Conference Venue

Shed 6 sits on Queens Wharf, a totara wharf built in the 1860s then known as ‘deep water wharf’. It is one of several cargo sheds that have been built in this area over the years. Among them are Shed 5 (built in 1886), Shed 3 Dockside (built in 1887), and Shed 1 (1964). A building has been on the Shed 6 site since the mid-1880s though the current shed was replaced in 1959.

Renamed Shed 6 in the 1920s, it has been used as a warehouse, and later as a sail loft during round-the-world yacht races. Renovated in 2013 to act as a temporary performance space while the Town Hall underwent renovations Shed 6 has become a well-used venue for concerts, exhibitions, events, and meetings.

The foyer area houses a display of original artefacts and remnants from Inconstant, a three-masted sailing ship. The ship was grounded at the entrance to Wellington Harbour in 1849 and then towed onto the foreshore where local entrepreneur John Plimmer bought and converted the hull into a warehouse. The remains were rediscovered during the renovations of reclaimed land around an old bank in 1997 and now rest at Shed 6.