The Rock - Wellington Airport International Terminal

The best way to get an external view of this copper clad award winning building is to be on a aircraft on the runway. For an interior view you need to be an international passenger. The design was by Studio Pacific Architecture in association with Warren and Mahoney. It was inspired by Wellington’s craggy sea-battered coast, evoking the anchoring qualities of the land. Before it was built it was labelled the pumpkin because of the colour used for the copper roof in initial presentation drawings. Inside the terminal there is a sneaky dragon stuck in the wall, about 5m high and 10 across with a winking eye.