Hot wheels at ramada

Like a giant Rubik’s Cube. That’s how Envelope approached a parking challenge at their Ramada Hotel project on Wellington’s Taranaki Street.

After all, when space is at a premium, but you still need a parking, what do you do? Turn the cube another way. Line it up. And pivot.

Or in other words come up with an amazing car stacker to go with a brand-new hotel.

Envelope was involved in the hotel project from consent to construction, a span of time of about two and a half years. It followed other Ramada projects in Auckland, Wellington, and Queenstown with hotel and apartment developers Safari Group. 

Andrew Thompson, Director of Envelope’s Structural Engineering team, says the hotel – which opened in 2021 - used to have a bank on site, and that building was stripped out to make way for the 90-room hotel. The hotel is eight storeys. 

The Challenge

While some would have been keen to demolish and start again, Envelope and Safari Group worked together to conjure an efficient reuse of the building – a modern take on an old building shell.

The Results

But when it came to parking, some creative thinking was required.

‘We needed to be innovative. There really was no room for a carpark. Instead of six cars on tar seal, there are three times that with 18 cars in a stacker. Simple and effective.’ Andrew says.  

And as with all Ramada Hotel projects, collaboration when the challenges came, was key. Luckily the team from Envelope loves to work outside the box. 

After all, Ernesto Rubik came up with his famous toy while seeking a solution to an engineering problem. Classic pivot.