God, I LOVE that restaurant.^^
QUEEN'S WHARF | Under Construction
Cargo shed 'magic' for $84m
4:00AM Friday Jun 19, 2009
By Bernard Orsman
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Two 97-year-old dock sheds will be converted into "magic spaces" for the Rugby World Cup under an $84.3 million plan approved by the Auckland City Council yesterday.
The sheds are the focal point of a plan for a cruise ship terminal and World Cup "party central" on Queens Wharf.
The council opted to restore the two 1912 cargo sheds instead of building a basic terminal for $112.8 million, an "iconic" terminal for $144 million or a basic cup fan zone for $52.1 million.
The $84.3 million has been included in the council's long-term budget, but it will be paid by all Aucklanders when the Super City takes over next year.
The Government and the Auckland Regional Council each paid $20 million to buy the wharf from Ports of Auckland, so the city council's proposal takes the total cost to just over $124 million.
Its city development general manager, John Duthie, said the two cargo sheds were "magic spaces", full of exposed kauri, totara and matai native timber and steel beams.
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The plan is to turn the eastern shed into a cruise ship terminal in conjunction with a live site on the ground floor for World Cup events.
The western shed would have a more basic upgrade for use during the rugby tournament, and would be converted afterwards to another use, such as a new home for the Auckland Theatre Company.
The theatre company believes a combined 500- to 600-seat theatre and cruise ship terminal would be complementary in an "architecturally stunning" multipurpose building.
Auckland City Mayor John Banks said an open day would be held soon to show Aucklanders how fabulous the buildings were on the inside and how special they could look.
Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney said the council plan appeared to be a good middle-ground option that would open up a quintessential Auckland location to showcase the city for the World Cup.
Although the bill will be spread across the region - and has to be approved by the Auckland Transition Agency before it can be passed to the Super City - several city councillors yesterday criticised the amount of money involved in the project.
City Vision councillor Cathy Casey said the new spending was "World Cup-itis".
"The symptoms are feverish spending of ratepayers' money on anything to do with Rugby World Cup 2011 and blindness to the real long-term needs of Aucklanders living in the suburbs," she said.
Deputy Mayor David Hay said that until recently the regional council was going to develop Queens Wharf, but now it and the Government had "dished us up a big problem and a huge opportunity".
Based on an assessment showing 35 per cent of the economic benefits from a cruise ship terminal would go to the whole country, the council would seek a $30 million contribution from the Government "or other parties".
Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully said he was not surprised Auckland City was seeking money from other parties, but the focus should be on other councils rather than the Government, which had already paid $20 million towards the purchase.
Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee said he had not been briefed on the council's plans, but he would not be "rubber-stamping" them without some scrutiny.
"The ARC's approach would be to have the wharf open, and have a new building - that's our preference as the part-owner. But we'll have a good look at Auckland City's plan in an open way."
4:00AM Friday Jun 19, 2009
By Bernard Orsman
Two 97-year-old dock sheds will be converted into "magic spaces" for the Rugby World Cup under an $84.3 million plan approved by the Auckland City Council yesterday.
The sheds are the focal point of a plan for a cruise ship terminal and World Cup "party central" on Queens Wharf.
The council opted to restore the two 1912 cargo sheds instead of building a basic terminal for $112.8 million, an "iconic" terminal for $144 million or a basic cup fan zone for $52.1 million.
The $84.3 million has been included in the council's long-term budget, but it will be paid by all Aucklanders when the Super City takes over next year.
The Government and the Auckland Regional Council each paid $20 million to buy the wharf from Ports of Auckland, so the city council's proposal takes the total cost to just over $124 million.
Its city development general manager, John Duthie, said the two cargo sheds were "magic spaces", full of exposed kauri, totara and matai native timber and steel beams.
The plan is to turn the eastern shed into a cruise ship terminal in conjunction with a live site on the ground floor for World Cup events.
The western shed would have a more basic upgrade for use during the rugby tournament, and would be converted afterwards to another use, such as a new home for the Auckland Theatre Company.
The theatre company believes a combined 500- to 600-seat theatre and cruise ship terminal would be complementary in an "architecturally stunning" multipurpose building.
Auckland City Mayor John Banks said an open day would be held soon to show Aucklanders how fabulous the buildings were on the inside and how special they could look.
Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney said the council plan appeared to be a good middle-ground option that would open up a quintessential Auckland location to showcase the city for the World Cup.
Although the bill will be spread across the region - and has to be approved by the Auckland Transition Agency before it can be passed to the Super City - several city councillors yesterday criticised the amount of money involved in the project.
City Vision councillor Cathy Casey said the new spending was "World Cup-itis".
"The symptoms are feverish spending of ratepayers' money on anything to do with Rugby World Cup 2011 and blindness to the real long-term needs of Aucklanders living in the suburbs," she said.
Deputy Mayor David Hay said that until recently the regional council was going to develop Queens Wharf, but now it and the Government had "dished us up a big problem and a huge opportunity".
Based on an assessment showing 35 per cent of the economic benefits from a cruise ship terminal would go to the whole country, the council would seek a $30 million contribution from the Government "or other parties".
Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully said he was not surprised Auckland City was seeking money from other parties, but the focus should be on other councils rather than the Government, which had already paid $20 million towards the purchase.
Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee said he had not been briefed on the council's plans, but he would not be "rubber-stamping" them without some scrutiny.
