Britomart has been an outstanding success, both from the train station – which is way ahead of patronage projections – and the redevelopment of the precinct around the station which has turned the area from one of the most run down and avoided into one of Auckland’s best urban destinations. That redevelopment has been done by Cooper & Co and has included the renovation of 18 heritage buildings as well as the construction of new ones such as the EY and Westpac buildings.
While much has been done, what a lot of people often don’t realise is that the redevelopment is still far from complete. One particularly large change will see a new buildings built on the central site bounded by Commerce, Galway, Gore and Tyler Streets. The area is currently home to a series of low rise buildings housing the likes of Ortolana and which were only intended to be there for the short to medium term.
I’ve been hearing rumours for a while now that Cooper & Co were keen to get under-way with the Central Building once again to tie in with the CRL – another case where the CRL is driving commercial development. Yesterday we learned that not only is that the case but also Cooper & Co have put a proposal to council to develop an office town on the publicly owned land at the back of Britomart that is currently home to the glass box extension of the former Chief Post Office and that odd little carpark. The current plans by Auckland Transport are to use it for a temporary entrance to the station while the CPO is closed while the tunnel is dug out beneath it but what happens after that work is finished is unknown.
Cooper & Co say they’re currently working on the master planning for the central and western areas of the Britomart precinct and obviously see an opportunity to further increase the amount of development planned given the success of what’s been done so far. In addition they are bringing it up now as any works needed to support the development of the site could be done at the same time as Britomart was undergoing the extensive work that will be happening for the CRL. Some of their suggested changes are
- Strengthening foundation work so as to enable possible construction of a new commercial building to the east of the CPO building utilising the air space above the Transport Centre.
- Creating a large new concourse hall for the Transport Centre, possibly linking with the CPO building.
- Opening up the western face of the CPO building.
- Creating more public spaces.
- Increasing the capacity and operating efficiency of the Transport Centre and reinforcing its position as Auckland’s “Grand Central Station”.
Their ideas for the site are shown in a presentation to the council’s Development Committee today. Their potential master plan shows a number of buildings on the central site around a square and four buildings along the edges of the site behind the CPO. You can also see they are planning a building for the site currently home to Britomart Country Club. I’m also guessing this was drawn up before the sale of QE2 Square and I wonder if that had an impact on their thinking about the potential for publicly owned land.
For the Western site those four buildings are actually low rise retail stores above which an office building would float creating an elevated atrium three to four storeys high, this is shown in the image below. You’ll also notice there’s another set of escalators/stairs down to the middle concourse level, I believe they or something similar go in as part of the temporary building during the enabling works.
Here’s some concepts of how they think it might look, complete with ghost people.
While only a concept it certainly seems like it could be an interesting building. The more I look at it the more I also think that removing that leaky glass box and opening up the back of the CPO could be quite nice. Of course in reality buildings aren’t quite as transparent and so as always better details of the design key.
There are also a few images of the proposed central building(s)
I realise these are only concepts however one thing I did notice is that there are none of the volcanic cone features shown. I’m not sure if that’s deliberate or just an oversight. It also appears that that they want to see Gore and Commerce St as shared spaces given the lack of road delineation in the images. That is also shown in the aerial view of the precinct below. Just how practical that is isn’t known as we know from CRL information that buses will still be passing through the area – particularly on Commerce St.
Overall it’s an interesting proposal and we could do with some bolder architecture. I think should definitely be considered among a mix of other options for that site. I also think that if the council/AT end up agreeing to this and it requires reinforced foundations that AT should also consider if it’s worth changing the platform layout of the station. We already see today that the platforms at the station struggle hopelessly even with today’s volumes, let alone what might happen once the CRL goes live.
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In the Herald this morning: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11496267
Cooper is right about the timing, and there are lots of underground projects around the world that have been coordinated with integrated private development. But it must be understood that the transport-related improvements can’t be captive to real estate and financial market conditions required to make the private investment go. That can change the equation on the private investment business case, so that has to be factored in, and we’re not talking about something well into the future; these decisions need to be made now.
The visions above are certainly ‘sans bus’. I think everyone agrees the narrow lanes of Britomart would be even better without buses but that does require somewhere else for them to go. As even post CRL and Light Rail there will still be buses, fewer buses, but the city will still need them somewhere. A Rapid Transit only next harbour crossing would be the next big way reduce city bus numbers, and must be evaluated.
