Britomart
The Britomart development, complete with underground train station and bus stops, Glass House, "Twin Tin Towers", kauri trees, waterfalls, and a refurbished historic Chief Post Office building. "Arguably the most significant project since the Harbour Bridge," commented councillor Douglas Armstrong, chair of Auckland City's Finance and Corporate Business Committee. And certainly one of the largest ever undertaken by a local government body. Covering 5.2 hectares in downtown Auckland, the $204 million development lies between Quay and Customs Streets, Britomart Place and Queen Elizabeth II Square.
Line drawings of station (click to enlarge lower two images)
The space is decorated with representations of Auckland's landforms and geologies in the form of volcanic gardens with native plants, a curved basalt waterfall, and stainless steel nikau palms up to 26 metres tall.
The ambitious project has multiple objectives: providing an underground railway station (approximately 300 metres long, 45 metres wide, 12 metres below ground level) and a bus interchange; restoring and modifying the former CPO; connecting the station to the square with an underground walkway; preserving adjoining heritage buildings; redesigning Queen Elizabeth II Square; and revitalising the Britomart area with new public spaces and buildings.
This massive undertaking is at the heart of the Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy, a $1.2 billion plan for tackling the area's chronic traffic woes. The plan aims to link new rail services with existing ferry and bus provisions, with Britomart as its hub. The rail station has five platforms and is designed to accommodate 10,500 people per hour by 2020. But is "build it and they will come" a sound assumption? It remains to be seen whether Aucklanders will break off their love affair with the car.
Leading the engineering team was project manager Beca, whose involvement with the development began in 1996. They were involved in the development under Mayor Les Mills, taking the resource consent application through the environment court, and providing support to the council through the public consultation process. The project as it was executed began in November 1999, when new Mayor Christine Fletcher gave the go– ahead for a transport centre, but without the massive above-ground commercial development integral to its predecessor.
To find the best use for the Britomart site, Auckland City Council embarked on an extensive public consultation process culminating in a two-stage design competition. The first stage was an open competition with a wide brief, aimed at attracting as many ideas as possible (153 were received.) The second stage saw seven finalists fight it out on a more detailed brief. In November 2000, the winner was announced: Jasmax (designers ofTe Papa) and architect Mario Madayag.
This case study is reproduced with permission from e.nz magazine. Subscriptions to e.nz are discounted for schools and TENZ members.
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