The
Beehive is the common name for the Executive Wing of the
New Zealand Parliament BuildingsThe New Zealand Parliament Buildings house the New Zealand Parliament and are on a 45,000 square metre site at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Wellington...
, located at the corner of
Molesworth StreetMolesworth Street is located at the north end of the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Leading from the northern end of Lambton Quay, central Wellington's main street, it is a one-way street linking the CBD with Tinakori Road, and through it, with main routes...
and
Lambton QuayLambton Quay is the heart of the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand.Originally, as the name implies, it was the high-water line of the foreshore, and sometimes the sea would roll across the road and enter the shops on the opposite side. It was the site of the...
,
WellingtonWellington is the capital of New Zealand, at the southwestern tip of the North Island between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. The Wellington urban area is the major population centre of the southern North Island and is New Zealand's third most populous urban area with residents. There are ...
.
Credit for the design is usually given to
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
Sir
Basil SpenceSir Basil Urwin Spence, OM, OBE, RA was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modernist/Brutalist style.-Training:Spence was born in Bombay, India, the son of Urwin...
, who made a rough sketch in 1964 while dining with Sir
Keith HolyoakeSir Keith Jacka Holyoake, KG, GCMG, CH, QSO, KStJ was a New Zealand politician. The only person to have been both Prime Minister and Governor-General of New Zealand, Holyoake was National Party Prime Minister from 20 September 1957 to 12 December 1957, then again from 12 December 1960 to 7...
. The building was subsequently drafted and constructed by Gibson O'Conner, a New Zealand based construction company. Construction was carried out by co-founder Noel Gibson and his workforce.
The
Beehive is the common name for the Executive Wing of the
New Zealand Parliament BuildingsThe New Zealand Parliament Buildings house the New Zealand Parliament and are on a 45,000 square metre site at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Wellington...
, located at the corner of
Molesworth StreetMolesworth Street is located at the north end of the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Leading from the northern end of Lambton Quay, central Wellington's main street, it is a one-way street linking the CBD with Tinakori Road, and through it, with main routes...
and
Lambton QuayLambton Quay is the heart of the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand.Originally, as the name implies, it was the high-water line of the foreshore, and sometimes the sea would roll across the road and enter the shops on the opposite side. It was the site of the...
,
WellingtonWellington is the capital of New Zealand, at the southwestern tip of the North Island between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. The Wellington urban area is the major population centre of the southern North Island and is New Zealand's third most populous urban area with residents. There are ...
.
History
Credit for the design is usually given to
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
Sir
Basil SpenceSir Basil Urwin Spence, OM, OBE, RA was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modernist/Brutalist style.-Training:Spence was born in Bombay, India, the son of Urwin...
, who made a rough sketch in 1964 while dining with Sir
Keith HolyoakeSir Keith Jacka Holyoake, KG, GCMG, CH, QSO, KStJ was a New Zealand politician. The only person to have been both Prime Minister and Governor-General of New Zealand, Holyoake was National Party Prime Minister from 20 September 1957 to 12 December 1957, then again from 12 December 1960 to 7...
. The building was subsequently drafted and constructed by Gibson O'Conner, a New Zealand based construction company. Construction was carried out by co-founder Noel Gibson and his workforce. The Beehive was built in stages between 1969 and 1979, when the first parliamentary offices moved in.
During the 1990s, there was a proposal to physically move the Beehive so as to allow for the extension of the Parliament Buildings, as was specified in the original plans published in 1991. Due to public disapproval, this plan was never carried out.
Facts and Figures
The building is ten storeys (72 m) high and has four floors below ground. The entrance foyer's core is decorated with marble floors, stainless steel mesh wall panels, and a translucent glass ceiling.
The Beehive's brown roof is constructed from 20
tonneA tonne or metric ton , also referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to , or approximately the mass of one cubic metre of water. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI...
s of hand-welded
copperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color...
. It has developed a naturally weathered appearance.
A tunnel leads from the building under Bowen Street, linking the Beehive with parliamentary offices in Bowen House.
The Beehive is extensively decorated with New Zealand
artArt is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings...
, notably a large
stained glassThe term stained glass can refer to the material of coloured glass or the craft of working with it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term "stained glass" has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches, cathedrals, chapels, and other significant buildings...
window in the foyer that commemorates the country's sesquicentennial in 1990.
An extension has been built out the front to allow for a new security entrance. A new, bomb-proof, mail delivery room has already been built at the rear of the building.
Uses
The top floor is occupied by the
CabinetA Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or Executive Committee.- Overview :...
offices, with the
Prime Minister'sThe Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
offices on the ninth floor (and part of the eighth). Other floors contain the offices of individual cabinet ministers.
Other facilities within the building include function rooms such as a television studio, press theatre, and a banqueting hall on the first floor of the Beehive, which is the largest function room in the parliamentary complex, as well as service rooms, among which are the parliamentary catering facilities of
Bellamy’s including a bar known as
Pickwicks or
3.2 (due to its position in the building),
Copperfield's café, and the
Member's and
Member's and Guests restaurants. The building also houses, in its basement, the country’s main civil defence headquarters. Other facilities include a theatrette, swimming pool, and television studio.
The Beehive's circular
footprintFootprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes. They may either be indentations in the ground or something placed...
(
rotundaA rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, often covered by a dome. It can also refer to a round room within a building . The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda. A Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome...
) is an elegant and attractive design feature. However it is also quite impractical, as many of its rooms are
wedgeThe term wedge can refer to any of the following things:Abstract concepts:* Wedge Formations, Technical analysis chart patterns* Wedge , a polyhedral solid defined by two triangles and three trapezoid faces...
-shaped or asymmetrical, with desks and other office
furnitureFurniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
at awkward angles.
Tours
Free, guided tours of the beehive are available. They last up to one hour, and educational visits for students are also available.
External links