Property Matters newsletter | December 2022

In this edition of the Government Property Group newsletter – we reflect on the past year, give you an update on our recent visit with GPG Australia, share a recap of the latest national hui on countering terrorism and violent extremism and update you on our latest projects.

Meri Kirihimete ki a koutou ko te whānau - Merry Christmas to you and your whānau

Angela Xygalas, General Manager, Government Property Group and Bruce Kenning, Manager of Property Planning during their recent trip to Australia.

As 2022 draws to a close, I’m sure many of us are reflecting on how quickly the year has gone as the last days of December tick over before we all get to have a well-deserved break over Christmas.

For me, I’m incredibly proud of the achievements across Government Property Group (GPG) and the wider property system. This year, we have continued our progress towards a more unified Public Service while working on the future vision for Government Property.

We hope the New Year will bring exciting opportunities for us to work together in new ways which support a system centric approach to property – delivering seamless public services, unlocking wider environmental and social benefits, and realising cost and operational efficiencies.

After a period of uncertainty through the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have now returned to the office and established new ways of working more flexibly both within our own agencies and across government agencies. What was once viewed as novel, or even temporary, is now an important part of the way us and many of our stakeholders’ work.

With your support we have:

Worked together with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) property team to secure a lease at Upper Hutt Blue Mountain Campus – our first regional hub bringing the public service to the people we are here to serve and creating opportunities for our people to work closer to where they live.
Began the refurbishment of Bowen House as a modern multi agency colocation hub. The new space will support collaboration and working across agencies to support a single public service.
Developed seismic guidance for government office accommodation to support agency decision making on seismic assessments.
Supported agencies with significant commercial transactions, lease management, development projects, procurements, and accommodation solutions.
Delivered a range of Property Knowledge Hours, sharing current issues and opportunities, lessons learned, and innovations happening throughout our sector.
Published new branding, wayfinding and signage guidelines. This will ensure we have a consistent approach to branding across government agencies, supporting a more streamlined, modern public service.
Helped our mandated agencies to manage their property portfolios through the Government Property Portal suite of modules, trialled desk booking software and piloted new space management tools.
Opened the consultation on universal design guidelines to support inclusive and accessible workplaces.

As we look ahead to the new year, I would like to acknowledge the relationship with our agency network. Evolving the property function across government and improving the management of our portfolio is only possible with your support. Thank you for joining our forums, sharing your insights, innovations, and observations. Your generous contributions are invaluable – thank you.

From our GPG whānau to yours, we hope you have a fantastic summer break and we are looking forward to working with you in the New Year and all that 2023 will bring.

Ngā mihi nui

Angela Xygalas
General Manager/Pou Whakahaere – Rawa Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa
Government Property Group

Waikato-Tainui and Accident Compensation Corporation – uniting to strengthen their community

Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) are working in partnership with Tainui Group Holdings (TGH) and Waikato-Tainui to design their brand-new office space. Together, they're designing a space that reflects the significance of the site and the community it serves.

The building design incorporates colours relevant to Waikato-Tainui, blending the earth and sky tones found in our taiao (environment). Blues were used to represent Tainui and their connection with the awa and moana (river and sea), greens for papatuuaanuku (land), browns for the ngaahere(forest) and natural components of Rongoaa representing natural medicines.

“For us the experience with Waikato-Tainui and TGH has been fantastic. It has been a very strong partnering concept that I have not experienced on another project like this. We’re all trying to achieve a great outcome for the community and want to continue this long-term partnership, it’s not about just a building.” – Justin de la Haye, Property Senior Project Manager, ACC

Learn more about how they are working together to design the new office.

Waikato-Tainui and Accident Compensation Corporation – uniting to strengthen their community

Meeting our Government Property Group neighbours across the ditch

Last month Angela Xygalas, General Manager and Bruce Kenning, Manager of Property Planning met with our colleagues from Australia. This was the first face to face meeting since late 2019, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The meeting was organised by GPG Australia, one of the major committees which operates within the Australian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC). GPG Australia enables states to share knowledge, with the aim of promoting excellence in the way government delivers property solutions, focussed on office accommodation.

Some of the highlights discussed were:

Briefings from each state on their work programmes and challenges with hybrid working and space utilisation.
Development of regional hubs and the move to carbon zero, with a focus on electric vehicles.
NABERS, and an initiative by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to ensure all office buildings are fossil-free-gas free.

The Property Council highlighted the slow return to work across several Australian states, influenced by several states still having occupancy restrictions in place as a result of COVID-19.

Angela and Bruce also visited one of the ACT’s latest activity-based buildings at 220 London Circuit, Canberra. This highlighted the differences between the Australian and New Zealand rental markets, with a long-term lease on a superior quality building negotiated at rates well below that being experienced in the Wellington market for new office accommodation. This may reflect the additional costs associated with our seismic risk profile.