I don’t like the idea of selling off all that land down there. QEII is already gone (although arguably it’s been gone since Britomart opened).
Dan you do know that Britomart is leasehold? Owned in perpetuity by we the people, leased to Cooper and Co, it is reasonable to assume that it would be no different with this carpark too. Especially as the station will still be below it. Will keep an eye on that but was never flogged off unlike the old crappy Downtown development [and deal].
The plans AT released for the temporary building at the rear of Britomart showed the planned “after” simply being the reinstatement of the status quo pointless carpark which I found pretty uninspiring that that was the best AT could come up with.
Land use is not an AT strength, like NZTA, they tend to assume carparking is the best use for any horizontal surface they own, I guess cos they spent so much money and effort on the things otherwise….?
The devil is very much in the details here.
While it could be a fantastic addition to a pretty dull area right now, it could equally turn ground level into a sunless, windswept eyesore, basically a QEII Square 2.0 if done badly. Those transparent buildings won’t look like that – instead you’ll be looking up as the arse end of a building
“in the sky”, blocking out the sun for quite some parts of the day at ground level. Now that can be made interesting or it can be made to be disrespectful. So as I said devil is in the details.
To give the proposers credit they have done a reasonably good job so far at Britomart precinct, but the only “new” building they’ve built is the Westpac/EY building, which itself is quite some windswept tunnel at ground level at times. The rest have been refurbishing existing (lower level) buildings, for which they’ve done a good job too, but that hasn’t required any major changes to the building forms of those buildings.
But whatever goes here, it must work with the fact that this area around Britomart is a PT focused enviroment, rail, bus and eventually LRT. So it must respect that and enhance it. And cannot become yet another public space that is wasted by the buildings that dominate it to its detriment.
One more of an endless line of examples that NZ architects can’t think beyond the box. How about some articulation for a change? Design details, elegance, lightness? Look at what other cities – other “World Class Cities” – are building. This kind of stuff is an embarrassment.
+1
Cooper & Co have managed to transform a pretty bleak area of the city that enhances the natural advantage of being integrated with a transport hub. IF they continue on this course delivering benefit to their stakeholders and the city in general, I don’t see any reason not to let them continue.
The caveat on this so it’s not an open cheque is that there needs to be time between development phases. This should also allow them to move the conversation from the bland and boring boxes to some more innovative designs.
In this circumstance evolution is probably better than revolution. It takes time for people to be comfortable with some elements of change. Most readers of this blog are early adopters, but there is a risk of heading off on a journey that will never really get started if public opinion deems the public isn’t ready for the change.
Weren’t the current volcanic cones a requirement due to the old diesel trains (Ie. the glass tops could be removed/smashed quickly to create chimneys in the even of a fire). I heard there were lots of additional engineering features added at the request/demand of the fire department.
I’ve never heard of the idea of removing/breaking the glass tops of the cones… It seems pretty impractical/implausible to me given that the impressive fire supression system inside Britomart station is very capable.
I’m not a fire fighter but creating additional outlets/O2 sources doesn’t seem intuitive either.
Creating a chimney sounds like the worst possible thing to do in a fire!
No, actually, the first thing firefighters do is to create a hole in the roof, to let heat buildup escape. But regardless, the intent of the volcanos was for daylight entry, not for putting out fires. Britomart was proudly lauded as the world’s first underground diesel train station – it is only because it was so infrequently used at the beginning that it could function without suffocating y’all. I think everyone is probably much happier that it is no longer an underground diesel station…
Doesn’t the Overlander still run with a diesel engine?
It does, so Britomart isn’t exactly diesel-free.
They would have to build that before CRL opens to reinforce britomart significance using critical mass.
Once CRL opens, the growth will shift to midtown, and up town.
I don’t believe the CRL would harm the Britomart area. Sure, pure day-by-day numbers passing through the station there will drop significantly, at least for the first couple years. But the vibrancy of the *whole* City Centre will bloom with the CRL, and any activities at Britomart will be much easier to reach from many parts of the city, easily counteracting the downsides (maybe not from the perspective of a dairy tenant, but certainly for a restaurant, office block owner etc…)
I don’t think numbers will drop significantly at Britomart, more like numbers will just grow overall with Aotea.
Yeah the CRL will generate its own ridership; the jump across the network post CRL will leave the current acceleration looking weak…. Aotea will be huge from the start, but Britomart will not lose appeal.
