Media Releases
RNZ confirms contracts for fitout of new Auckland office
Released at 3:03 pm on 8 December 2025
RNZ has awarded contracts to fitout its new Auckland premises, prioritising creating a high-quality broadcasting facility in Auckland capable of building on its strength in audio.
RNZ has occupied its current Auckland premises on Hobson Street for more than 20 years and in that time the number of Auckland-based RNZ kaimahi has grown from 30 to over 160.
RNZ Chief People Officer Sarah Neilson said moving to a larger space has been a priority for RNZ for some time.
“We outgrew our space in Hobson Street some time ago as we progressively moved more of our people and production to Auckland. Our new location in the TVNZ building is bigger and will accommodate our people in a modernised facility.”
The move will deliver a significant improvement to RNZ’s studios, with 500sqm of studio space across two floors. The music studio is doubling in size, allowing for larger live performances to be recorded. RNZ will also be able to capture video across a greater number of studio locations in the new premises. The number of studios capable of live production will increase, and these spaces are also designed to be flexible, supporting recording, production or editing when needed. This flexibility means more support for standalone podcast recording and multimedia studio production. It will also provide more editing capacity, enabling RNZ to increase its output to audiences.
RNZ Chief Technology Officer Mark Bullen said the challenge for the fitout is building studio spaces that enhance RNZ’s strengths in audio-first media production.
“All the studio spaces have been designed to minimise sound leakages and shaped to provide the best acoustic properties for recording. This means isolating the spaces with raised floors, double layered walls, and ceilings to insulate them from noise elsewhere. For our music studio we are including a lightweight concrete floor isolated from the main structure ensuring sound created in that space is as contained as it can be”
The total capital cost of the project is $10.66m across contracts that were awarded after a competitive tendering process. The contract for building works has been awarded to interiors and construction company Cape at a value of $6,165,000 + GST. The technical fitout has been awarded to Gencom, Qvest and AVC, with a total budgeted spend of $4,500,000 + GST.
The project is being funded from RNZ’s capital investment budget and from financial reserves.
The project includes building the studios as well as all equipment needed to create the high-quality audio RNZ is known for. It represents a significant investment by RNZ in building for the future of public media in Auckland, ensuring RNZ can continue to tell the stories of all of Aotearoa by having a strong base in our largest and most diverse city.
RNZ’s project team undertook a value engineering process to identify areas of savings for the project prior to any work starting and is committed to delivering value for money for the project.
“Our focus throughout has been on how we can make sure we are providing more for our audiences by increasing our capacity in audio, and at the same time how we can reduce other costs of the relocation process. That’s meant keeping existing spaces like bathrooms and kitchens where we can, limiting custom built-in furniture and reusing office equipment such as desks, chairs and even some functional studio equipment, all of which is being transferred over from Hobson Street,” said Bullen.
The fitout is now underway with RNZ kaimahi expected to start to move into the building mid-2026.
