Designed for success
On the shortlist for the 2018 NZ Architecture Awards: A Ponsonby villa addition by Matter Architects (left) and a Hamilton cultural centre by Walker Group Architects.
The Waterview Connection motorway link, new premises for the country’s most up-market car dealership and Ponsonby’s Vinegar Lane residential/commercial precinct are among big Auckland projects shortlisted for national architecture awards.
The NZ Institute of Architects’ judges picked 48 projects for the list. The winners will be announced at Wellington’s Te Papa on November 9.
Warren and Mahoney Architects is shortlisted for its work on the Waterview Connection. When it won the Auckland area award, judges praised the firm for “adding a layer of sophistication to the development of this motorway infrastructure project. The use of pou at ventilation shafts and as markers at each portal, seamlessly integrated with the tunnel, brings sheer grandeur to the project.”
The same architects designed
119GNR, Giltrap Group’s new $40 million, nine-level car showroom at
119 Great North Rd, Newton. The building displays Aston Martin, Bentley and Lamborghini vehicles.
“This building is all about cars. A sensuous ramp alludes to a performance driving experience while the traffic flow throughout the building is seamless, with a flawlessly organised
Adding a layer of sophistication to the development of this motorway infrastructure project.
integration of activities and services,” the judges said when the project was picked for an Auckland award.
“The meticulous logistics planning and rigorous detailing mirror the intricacy of the luxury cars on offer. Office interiors are highly polished and the two-storey concrete truss that braces the building is a dramatic diagonal element that adroitly frames the ‘jewel box’ car displays.”
Isthmus Group was shortlisted for designing the mixed-use Vinegar Lane, already an Auckland area architecture award winner.
“Progressive Enterprises should be congratulated for undertaking an innovative approach to developing this block. This back-to-the-future concept of small, defined development lots, with a focus on architectural quality throughout, is a significant improvement on the traditional monolithic developments of the past,” judges said.
Other Auckland projects on the list include GridAKL Innovation 5A at 12 Madden St in the Wynyard Quarter and Mason Bros, also in Wynyard — Warren and Mahoney’s own new Auckland head office, which incorporates heritage architecture.
Education projects which were
This building is all about cars. A sensuous ramp alludes to a performance driving experience while the traffic flow throughout the building is seamless
shortlisted for the awards include: Cathedral Grammar Junior School and St Andrew’s College Centennial Chapel in Christchurch; the University of Auckland Science Centre; The Hub — Te Huna at Unitec in Auckland; Rutherford House redevelopment and Te Toki a Rata Building, both at Victoria University of Wellington; and Te Kei at Ara City Campus in Christchurch.
Twenty houses are shortlisted and the judging panel, headed by Richard Goldie, said that fact demonstrated the strength of domestic architecture.
A Mt Albert housing project made the shortlist and Goldie said, “social housing is hugely important and also, because of budget constraints, architecturally challenging.”
The two-level brick homes on Jennings St and Jersey Ave won an Auckland area award, with judges saying: “This project represents the ingenious delivery of a partial service for Housing New Zealand within a tight budget and programme.
“The design — efficient, economical and textured — sees duplex units slid back to include parking, which has allowed a reduction of scale and the provision of shared spaces. Higher than standard ceilings, and the architect’s close attention to proportions, have resulted in living spaces that feel generously sized.”