Queens Wharf – the debate continues

The debate over what to do with Queens Wharf continues, as detailed in a couple of Herald articles today. To refresh the memories, a week or so ago the government and the Regional Council each stumped up $20 million to buy back Queens Wharf from the Ports of Auckland, so it can operate as a “Party Central” for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and then after that be opened up to the public. There was also mention of potential other uses for the site, such as a cruise ship terminal, the location for a theatre and potentially an art space. In the middle of all that, I called out for most of the wharf to be set aside as a public space – to keep it simple, less is more etc. etc.

Since then we’ve seen the Auckland City Council and the Auckland Regional Council come up with their proposed visions for the site: which somewhat unsurprisingly are completely different. Just another example of why a single Auckland Council is so necessary I suppose. The Regional Council wants to focus on providing a world class cruise ship terminal on the site through demolishing both existing sheds and replacing them with a fancy new building. The City Council wants to keep the two sheds, refurbish them and turn one of them into a cruise ship terminal and the other into possibly a theatre and an art space. Possible sketches of the two options are shown below:

Looking at the Auckland City Council option first, I am initially quite drawn to the way that it looks like most of the space has been set aside for a public square. Next to the cruise ship we see one of the sheds, refurbished and not looking too bad. In the distance I can just make out the other shed – although all it seems to be doing is getting in the way of continuing the public space down at the far end of the wharf. It’s a tad disappointing not to see any grass or plantings. It often seems like architects can forget that we live in New Zealand and not in some European country, and that naturally for some reason New Zealanders just seem to prefer grassy lawns and a few trees over and above the vast areas of paved space that Europeans seem to flock to. If you look around the Auckland CBD the large paved areas have often failed: Aotea Square is a bit of an embarrassment for our prime civic venue, while Queen Elizabeth II square at the bottom of Queen Street was so bad nobody complained when it was turned into a bus station. By contrast, Albert Park is usually teeming with people as are the many parks in the suburbs. Get some greenery down there!

As for the Regional Council’s option – shown on the left here, I can’t help myself but scream out “have we learned nothing from the Princes Wharf debacle!” Parallel to Queens Wharf is Princes Wharf, that is covered by the Hilton Hotel and a pile of bars. It should be a public space but has largely been locked away unless you’re willing to pay a few hundred dollars a night to stay at the Hilton Hotel. The ARC’s option seems to pander to the interests of the cruise ship industry so much by building a huge new building (as a terminal, why the heck do we need something so big and grand for old Americans?) above everything else. Whilst the ARC says there’s plenty of room for both a large cruise ship terminal and a significant public open space, why should we need to compromise our open space just to make life slightly prettier for those arriving on cruise ships? Sure, the current situation is pretty unacceptable in terms of cruise ship passengers having to wander through a working port, but I certainly don’t think that the people of Auckland should have to sacrifice too much of this previous public open space just to please a few visitors.

In the end I can’t say I’m particularly happy with either option. Both options involve too much building and too little parkland. There are two things that need to be sorted out here: one is a short-term fix to create a party central for the rugby world cup, and the other is a long-term solution for what to do with the site. We don’t need to hurry into a long-term solution. There’s no need to have a fancy cruise ship terminal by 2011, or to commit to spending tens of millions of dollars restoring two pretty dilapidated sheds. My suggestion is still to maximise the area of public space, minimise the amount of the wharf taken up by buildings. Get some grass out there, a few trees and commission one heck of a stunning sculpture to sit at the end of the wharf. Create a space that people will flock to on a sunny summer’s afternoon.

I think I have to leave the last words to what Joel Cayford was quoted as saying in the Herald today, as I think he’s one councillor who has figured it out:

The idea of a cruise ship terminal dominating the wharf and squeezing out the public worries ARC councillor Joel Cayford. He is determined that the privatisation of public space that happened with the Hilton Hotel and the existing terminal on neighbouring Princes Wharf is not repeated on Queens: “Having destroyed public use on one wharf, do we want to destroy another?”He laments the poor quality of public space in Auckland and believes that rather than an iconic building like the Sydney Opera House, what Aucklanders really want is an iconic public space. “We need to say first and foremost that this wharf is a public space.”The architects the Herald spoke to agree – all pointing to the extraordinary potential of the expansive northern end of Queens Wharf with its openness and magnificent views of the harbour. Several spoke about open spaces like Federation Square in Melbourne and said if a cruise ship terminal was to be part of the brief, that public access should be the prime consideration.

Many pointed to the terminal at Yokohama providing public access over its entire area with undulating timber boardwalks and grass roofs, as an example of how that could be achieved.

Cayford, who has worked with Urban Planning Masters students, says the key ingredients for successful public spaces, especially for families and older people, are very simple – public toilets, public seating and nearby places to buy cheap food like sandwiches, pies and soft drinks.

But finding all three basic amenities in central Auckland public spaces is almost impossible. Or, in places where they do exist, such as the downtown ferry terminal, the public are excluded unless they have purchased a ferry ticket.

Cayford urges more consideration of the potential of the existing sheds too, pointing out that in their original form nearly 100 years ago they had wide verandas on both sides – making them ideal spaces to shelter from the vagaries of Auckland’s weather.

Now if we absolutely MUST have a large cruise ship terminal on the wharf, then doing something like what Yokohama did, by building a grass roof on the top of the building, would be the way to go.

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