By 2020 will we ever need a second city centre station!
what a dreadful idea. Turn a large sunny open space into a cold dark cave. We can’t afford to loose any more open space. plenty of undeveloped office sites elsewhere
I agree with Charlie. Would far rather keep the small drop off/pick up area with some added seating rather than allow this monstosity stealing even more sunlight.
While the blog seems pathologically opposed to cars and parking, I can say Ive used the pick up/drop off area a number of times.
“pathologically opposed to cars and parking”.
Or you, being pathologically opposed to any change, particularly that which might mean better use of space and alternatives (not replacements) to the sacred car. There will be plenty of alternative drop off points. Get over it.
Removing sunlight and replacing with a domineering building is not my idea of “a better use of space”. And great leap of logic thinking I view the car as “sacred”. How would you know?
What sunlight? The drop off area sits in near permanent shadow. Not sure why you want a sun on your parked car anyway. It’s not like its a public park.
If you believe this blog is pathologically opposed to cars and parking – mistaking that for daring to offer alternatives – then you must surely be at the other end of the scale….
> And great leap of logic thinking I view the car as “sacred”. How would you know?
From your comments, specifically those calling this blog anti-car, and using the words “pathological” to emphasise that point further.
Realist. Realistically that is exactly what a city is. A whole lot of big buildings close to each other which will indeed throw shadows.
If you’re behind the station and need some sunlight you’ll just pop out the front or head down to our ‘people’s wharf’. It is a mistake to criticise the city for being insufficiently like an open paddock. In fact the more city-like and built up we make the city then the more chance there is that there will still be some open space not completely covered in low spread out buildings within actual reach.
But if you are going to build a building above an area, why not just make the whole area a building. Are there any examples of this ‘tree house’ type idea and are the spaces below them nice for pedestrians?
The lynch mob that came out of the woodworks just confirms my point around the pathological dislike of cars on this blog, and more recently anyone with a differing opinion. Transport policy in this city should be about choice, and due to the shocking levels of underinvestment in cycling and PT over decades money will naturally flow to those modes which are in serious catch up. My concern is that cycling and PT advocates are taking as blinkered a view as the traffic engineers have for years. Comments on the downtown carpark previously are a case in point. The blog and urban designers clamour for redevelopment of this carpark, which is incredibly well used. Where are all those motorists assumed to have gone? Even under the most optimistic forecasts for PT and cycling mode share we will still have a large number of people travelling by car.
So no, the automatic reaction should not be “space used for cars = bad”
On the CBD comments Patrick, given the floorspace allowed in this area we should have FAR more openspace/plazas than we have and should be fiercely protecting what few we currently have. Shared spaces arent a substitutute for plazas or urban parks IMO.
Should we start building over Freyburg square next because a developer thinks its a good idea?
Are you going to just ignore my comment asking why parking can’t be handled on the street.
Well we are getting a brand new open plaza on the sunny side of the station building which is a way better trade off, so it’s just not true that we are losing open space. Quality beats quantity in urban public space every time. You seem to be fighting for a shaded carpark out the back over a real high quality plaza in front of our one grand public building. I don’t get it.
Im not over that detail. Are they getting rid of the buses from Lower Queen Street and turning it into a plaza?
Yes the whole length, although there will still be buses turning in or out of Galway and Tyler St, but only in the direction away from the front of the old CPO in two tight loops, so almost all of it will be completely ped only. And I, and certainly the Britomart management judging by the pics above, hope they’ll be gone from there too, eventually.
And I must say I do think that this plaza, being out the front of a grand public building with a real open public use will at last give Auckland a proper central urban place of the kind that Aotea Square has never been. It will function like one of those market squares in front of the Rathaus you see all across northern Europe, or the cathedral square everywhere else. Only secular. And give us a real place for that Molly McCalister statue of the Chief. We must resist the temptation to fill it up with stuff though….
Downtown carpark is indeed a huge building with about 1900 spaces, serving perhaps 2,300 people. Sounds like a lot, but that’s only three trainloads of people. Britomart moves three trainloads of people every eleven minutes at peak times. The City Rail Link could do that every four minutes. The Northern Busway system delivers ten times that many people to the city every weekday.
