The Hotel Britomart is a 10-storey hotel in the centre of the Britomart Precinct, completed in 2020. It is New Zealand’s first and only hotel to achieve a 5 Green Star rating from the NZ Green Building Council.
The exterior uses bricks laid into pre-cast panels, while flush-glazed windows provide a contemporary contrast. At the rear, the project included refurbishment of existing heritage buildings, linking the new hotel to the wider nine-block precinct of restored structures and laneways.
The hotel contains 99 guest rooms, designed as compact timber-lined spaces with consistent finishes and custom joinery. Room layouts vary slightly depending on orientation and light, while the top floors accommodate five larger penthouse suites with private terraces.
At ground level, the hotel connects directly to Britomart’s laneways, with restaurants and retail at street edge. The development contributes to the character of the precinct by combining new construction, heritage integration, and sustainable design in a single project. Balancing modern hotel density, heritage context, and sustainability targets, the hotel has established itself as a key part of the Britomart Precinct.
Services provided
We were engaged in the cost management role, providing full QS services throughout the project, including:
- Feasibility studies and early cost modelling for hotel density and room layouts
- Benchmarking of room types, penthouse suites, and back-of-house areas
- Optimising room numbers and density to maintain commercial viability
- Cost planning through design development, with value engineering to maintain budget targets
- Bills of Quantities and detailed trade breakdowns
- Procurement advice, tender documentation, and tender evaluation
- Financier due diligence and cost-to-complete reporting
- Post-contract cost management, monthly reporting, and cashflow forecasts
- Certification of contractor progress claims
- Evaluation and negotiation of variations and change orders
- Contingency management and cost risk reviews
- Support on heritage refurbishment works at the rear of the site
- Final account preparation and settlement
Challenges
Delivering New Zealand’s first 5 Green Star hotel presented significant challenges. Achieving certification required strict performance standards across energy use, water efficiency, materials, and waste management. Systems for heating, cooling, and ventilation had to be modelled against Green Star criteria, with allowances for sustainable technologies carefully planned and controlled within the project budget. Tracking these requirements through design development and into construction added an extra layer of oversight for the QS role.
Specialist trades were required to deliver the façade, timber-lined rooms, custom joinery, and the heritage refurbishment at the rear. Managing these trades meant balancing quality expectations with budget limits, while also ensuring consistency across 99 guest rooms and five penthouse suites. The constrained laneway site further complicated matters, with limited access for deliveries and staging areas. Sequencing had to be planned in detail to maintain progress without disrupting the wider Britomart precinct.
Commercially, maximising room numbers and density within a relatively tight site footprint remained a central challenge. Compact room layouts, penthouse configurations, and bespoke detailing all needed to be tested against cost models to confirm financial viability. Each design decision, from room size to finishes, carried cost implications, requiring ongoing collaboration between the client, design team, and QS to maintain balance between commercial outcomes and design intent.
Delivering a legacy project
WT’s involvement ensured that the project met its sustainability and commercial objectives. Early cost planning and benchmarking provided clear financial frameworks for the client and design team, allowing ambitious sustainability and heritage targets to be balanced against budget.
During construction, WT’s monthly reporting, claim certification, and variation management gave the client confidence that costs remained aligned with expectations. When unforeseen heritage or material issues arose, our advice supported practical solutions that protected design integrity while staying within commercial limits.
Our previous experience with other Britomart projects brought established knowledge of heritage refurbishment and precinct-wide development requirements. This continuity helped streamline decision-making and maintain consistent quality across the precinct.
The Hotel Britomart now operates as New Zealand’s first 5 Green Star hotel, combining sustainable performance, integration with the heritage precinct, and financial certainty for the client.
