Wellington Airport celebrates the opening of its new air traffic control tower today.
The 32 metre high tower took three years to complete, and has a 12.5 degree lean into the northerly wind, which is more than the tower of Pisa.
It is also one of the most resilient buildings in the country.
"It's probably the safest building in New Zealand," general manager of Air Traffic Services Tim Boyle told 1 NEWS' Mei Heron.
The new structure has a 13 metre tsunami wall and 13 base isolation units which allows it to move 700mm in all directions.
It will be one of the last air traffic control towers to be built for some time as a result of digital developments.
"When you look to place a control tower at the airport, you try to get it as close to the centre of the runway as you possibly can," he says.
"We were really fortunate here, we surveyed 39 different sites and ended up with this one and it is as close as we can possible get."
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