Wellesley Boutique Hotel is a Category 1 heritage building built on reclaimed land along the Wellington waterfront.

Consisting of a concrete frame building with unreinforced masonry infill and facade, the hotel is in Georgian revival style with classical detailing on the facades and many of the interior spaces remain in near original condition. The building was identified as Earthquake Prone in 2010. Miyamoto has been working with the client since 2017, providing a range of services including seismic assessment, 3D scanning, geotechnical assessment and seismic rehabilitation.

Miyamoto is developing a concept strengthening scheme to achieve 60% New Building Standard and has proposed an innovative technique using central coring and post-tensioning to strengthen the unreinforced masonry. This system avoids invasive works to the architecture internally and externally. This requires collaboration with the heritage architects and active engagement with potential contractors to address constructability issues.

The site has also been identified as potentially liquefiable. Miyamoto’s structural and geotechnical teams are exploring the feasibility of innovative ground remediation techniques to mitigate liquefaction risk, including resin injection.