Voco-HIE Hotel

A partnership between Pro-invest Group and IHG Hotels & Resorts; Auckland City Centre’s voco and Holiday Inn Express is a one-of-a-kind, dual-hotel development. The 39-storey 140-meter-tall development has two independently operated hotel chains ‘stacked’ in a tower format – a unique configuration in the New Zealand market, which has become a standout addition to Auckland’s iconic skyline.

With 495 guest rooms and GFA of 27,290sqm, the hotels also include food and beverage offerings, meeting rooms and conferencing facilities, recreational facilities, and commercial space at ground level. The 4.5-star voco occupies the upper half of the tower and includes New Zealand’s highest rooftop bar and open-air terrace. The 3.5-star Holiday Inn Express occupies the lower half of the building and includes an all-day dining trattoria.

Specifically designed and developed to reduce its impact on the environment, the hotel development achieves the highest energy efficiency ratings (Level 4) via IHG’s bespoke ESD rating tool, Green Engage.

The project was impacted by COVID-19, which also included four lockdowns. Despite this, the Holiday Inn Express (HIE) portion was completed within two months of the original contract programme and voco within three months of the original programme. Practical Completion (PC) was staggered with HIE receiving PC on 17 December 2021, voco on 15 March 2022, and level 38 on 2 May 2022.

The tower covers all of the 1,270sqm corner site footprint, and the build methodology required meticulous planning to succeed with no laydown and just in time deliveries. With the Contractor (Icon) incurring all four Auckland lockdowns, the build experienced significant supply chain and resource constraints.

Both hotels strived to deliver a universally accessible experience for all hotel guests. The project team worked closely with a local accessibility consultant to enable equitable access throughout the finished project.

With the hotels’ prominent corner location on Albert and Wyndham Streets, urban design is reflected through the 4-storey podium, which provides the opportunity to engage two important city throughfares. The hotel lobby with food and beverage offerings along Wyndham Street, and a prominent retail tenancy on Albert Street give purpose to a previously unengaged area of the city.

Hotel facilities include meeting rooms with conferencing facilities, rooftop bar with open terrace, and all-day dining trattoria, which are also open to the public, as well as a retail space for sub-letting. Additional facilities for guests include the lobby bar and restaurant, fitness centre, and parking.

The addition of a luxury suite on voco’s top floor offers its guests a luxurious and unique accommodation offering with expansive views of Waitematā Harbour.

TSA Riley was engaged to provide full project management services including design management; contractor procurement; Engineer to Contract; contract administration; construction observation; design approvals management; and project completion/handover management. We worked closely with Icon as the Main Contractor, as well as SJB and Ignite as the Architects. 

Voco-HIE took home the Supreme Award at the 2023 Property Council NZ Property Industry Awards, where the judges were “blown away by this extraordinary building”.