on the waterfront had saw-toothed roofs as an integral part of their design. This effect has been emulated in the Meridian Building to help reflect the heritage aspect of the building’s location, as well as for the more practical functions of assisting with wind defection and rainwater collection. The roof can also support a large array of photo voltaic panels as a future proofing strategy for when such large scale installations become viable.

Exterior - North

Building Management System

The building management system is the electronic brain of the Meridian Building. Made up of a collection of hardware and software, it controls all the building’s moving parts, such as the mechanical louvres, the Venetian blinds and the windows. It monitors the inside and outside climate constantly, and adjusts the internal climate including the temperature and light to optimal levels for the occupants.

North Facing Louvres

The north and west facing louvres serve more than one function. As well as being aesthetically pleasing, they have been designed to minimise solar gain into the building. To help achieve this, some louvres are hydraulically controlled by the building management system and automatically change their angle depending on the sun’s position. The fixed louvres have been positioned to minimise solar gain while also allowing optimal outlook for the building occupants.

Sheltered Public Spaces

The Meridian Building is designed to be highly sympathetic with its environment, and to help augment this effect it is situated amongst an area that has been extensively landscaped. This area includes sheltered spaces where the public can come and enjoy both the waterfront and the building. These areas include seating and native flora.

Bike Parks

As part of its intention to realise a sustainable vision, Meridian requested that a proposed underground car park be removed from the plans and replaced instead with a bike park. Additional showers were also added for those biking or walking to work.

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