A home away from home for senior students
Queen Margaret College, an independent girls’ school in Thorndon, Wellington, developed a new boarding residence as part of its wider campus development programme. The project created a home away from home for senior students, providing accommodation that bridges traditional boarding and independent living.
Scope and Project Leadership
The project involved converting an existing house at 45 Hobson Street into the Queen Margaret Residence, providing accommodation for 18 Year 12 and 13 students in shared rooms together with staff quarters. Alongside the conversion of the house itself, the project delivered new campus carparking.
Rubix acted for the college as Project Manager and Engineer to the Contract, drawing on its long-standing relationship with the school. Rubix led the procurement and tender process and steered the project through contract award and construction, coordinating the college, design team, and contractor throughout.
Challenges and Delivery Approach
The project carried the particular demands of building on an operating school campus. Deliveries and noisier works were timed around the start and end of the school day, and the site was managed to keep disruption to students and staff to a minimum.
Refurbishing an older building also brought its share of the unexpected, with opening up the existing structure regularly calling for prompt, practical responses to keep the programme on track.
Project Outcomes
The project team held a fixed completion date, and the residence was finished and opened in time for the start of the 2026 school year. The result is a new home for senior boarders that gives Queen Margaret College a modern, welcoming residence in the heart of its Thorndon campus.
Points of Interest
- Converts an existing house into accommodation for 18 students, bridging traditional boarding and independent living.
- Included new campus carparking alongside the boarding house development.
- Delivered on an operating school campus, with deliveries and noisy works timed around the school day to minimise disruption.
