How high can Auckland go?
Architecture firms around the world are in a design competition to create a $150 million high-rise that will challenge Auckland’s planning rules.
Five firms – Woods Bagot, Cox Architects, Zaha Hadid, Elenberg Fraser and New Zealand-based Warren and Mahoney – were briefed about the competition to create a high-rise apartment and hotel tower on Federal St by Melbourne property development firm ICD last month.
Bobby Kennedy of ICD said architects were encouraged to abandon ‘‘black and white’’ planning rules to create a design statement in the centre of Auckland.
‘‘What the architects are experimenting with at the moment is how high we can go.’’
Kennedy said Auckland was still working out what its ultra-high-rise skyline would look like but the company wanted to be part of it. The high-rise will sit diagonally across from the Sky Tower, Kennedy said.
‘‘We’re not limited in height but we are limited by the floor area we have.’’
A seven-storey car park sits at the current site, 65-71 Federal St, and ICD has an agreement to take ownership of the property from SkyCity Entertainment Group in April 2019.
Competing architecture firms will produce two designs, one fully compliant with Auckland’s Uni- tary Plan and one not bound by its rules.
ICD wanted to see a seamless flow between public areas and private spaces at the ground floor, Kennedy said.
When built, the high-rise would be close to public transport nodes and well positioned to take advantage of any expansion of Federal St’s shared pedestrian area.
‘‘The site is pretty much sitting on top of what is going to be New Zealand’s busiest train station – Aotea station.’’
Restaurants of the kind seen on Federal St could sit on the building’s ground floor, said Sal Quah, director of operations at ICD.
Another option could be something similar to the Hwkr food court located at the bottom of ICD’s EQ tower in Melbourne.
Hwkr is home to a cluster of boutique coffee and Southeast Asian fusion street-food outlets open from 7am until midnight.
The 63-storey EQ Tower in Melbourne is the company’s most high-profile development in Australia and, at 202 metres, almost as tall as Auckland’s Sky Tower, which has an observation deck at 220 metres. The Sky Tower is 328 metres to the top of its mast, which rises above the observation deck.
Architects had been given rough guidance that the building should have 120 hotel rooms and 210 apartments, Kennedy said.
‘‘What we really wanted to achieve was to see what would happen if we let the reins out on the architects. We want the building to give back to Auckland as a city.’’
The competition’s winner announced next month. will be