WelTec School of Hospitality &
Le Cordon Bleu New Zealand Institute

Education

Client: Ucol WelTec & Le Cordon Bleu

Architect: Architecture Workshop & Inside Design

Location: Cuba St, Wellington

Completion: July 2012

Located in the centre of Wellington, the School of Hospitality is a purpose built educational facility which brings fine dining right into the centre of the city.

Housed in a converted cinema in Central Wellington, this ~$20m conversion introduced teaching kitchens, latte laboratory and training bar, 100 seat lecture theatre (with integrated kitchen), along with a functioning restaurant.

The project also took the opportunity to upgrade the seismic strength of the building.

The project had two tenants - Le Cordon Bleu Cuisine School and Weltec - each with their own Architect, along with the base building owner and their Architect.

A high level of services coordination was required due to the complexity of working within an existing structure, and the specific servicing requirements of the tenants.  All teaching kitchens require large quantities of natural gas and extensive extract ventilation systems.  While the requirements around kitchens tend to be highly codified, we were able to apply an innovative solution using variable speed drives to reduce extract ventilation energy consumption.

The main plant is located on the roof of the five-storey building, spanning between three seismically independent structures.  Our use of 3D BIM modelling allowed co-ordination of the duct runs and pipework across the plant spaces and throughout the building.

The schools have a maximum combined roll of 300, and since opening for the 2012 Wellington On a Plate Festival, have been successfully training our fine dining chefs of the future.