Plimmer Towers, Modern office building in Wellington, New Zealand.
Plimmer Towers is a modern office and hotel complex in Wellington's city center featuring multiple floors of commercial and accommodation spaces. The building stands prominently on Boulcott Street as part of the downtown skyline.
The complex began as the Williams Centre, developed by construction tycoon Arthur Williams. Its multi-level car park was completed in 1963, and the 31-storey office tower opened in 1973. It was New Zealand's tallest building until Auckland's Quay Tower opened in 1981, and Wellington's tallest until the BNZ Centre opened in 1984. A second tower, the Plimmer Towers Hotel, was completed in 1986.
Plimmer Steps, the pedestrian stairway linking Lambton Quay to the complex, carries John Plimmer's name and is the route visitors use to reach the tower from the retail strip below. The complex has also been known as the Williams Centre and later the Plimmer City Centre, and its hotel section has operated under Copthorne and Travelodge branding.
The building sits on a sloped location, which affects how visitors experience different entries and floor levels. Accessibility may vary depending on which entrance you use to enter the complex.
The sloped terrain creates an optical illusion where the building appears taller from one side of the street than the other. From Lambton Quay the structure looks considerably higher than when viewed from the opposite direction.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,808 contributors worldwide.