The Beehive & Parliament Buildings
The Beehive
New Zealand's parliamentary complex, with the circular 'Beehive' and the Edwardian-style Parliament House. Free guided tours take you into the debating chamber. Across the street is the Old Government Buildings, the world's second-largest wooden building.
The parliamentary complex sits at the north end of the city centre on Molesworth Street and consists of three very different buildings. The Beehive, completed in 1977, is a ten-storey circular terraced building designed by Scottish architect Basil Spence. It houses the offices of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and has become a byword for New Zealand politics. Parliament House, an Edwardian neoclassical building from 1922, is where the debating chamber is located. The Parliamentary Library, a Gothic building from 1899, completes the group. Free guided tours run on the hour every day and last about an hour. Register at the visitor centre, and bring your passport or ID for the security check. The tour takes you through the debating chamber, committee rooms, the library, and the basement's seismic base, which has over 400 rubber isolation pads added in the 1990s and explains New Zealand's earthquake engineering. When Parliament is sitting (usually Tuesday to Thursday from 2 pm), you can sit in the public gallery beside the chamber and listen to question time. On the lawn stands a statue of Prime Minister Richard Seddon, and peaceful protests often gather here. Across the road is the Old Government Buildings, completed in 1876. Its exterior looks like stone, but the whole building is in fact made of kauri timber. It is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere and the second-largest in the world, and today it houses the Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Law. The ground floor can be visited free of charge. Five minutes' walk away are the National Library, where the He Tohu exhibition displays the original Treaty of Waitangi (free), and Old St Paul's, a Gothic timber church from 1866. Getting there: it's a 5-minute walk from the train station, and the cable car, or a walk down from the Botanic Garden, leads right here. Tips: tours require a security check, and large bags must be left in storage. Photography and video are prohibited inside Parliament, though the lawn and exteriors can be photographed. When observing debates, dress neatly and silence your phone. Tours are conducted in English, so look up Chinese-language materials in advance if you want them.
Opening hours
Tours depart daily on the hour 10:00–16:00 (except Christmas and some holidays)
Nearby sights
- Old St Paul's
- Wellington Museum
- Katherine Mansfield House & Garden
- Wellington Waterfront & Oriental Bay
- City Gallery Wellington
- Wellington Cable Car & Botanic Garden
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
- Cuba Street