We are celebrating our win with Maycroft Construction of a Silver Award at the 2026 NZ Commercial Project Awards, for PSA House Stage 2.
From 2018, McKenzie Higham Architects has partnered with structural engineers Clendon, Burns and Park to work with the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi (PSA) on strengthening PSA House. As soon as the project moved from design to delivery stages, Maycroft Construction came aboard. After a successful Stage 1 which addressed both seismic and weathertightness problems at roof level, the significantly larger Stage 2 has strengthened PSA House to 100% New Building Standard (NBS).
Design challenges included integrating a better distribution of shear strength into the building, which led to the most visible design collaboration between MHA and CBP: the new shear wall in the centre front bay of the facade. Less visible is a diagrid of new steel under the existing precast floors, which not only distributes seismic loads but can also act as a safety net to "catch" any precast panel that became dislodged. Also unobtrusive, but substantially improving building performance, is the complete renewal of services, designed with assistance from Aurecon. The considerable challenges of upgrading an older building to meet today's expectations of fire performance were resolved with help from Holmes Fire.
The 2026 NZ Commercial Project Award recognises the outstanding collaborative design and delivery on this project for which MHA was not only Architect and Lead Designer but also Contract Administrator.
