Accounting firm to move to new digs

By Campbell McIlroy

Friday 19th May 2000

Accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers wil have the most open office space in the country in its new building but will not go open plan because of client-confidentiality issues.

The country's biggest accounting firm will finally house all its Auckland staff in one building when it moves into AMP's new office tower on Auckland's waterfront in May 2002.

It received 14 responses when it went to the market in August 1998 to find a new home for the merged PriceWaterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand firms.

PWC's agreement to become anchor and naming rights tenant of AMP NZ Office Trust's new PricewaterhouseCoopers Tower went unconditional just before Christmas last year.

AMP's proposal won out because of its accessibility, large floor plates, flexibility in design, and the overwhelming profile the building would enjoy on the waterfront, the firm's managing partner John Harvey said.

When construction is completed in May 2002 the firm will move into levels 20 through 25 of the 31-level tower.

Fellow anchor tenants Buddle Findlay will take levels 17-19 and ANZ have an option on levels 9-11.

The massive floor plates, which at 1352sq m are the biggest in the country, have enabled the company to achieve a 20% efficiency gain in its use of space.

The lack of columns on the large floor plates also gave the company total freedom when it came to deciding the final layout of its offices.

From a branding point of view naming rights had been very positively viewed by clients and the new tower would be a prominent feature on the Auckland skyline.

Mr Harvey said property developer Andrew Krukziener's recent application for a judicial review of the buildings resource consents was of genuine concern but he was confident the matter would be resolved.

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