The Redevelopment
Formerly the Wellington Maritime Museum, major redevelopment by the Wellington Museums Trust has created the new Museum of Wellington, City & Sea in a redeveloped heritage building.
The new Museum tells both social and maritime history creating a broader visitor and educational experience in a unique historic environment.
Traditional techniques combine with modern technology, holographic special effects, recreations, interactives, film and video, audio and LCD screens, to create an exciting and stimulating experience for young and old alike.
Museum exhibition galleries are housed in the southern two-thirds of the building - what used to be the warehouse space. While the Gift Store, heritage staircase, education room, historic board room and office space is housed in the northern end of the building - once home to the Wellington Harbour Board head office.
The three levels of new, open exhibition space utilise the original natural timber beams and flooring, maintaining the unique Bond Store environment.
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Original Ironbark beams form part of the new exhibition spaces.
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Physical redevelopment
Between March 1998 and June 1999 the NZ Historic Places Trust Category One building was restored.
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This included earthquake strengthening, replacing of failed foundations, protection and restoration of the Board Room, heritage staircase, windows, natural timber and repainting of the building. The interior was also spatially redeveloped to create new open exhibition spaces for the new museum.
Now completed, the Museum building has been restored to its former splendour as an 1892 Bond Store (warehouse) and Wellington Harbour Board Head Office.
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Athfield Architects' new access tower is reminiscent of the days when ships docked beside the Bond Store to offload goods by crane.
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Conceptual redevelopment
Redeveloping the former Wellington Maritime Museum's focus to tell the Capital's broader social and maritime history has been key to the redevelopment project.
The new museum now combines the best features of the former Wellington Maritime Museum with new stories of Wellington social history, creating effectively, Wellington's first museum of its own.
We have Te Papa, a place for the nation's stories and now we will have the Museum of Wellington City & Sea, a permanent place for Wellington's stories.
Despite Wellington's high level of arts and cultural awareness it has never had a permanent place for its own history, we are changing this; the Museum of Wellington City & Sea will be that place.
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