Quayside project under way
Construction is under way on two architecturally designed, 6-Green Star office buildings in Wynyard Quarter’s Innovation Precinct.
NZX-listed Precinct Properties is developing the buildings and have undertaken the projects because demand for top-quality spaces continues to exceed supply in Auckland’s CBD. Their PwC Tower is 100 per cent leased while the adjacent HSBC Tower has no full floors available.
These new state-of-the-art premises will be surrounded by a range of office buildings and growing amenities supporting the increase in residents in the area. They will provide future-focussed office space that will spark creativity and deliver an outstanding environment for their occupants.
124 Halsey St is a 10,842sq m nine-level office building supported by the neighbouring 1608sq m three-level Flowers Building, both targeting a 6-Green Star Design and As Built rating, the NZ Green Building Council’s highest rating.
The properties, known as Wynyard Quayside, have been designed by Warren and Mahoney and will be completed in late 2024. They have been configured to maximise their proximity to the harbour and outlook towards the city.
The buildings will have first-class end-oftrip facilities, secure cycle parks and 174 car parks alongside electric vehicle parking.
Colliers has been appointed to lease the properties.
Sam Gallaugher, its director of office leasing, says 124 Halsey St has floors ranging from 457sq m to 1731sq m.
“The building design will offer a range of floor plates that will prove highly functional for a wide array of different uses. The upper levels will be elevated above the rest of the building with views overlooking the CBD and harbour,” Gallaugher says.
“An integrated design allows for smooth transition between work and play, with a cafe lobby on the eastern corner entry point off Halsey St and potentially a bar and restaurant in Halsey Traders outside the northern entrance of the Flowers Building.”
Lucy Mackenzie, commercial leasing broker, says available floor space in the Flowers Building spans between 480sq m and 580sq m. “The Flowers Building is a mass timber structure, a re-emerging construction material selected for both its contribution to a sustainable development, but also an appealing architectural feature.
“The design intent for the Flowers Building has been to display the timber columns, beams and underside of the CLT floor as much as possible. Inviting aesthetics and occupant wellbeing are major features of mass timber construction,” Mackenzie notes.
“Expansive floor to ceiling heights of 3.8m on the ground floor and Level 1 highlight the building features and emphasise the exposed services. The top floor, Level 2, benefits from a sawtooth roof design, increasing the ceiling heights beyond 4m.”
Anthony Randell, Precinct’s general manager of property, says a bonus to occupiers is that Precinct owns Generator, New Zealand’s leading flexible workspace provider. “Generator is already well established at Wynyard Quarter and can provide immediately adjacent event space, which delivers incoming occupiers a highly efficient, flexible work environment.”
Gallaugher says Wynyard Quarter has many prominent tenants with a vacancy rate of only 1.5 per cent across some 110,000sq m of floor space.