In 2023, we will be reaching out to our Australian colleagues more so that we can continue to share our respective experiences and initiatives and leverage learnings.

Keep an eye out for more on what we learn from our counterparts in Australia next year.

Knowledge Hour recap – 8 Willis Street

In November we were hosted by Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) and Ministry for the Environment (MfE) at their shared office space, 8 Willis Street, Wellington. Our final Knowledge Hour of the year included a guided tour of the building followed by a discussion from Stats NZ and MfE where they shared their insights and learnings on co-location.

The presentation demonstrated how both agencies use the space as a people-centred workspace. The building has been designed to encourage a total activity-based style of working, where shared spaces allow an individual to choose how and where they work at any point during the day.

A big thank you to MfE and Stats NZ for sharing your new workspace with us.

If you would like to watch the presentation, please visit our Hīkina video library.

Hīkina - Learning for Government Procurement and Property

A new evolution in government accommodation 8 Willis

He Whenua Taurikura - National hui on countering terrorism and violent extremism

Key groups from across central and local government, civil society, and the private sector came together in November for He Whenua Taurikura, the national hui on countering terrorism and violent extremism.

The annual hui, established following the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch mosque attack, is an opportunity to build relationships and share understanding of countering violent extremism and terrorism. Speakers highlighted the changing nature of New Zealand, as a nation, we face huge diversification of cultural, ethnic, and political groups.

Topics included preventing and countering violent terrorism from a Te Tiriti perspective, responding to the changing threat environment in New Zealand, diversity in democracy and disengagement from radicalisation.

He Whenua Taurikura - National hui on countering terrorism and violent extremism

Government Property Portal updates

It’s been a busy year for us as we prepare to increase system options in the Government Property Portal (GPP) to manage your property portfolio. This includes facilities management, asset management and staff management tools eg desk booking.

As all agencies look to better define, understand, and utilise their existing office space, we were able to trial hoteling (desk booking) for some agencies to pilot in support of this transformation.

We’ve also seen a significant increase in interest for using the full functionality of the existing suite of modules. Asset and facilities management are coming to the fore as agencies are better placed to explore how they are managing their properties. Couple this with the space management and desk booking, and the options available to Government continue to broaden in relation to integrated workplace management tools.

With Serraview now added to the suite of GPP tools, the very best in space utilisation is available for government agencies to use.

This expansion of our portal offering will continue into 2023, where we have a packed agenda including, re-launching the GPP user group, new modules for carbon, energy management and waste management, continued version upgrades and more options for training sessions.

If you would like to know more about the GPP, please email the Government Property Portal team.

Future of government office accommodation – project updates

The government office accommodation programme is progressing well. Our programme team continues to work with agencies to identify and anticipate accommodation options in advance.

Key updates:

Regional hubs projects - The Blue Mountains campus in Upper Hutt and will be the first hub to open late next year, with MBIE, KiwiRail and other agencies sharing the office space. There are three other hub projects underway in Manukau, Porirua and Palmerston North and further regional locations are being explored throughout New Zealand.
Public service hub – The refurbishment of Bowen House in Wellington continues. The building’s design will support collaboration and working across agencies to support a single public service culture. The newly strengthened building reflects the latest thinking in workplace design and hybrid work styles, providing a variety of flexible accommodation and event spaces for agencies.

These hubs support a new way of working, designed to bring public services closer to the communities we serve. If you are interested in finding out more about the programme, email the Project team.

Quick-fire property updates

Workplace and classroom furniture (formerly known as office furniture)

The new panel for the next-generation workplace and classroom furniture contract has been provisionally appointed. Once the supply agreements have been executed with our panel providers, we will announce the new solution. A briefing and Q&A session for agencies and schools is planned for late January 2023. Expect an invite closer to the time.

Building performance specifications (BPS) review

We have reviewed all feedback provided and are now finalising the requirements for the updated document. We want it to be a user-friendly tool to benchmark required quality specifications and operating needs. We’ll be coming back to you with an update on this work in early 2023. If you need more information on the BPS now, please reach out to the GPG team.

Universal design guidelines

We are currently consulting with our mandated agencies and other key stakeholders on the draft guidelines. A key objective of the guidelines is to set a minimum expectation for agencies looking to take a universal design approach to their workplaces. We are expecting to publish these guidelines in Q2 2023.

Assurance function

GPG have introduced a new assurance function to assist in ensuring successful project outcomes. We would like to welcome Scott Davis who has been appointed the GPG’s Manager Property Assurance. The role of the GPG assurance function is to build and operate a valued assurance system that delivers high levels of trust and confidence in government property investment and management across New Zealand.

Over the coming months we will be focussed on developing an integrated assurance system consisting of frameworks, principles, and operating guidelines in addition to providing assurance advice on key projects.

For any assurance related matters or advice please email the Goverment Property Group.