Selected Project
Adoro Cafe & Central Post Office Building
After a process of reconfiguration, refurbishment and seismic strengthening, the iconic Central Post Office building in the heart of the Napier CBD was re-tenanted to include a café, commercial retail and office spaces. Opening up the building façade* at ground level has seen extensive fenestration added along the Dickens Street elevation, encouraging visual engagement with café patrons and a view of the striking interior. Once the main entrance to the Central Post Office for over 70 years, this corner tenancy of the Central Post Office in Napier is now home to a thriving eatery, and vibrant part of Napier’s café culture. A new slab at grade was installed on Hastings Street, extending and leveling the existing entrance and encouraging ease of access to passers by. Internal services and the original shell materiality were exposed and accentuated, showcasing the vast ceiling height and celebrating one the few remaining examples of early colonial architecture to survive the Napier earthquake. Reconfiguring the upper levels to take advantage of views and natural lighting have allowed for adaptive re-use of the entire building.
- Category
- Heritage
- Location
- Gisborne/Hawkes Bay
- Year
- 2014
