Two new images from Auckland Transport on what we can expect the Aotea Station to look like.

The first shows what the entrance to the station will look like from Victoria St.

Aotea Station - Victoria Entrance

A few things is you can see this will result in a significantly narrowed down Victoria St, the rest o which is meant to eventually be turned into a linear park. The image also shows there will be a cycleway along Victoria St and is obviously fairly realistic as like Beach Rd, it has a lot of people walking on it. In the distance you can also see escalators back up to Victoria St on the other side of Albert St. I think this route will become quite popular as a way of avoiding waiting at the lights. This can also be seen in the image below which was released a few months ago.

Aotea Station Design North

The second image is a more fleshed out version of what we’ve seen the station look like from the platform

Aotea Station Design Platform Oct - 15

Share this

41 comments

  1. It’s NOT that hard to do cycle lanes right in busy areas. Seriously – don’t put them on the same level as the footpath, please! Not rocket science.

  2. They might need an extra escalator as that is going to be a huge short-cut – eliminated the uphill walk and you skip a light. Why wouldnt you?

    Is there any access into the building that is being built on the Elliot Street gravel pit?

  3. With platforms that narrow you’re definitely going to need platform doors. I suspect AT is seriously underestimating the numbers of people who’ll be using these facilities, even if they have to walk halfway up Victoria Street to do so.

        1. Do you have a source on this Nick? I live in (and extensively travel throughout) London and two a week does not sound accurate.

        2. There is a 6 part documentary on The Tube the BBC made (I won the DVD via a CRL slogan competition here, so I’ve watched it), in that they talked about this and at one stage mentioned that about 1 a day over the entire London system.

          However, they don’t say it like that they gussy it up as delays or incidents so you may not realise the exact cause of the delay unless you actually are at the station concerned.
          There are so many delays on the underground that knowing which ones were caused by what is impossible.

      1. All new stations have them and the intention is that they will be progrssively installed during future station upgrades. They also play a fire supression role in stations.

    1. or is there another entry at the other end of the platform that links up with Aotea Centre and the town hall?

  4. So if I have a Hop Card, I can use the station’s concourse to not have to walk by the horrible hotel entrance driveway / taxi-on-footpath-fest on the east side of the block? Sold 😉

    Of course in reality I would prefer they take teh opportunity to spruce up the ground level design in that area too.

  5. I see that the weather is always fine in Auckland so that no weather protection is required!

    we seem to have this same design problem in Sydney.

    1. What do you mean? The whole station is closed in, as are the escalators on the west side. Do you mean the east entrance in the first picture? You’re walking on the open street there right now, you’re not worse off than before you duck in. Bit of rain won’t harm you…

      1. Except we have had rules requiring verandas for years to try and make the Auckland climate a little more tolerable. But of course those rules only apply to the private sector, the public sector can require that you get wet because they don’t give a sh*t.

        1. Seriously don’t you look at the picture and see a big veranda on the office building and a covered in station and wonder why they couldn’t have just covered part of the entrance to complete it?

  6. I suppose that lots of water on the ramps will not make them slippery and becoming a raging torrent which will be useful for kayakers wishing to take their kayak on the train. We should have a winter graphic showing all the pedestrains huddled against the perimeter trying to avoid the driving wind.
    Do Council have any real designers in their employ????

  7. Council does have Ludo Campbell-Reid though. One of his ideas is to remove awnings from buildings so that the facade architecture can be admired. He is also quoted as saying rainfall is worse in England and they don’t have awnings……. he is wrong about the rainfall as Auckland has a higher rainfall than London, Manchester, Brisbane and Wellington to name a few. Those awnings are there for a reason!

  8. what is with the random brick accents? As much as I love the shared spaces, one of the things I hate about them is that they have those beautiful to look at accents which are so difficult to walk on.

    1. They’re not random accents, they are tactile pavers designed to delineate edges, steps and the ‘footpath’ for people with limited vision. So yeah, intentionally meant to be noticable under foot.

  9. What is the tube for that is running alongside, but outside, the main rail box in the black and white photo? Future single occupant Tesla Hyperloop?

    1. Presumably one of the many big stormwater drains in the area. They go downhill to the sea, just like the CRL – of course that does a right-turn before going under the harbour (for now).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *