Majestic Centre, Office skyscraper in Wellington, New Zealand
The Majestic Centre is a 116-meter office tower with 29 floors and a curved exterior wrapped in blue glass and aluminum panels. The structure incorporates the preserved facade of an older building into its modern design, creating a layered architectural composition.
The site held the Majestic Theatre, a cinema and cabaret open from 1929 to 1984, whose ballroom events made it a key Wellington venue. Deemed an earthquake risk, it closed in 1984 and demolition began in 1987. The tower by Jack Manning of Manning Mitchell, with Kendon McGrail of Jasmax, was completed in 1991. Dr Henry Pollen's House was moved to the Boulcott and Willis corner as a condition of the site's use.
The name comes from the Majestic Theatre, a cinema and cabaret that ran on this site from 1929 to 1984 and hosted ballroom events. The three-storey Edwardian Classical brick facade of Preston's Building, built in the early 1900s, is kept on the Willis Street frontage. The 2025 atrium refurbishment replaced the escalator water feature with stepped planters of native New Zealand plants.
The tower stands on Willis Street in Wellington's central business district and is easily accessible from downtown. Most interior spaces are restricted to businesses and tenants, though the exterior and street-level areas can be viewed freely.
The tower's curved profile was not a stylistic choice: Wellington City Council set wind parameters that required the shape to reduce gusts at street level. Its Willis Street entrance opens into a three-storey glass-roofed atrium, described at the time of construction as the largest in the southern hemisphere.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,429 contributors worldwide.