An Oldie But Goodie – The Nelson Evening Mail Scores 5 Stars
31 August 2023
15 Bridge Street, at the corner of Bridge Street and Haven Road in Nelson, has been the site of the Nelson Evening Mail Building since the early 1900’s. The historic A-rated façade of the building has always remained, but the building itself has been through a few iterations since then. However, through it all, the Nelson Evening Mail Building is still performing at the top of its class, as can be seen from its recently awarded 5 Star NABERSNZ energy rating. The two-storey office building was assessed through the NABERSNZ (the National Australian Built Environment Rating System New Zealand) programme, under the licensing of EECA and the jurisdiction of the New Zealand Green Building Council. This programme is extremely diligent in their assessment criteria and processes, and the Nelson Evening Mail Building at 15 Bridge Street is currently the only Nelson NABERSNZ rated building to have gone through the process within the last year.
R. Lucas & Son Nelson Evening Mail Building, Nelson, Early 1900’s. Nelson Provincial Museum, F N Jones Collection: 310510
With the downsizing of the printed paper and a new focus on digital media, Fairfax Media sold The Nelson Evening Mail Building to local family-owned property investment company Gibbons in 2017. This proved a perfect opportunity to re-purpose the building as a multi-use office and commercial space in the heart of Nelson. Necessary upgrades such as fire protection updates, a computer controlled centralised ventilation system, and energy efficient light fittings were some of the modifications that were made to the building at this time. Along with the downsized Nelson Mail newspaper’s office (now Stuff), ten new businesses moved in to make the Nelson Evening Mail Building their home.
Gibbons’ ESG Manager Stephanie Millar was the Development Project Manager at the time and worked through the renovations alongside Gibbons’ Facilities Manager, Dean Bensemann. “Dean was part of the original construction team who built the 1994-1995 offices for Fairfax [the current building] and it was an asset having him oversee the upgrades,” said Ms Millar. “We are really pleased with the result of these upgrades and the 5 Star NABERSNZ rating, which shows that older buildings can be repurposed and still perform as good as newer buildings when designed well and maintained.”
Gibbons Construction January 11, 1996. Nelson Provincial Museum, Nelson Mail Collection: C31152.
“Gibbons Construction workers (from left) Guy Miller, Jamie McIntosh, Dean Bensemann, Mark Blom, Steve McIntyre and Chris Herrick take a break from building work on the Nelson Mail building in Bridge Street to read the lunchtime edition of the newspaper.”
“15 Bridge Street’s 5 Star NABERSNZ rating demonstrates that with the right systems and attention, old buildings can be highly energy efficient,” says Andrew Eagles, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Green Building Council. “This rating is a fantastic achievement and Gibbons are showing building owners throughout New Zealand that sustainability goals can be achieved with existing spaces. By prioritising energy efficiency and benchmarking performance through NABERSNZ, Gibbons are helping reduce energy costs, emissions, and showing the market how buildings should be managed."
Gibbons is now looking to other office buildings in their portfolio that qualify for assessment in the NABERSNZ programme. “Having a building worked through the NABERSNZ process is a perfect way to assess the energy efficiency of it and see where improvements can be made,” says Ms. Millar. Commercial buildings use 21 percent of New Zealand’s electricity, costing businesses $800 million every year, and the NABERSNZ programme is a great tool to rate and improve the energy infrastructure of these buildings.