Hamilton’s new BNZ Theatre wins national heritage and adaptive reuse award

Photo credit: Jasmax

Hamilton’s BNZ Theatre has been named winner of the Naylor Love Heritage and Adaptive Reuses Property Award at the Property Council New Zealand Rider Levett Bucknall Property Industry Awards in Auckland this evening.

The award recognises an 8,700sqm development owned and developed by Waikato Regional Property Trust, constructed by Foster Construction and designed by Jasmax. The project has returned a significant central city site to public life, pairing the restored façades of the historic Hamilton Hotel with a contemporary 1,300-seat theatre and upgraded public spaces.

Located at 198 Victoria Street, BNZ Theatre sits on a site long associated with performance, including the former Embassy Theatre. The restored 100-year-old Beaux-Arts façades provide the architectural anchor for the development.

Behind and around them, new performance spaces have been designed to meet the technical demands of contemporary theatre. It includes welcoming entries, generous foyers and upgraded public areas improving the way people move through and gather around the precinct.

Property Council New Zealand Chief Executive Leonie Freeman says BNZ Theatre shows what can happen when heritage is treated as a living part of the city.

“Heritage buildings need a working future,” says Freeman. “BNZ Theatre keeps a visible piece of Hamilton’s past in place, then gives it purpose again. It creates the kind of cultural infrastructure a growing city needs, while holding onto the character and memory that make the site matter.

“The strongest adaptive reuse projects are practical as well as careful. They keep what has value, remove what no longer serves, and make room for the next life of a place through clever renewal,” she says.

“BNZ Theatre does that with confidence. It respects the history of the site, while creating a venue that can support Hamilton’s cultural life for decades to come.”

Chief Judge Andy Evans says the judges were impressed by the project’s balance of heritage retention, technical performance and public value.

“BNZ Theatre is a confident and well-resolved piece of adaptive reuse. The retained façades give the building a strong civic presence, while the new theatre delivers the capability required of a contemporary performance venue. The old and new elements have been made to work together, which is what gives the project its strength.”

Cultural narratives are carried through material choices, wayfinding and public art, with salvaged heritage elements incorporated throughout the development to maintain a tangible connection to the site’s earlier life.

Today, the precinct has been reworked for touring productions, local performers, community programmes and everyday civic use.

Evans says the project stood out because it brings energy back to a prominent city centre location.

“This is a venue designed to be used, not admired from a distance,” he says.

“It gives Hamilton a theatre with real technical capability, better public spaces and a stronger connection between performance and the street. That combination makes a meaningful contribution to the southern central city.”

The wider project team included Holmes as structural engineer, eCubed as service and mechanical engineer, Kingstons as quantity surveyor and RDT Pacific as project manager.

Now in its 36th year, the Property Council New Zealand Rider Levett Bucknall Property Industry Awards celebrate excellence in design, innovation and investment across the built environment. This year’s Awards were held at the New Zealand International Convention Centre, which was also recognised on the night as winner of the Holmes Tourism and Leisure Property Award.

ENDS

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