Does that answer your question? The idea that we need to support bulk commuter traffic and parking downtown is long since proved false. Of course driving isn’t going away, but car commuters are already the clear minority in the city centre and other modes are so much more space efficient that it’s very hard to justify the ratepayer losing out on so much money by keeping the site of the parking building from being put to more profitable uses. Back in the 90s they were genuinely concerned people wouldn’t come to town unless the council provided lots of cut price parking. Clearly that isn’t a concern today.
Not sure why that function couldn’t be handled on the street
Because there are a lot of competing demands for that space, and doesnt look like any space for drop off on Commerce St in those concepts, although that could be an alternative.
To me it looks like they plan for the whole precinct to be a shared space, which would create masses more opportunity for drop offs.
Seems a nice area now with public space. Rather not have another tall building there. Sure it’s a city but we need our public space. Plus all those stairs…
What if those raised boxes were covered in mirror to reflect light. I have seen that on architectural websites done successfully. I don’t mind the look of them. People tend to sit in the sun and relax down the other end of the square where the afternoon sun actually reaches.
I’m a little lost with the pictures of the floating cubes – very piranesi-moderne – and puzzled with their many levels and complete lack of supporting columns in some of the pictures… however, I’m more puzzled by the complete lack of buses. From what I understand, the top plan shows bus movements in red and/or blue – in other words the place should be literally crawling with buses. Not sure what the green bits are – are they trees, or bike routes, or pedestrians? There’s lines everywhere – which tends to indicate that there will be traffic nearly everywhere too, which is a pity. Some space away from the traffic might be nice. But – dammit – I still can’t figure out what’s holding up those cubes! Who is the architect?! And where is their engineer?
Aussie practice. Yes I laughed at that 5th pic as when any of my students came up with an image like that with a column disappearing at one level with no support below, they’d get a serious swerve! I guess we can conclude that these are very early and sketchy outlines of possibility rather than designs at all.
Has there been any proposals of how the rail links to the bus network and eventually the light rail. I figured that this would be in this area? Have I got that wrong?
So there used to be a green space where these new buildings are proposed. It was very popular with locals and workers. Replaced by the little shops now, but soon to be gone forever. Auckland has terrible public spaces in downtown and almost no green space at all – you know, simple grass and a bit of vegetation and seating – something world class cities have a lot of. This is a great loss if it goes ahead. Sometimes less really is more.
Meanwhile, they shunt buses out again?! So, the original Britomart made almost no provision for buses which are now spread across the city in the worst possible way (go on, hike up from Britomart to Victoria Street because walking is faster but still takes you 10-15 = hooray!). Now there will be no home for them at all. Amazing – and ironic – that the original Britomart Centre, in all its decrepit state, was actually more useful for bus users than what’s replaced it.
Also remarkable that no one seems to give a rats about bus users. Apparently it’s just like, meh, good riddance you ugly stinky buses because you are so, like, ew whatever! But wait, isn’t this a public transport thread? Don’t the vast majority of public transport users rely on buses in Auckland? Aren’t we trying to get away from the single-trip-into-the-city model and promote transfers? Without a single hub that’s going to be pretty difficult. Proven so after the past ten years actually. So to sum up – adios open green space and a giant MEH for all you bus passengers. Thanks for your impeccable logic Transportblog. TICK!
Could someone help us out here? Are the North Shore buses to be cut off from the rail system until the CRL is completed? How is it envisaged the the PT systems of the North South East and west will meet?
Not sure what exactly will happen during the construction, but after the build, all North Shore buses will terminate at lower Albert, cutting you of from britomart.
Cut off by that 150m walk….
‘Cut of’ as in you will have to, cross a road, walk through a mall, then accross across a plaza(?) rather than have a proper interchange. If you make everyone on the Shore who wants to go further south than CBD drive, they will want a ‘second harbour crossing’
Half go to Aotea, half to Britomart with a walk through new Downtown, according to the plan at the top of this post:
http://greaterakl.wpengine.com/2015/08/18/an-update-on-light-rail/
During construction is more of a prob as there is not yet an Aotea Station!
Thank you Patrick. Aotea is going to be quite a busy station, pity it won’t be their prior to 2020.
The 180 buses are going to make that area really hum. Where will the drivers park while taking their break? Maybe they will be driverless by then?
Now I understand the Wynyard Quarter and Learning Quarter will be the terminus, slow but I got there.
Cross road, walk along a laneway, cross plaza, hardly arduous. Or transfer at Aotea, walk down escalator.