"The ARC's approach would be to have the wharf open, and have a new building - that's our preference as the part-owner. But we'll have a good look at Auckland City's plan in an open way."
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221 - 240 of 1552 Posts
G
Melbourne, once again, has some great examples but then again they are worth keeping because they have architectural merit ... not some over-sized bach. However, I will keep an open mind and wait for the results of the design competition (the old age homes have already booked the buses - just like at the Te Wero Bridge competition 
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^^So much potential!
Another>>>
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Another>>>
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Great shots kiwi - I particularly like the first one showing the flow back up to Queen Street. Personally, I would really like to see Queens wharf kept as open as possible, we have very little open space right downtown and it could become a great place just to connect with the harbour. I'd love to see the end of the wharf extended with steps down to the water, so you could step down and interact rather than just look at it. Princess Wharf I find has been overbuilt and I'd like to see the opposite here.
Something missing in Auckland are day and night-markets, and keeping the large shed as an open space for such events and the area around it open could lead to a pretty nice public event space. We used to have something similar at Aotea square before the renovations there.
e.g. in Marrakesh where they have outdoor BBQs and shops every evening.
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or day/morning markets
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I only show this ancient looking photo because it to is in some kind of 'shed' ;-)
Dunno, I think something low-key could be a nice contrast to all the glass and highrises in the CBD and more locals oriented, Princess wharf has in some respects become more a place for tourists staying at the Hilton.
Something missing in Auckland are day and night-markets, and keeping the large shed as an open space for such events and the area around it open could lead to a pretty nice public event space. We used to have something similar at Aotea square before the renovations there.
e.g. in Marrakesh where they have outdoor BBQs and shops every evening.
or day/morning markets
I only show this ancient looking photo because it to is in some kind of 'shed' ;-)
Dunno, I think something low-key could be a nice contrast to all the glass and highrises in the CBD and more locals oriented, Princess wharf has in some respects become more a place for tourists staying at the Hilton.
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Queens Wharf Heritage Assessment: http://www.queenswharf.org.nz/competition/docs/heritageassessment.pdf (12 MB PDF)
Part of the introduction:
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Part of the introduction:
Some historical pictures:
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Hi Everyone, first post for me. Congrats on the great threads.
Some of jarbury's photos of the internal steelwork remind me of the roof of Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid.
some inspiration there perhaps,
from MadridLaCiudad on flickr
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Some of jarbury's photos of the internal steelwork remind me of the roof of Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid.
some inspiration there perhaps,
from MadridLaCiudad on flickr
I see your point, but the similarity is extremely limited to just a basic beam shape, and that can be found everywhere. The Mercado de San Miguel has far more detail both on the interior and exterior.
Interior:
Look at the ornate iron work holding up the ceiling beams:
There is no such detail in the Queens Wharf sheds.
We must also consider the exterior. The market in Madrid has quite a detailed historical exterior which was clearly modernized. But the original elements are still there which makes this building so much more special than the Queens Wharf sheds.
There is no such intricate detail on the Queens Wharf Sheds.
And to illustrate the difference from what the Madrid market looked like, here is an old photo. You can see the details are not fake, they are original. This was a beautiful building before renovation and it was simply modernized. The Queens Wharf sheds are ugly buildings. Unlike the market in Madrid, which was carefully architecturally designed for people, this shed is nothing more than a quick shed pulled up for industrial purposes.
I'm a big fan of converting historical industrial buildings and renovating them. We have some splendid examples here in Europe. But you need a fantastic building to start with. Europe, being at the forefront of the industrial revolution built many magnificent industrial palaces. Some of them are so elaborate and beautiful in design, it is hard to believe they were intended for industrial use. NZ never had this to the same level. All that aside, where a beautiful industrial building exists, by all means, retain it and redevelop it. But a historical structure shouldn't just be kept for the sake of it being historical. It must have merit. Just because it's old, doesn't mean it's nice. It's the same with modern architecture as well.
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'Opening the Red Gates' Public Access Day
'Opening the Red Gates' Public Access Day
Opening of Queens Wharf to the general public
Sunday 13 September 2009
1pm to 4pm
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Take the opportunity to visit Queens Wharf and wander along this piece of Auckland's maritime history. You'll get a feel for the planned development of the wharf and see for yourself the extraordinary position it commands on the Waitemata Harbour and on the edge of the central city. By standing on the wharf itself, we think it will be easy for you to see how Queens Wharf can become a jewel of Auckland's waterfront.
'Opening the Red Gates' Public Access Day
Opening of Queens Wharf to the general public
Sunday 13 September 2009
1pm to 4pm
Take the opportunity to visit Queens Wharf and wander along this piece of Auckland's maritime history. You'll get a feel for the planned development of the wharf and see for yourself the extraordinary position it commands on the Waitemata Harbour and on the edge of the central city. By standing on the wharf itself, we think it will be easy for you to see how Queens Wharf can become a jewel of Auckland's waterfront.
What do you know dipshitAuckland:hahaha: why are you always embarrassing yourself all the time don't you know that the world is watching and having a good ole
:applause:Auckland:hahaha: why are you always embarrassing yourself all the time don't you know that the world is watching and having a good ole
^^ Wow! Kauri Sarking! So Exciting!! Lets jump in joy.
221 - 240 of 1552 Posts
