Q & A with lead architects for 65 Federal Street design
Ten designs for the new hotel-residential building at 65 Federal St were created by London-based architects Zaha Hadid, locals Warren and Mahoney and international firms Woods Bagot, Cox Architecture, and Elenberg Fraser as part of an international design competition run by Melbourne-based property development company, ICD Property.
PHIL ROWE – COX ARCHITECTURE – QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT IN THE WORLD?
An almost impossible question to ask an Architect! So many amazing projects, each excelling in their own, context-specific ways. I suppose if I really needed to whittle down the options I’d frame the question in terms of what work I feel is best addressing the most pervasive challenges of our time in terms of the built environment. Recognising this, the critical question we need to face in the development of our future cities is how we accommodate sustainable growth. We, as the designers of our cities can either chose to be inclusive of our environment, or not. Obviously for me this is a rhetorical question as I don’t think you can be any sort of designer with a conscience and ignore this imperative. In this context the Bosco Verticale in Milan is an amazing achievement. It comprises 400 homes on only a 2000m2 footprint yet contains enough vertical landscape to mimic 2ha of forest. I believe this is one of an increasing number of projects that represent successful approaches to urban forestation and more importantly, the start of a truly mainstream dialog on sustainable growth and regeneration of our Urban habitat.
WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT ICD’S FEDERAL ST PROJECT?
The challenge that has been posed to us by ICD’s Auckland legacy project is one that requires us to address the deeper relevance of place and how we, as designers of cities, can improve and inspire the future of Auckland. It has to be done in a very Auckland way rather than importing what is perceived by fashion to be ‘best practice’. The building will be a visual icon for what Auckland can and will look like in the future. Federal Street encompasses the major themes of cultural relevance, innovation and legacy. These fundamentals will be expressed for all to see on a city skyline where ‘sky homes’ and unique amenity, for both residents and a wider community, can excite Auckland about a bright future of city-dwelling, specifically relevant to the way Auckland lives, works and plays. These are all key elements that describe a project of true legacy, as opposed to one which is cookie-cutter purely for profit.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST EXCITING THING IN STORE FOR AUCKLAND’S FUTURE?
The world is seeking unique experiences. NZ is the world’s playground of adventure and Auckland is its gateway. In an increasingly homogenised world and one where nature’s diverse riches are increasingly under threat, the importance of sense of place and how to maintain this unique world identity is essential for Auckland’s future. Universally appreciated ethics and morals, an integrated culture which values diversity, a strong economy, good education, enriching tourism, the world’s best rugby team and now the America’s Cup will ensure the spotlight shines even brighter on the city. Perhaps the most exciting thing is that all this global interest is clearly based on an appreciation of Auckland remaining Auckland – not tied to its past, but using its uniqueness and diversity as stimulus and impetus for growth – and specifically growth in its own unique and authentic way.
CALLUM FRASER – ELENBERG FRASER – QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT IN THE WORLD?
The building that we have been most moved by is Mies Van der Rohe’s Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. The building was constructed in the aftermath of the second world war and is perfect in almost every way. Mies constructs an urban panorama room – a glass box that sits on a plinth so large that from the interior the horizon merges with the ground plane. The city and civilisation is laid bare.
WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT ICD’S FEDERAL ST PROJECT?
ICD are one of the most innovative property companies in the world at the moment. They have the thinking and the delivery capability to transform this precinct and to deliver to Auckland an environment worthy of the city’s position as a leading global tourism destination. We think that this is a real opportunity to see what the future looks like, to see what the city might be when freed of prejudice and preconception.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST EXCITING THING IN STORE FOR AUCKLAND’S FUTURE?
The world looks to New Zealand for its freedom, ingenuity and independence of thought. The spotlight on Auckland is to see what that means for the physical construction of the city which is only a byproduct of that culture. So, with the positive flows of international capital and the inventiveness of its local culture, what kind of a city will Auckland become? We think it’s open to speculation – and yet to really emerge. And that excites us.
STATEMENT FROM ELENBERG FRASER:
Elenberg Fraser love Auckland. We have long admired the city and its exports in culture, business and the arts. Almost 20 years ago we published the works of the great Rewi Thompson in Transition magazine, it is a powerful work that we have absorbed and never forgotten. So our response to the Federal Street site is a personal and complex one. In contemporary architecture, landscape is often reduced to view lines and decoration. But we have sought to evacuate the ground plane and to reinstate the traditional forests of the New Zealand taraire. We see this as a gift to the city, a visceral tactile forest experience with waterfalls and rocks and moss and layered dense vegetation – a real, living forest experience for residents and visitors and public alike. At the heart of the forest is a well, where the rushing water cascades from above and crashes into an underground grotto below. A new people place, to revitalise Federal Street immediately and the precinct at large.
We have proposed a tower that reflects Auckland’s dramatic location atop 48 volcanoes. It starts almost 25 metres above the ground and rises through hotel and apartments to almost 210 metres. The architecture is driven by the desire for each room to have a huge curved glass bay window so that occupants can sit directly into the view lines of the urban geography. Tighter bubbles for the hotel rooms transition into broader bays for the apartments as the deep pewter coloured glass pours like a liquid volcanic surface. At the top of the building sits a destination restaurant dedicated to the provenance of its materials. A cylindrical telescopic lift rises from this floor to the rooftop which holds a spiral format heated ozone pool, steaming in the cool evening air. Poolside lounges allow visitors and residents to sit within the stars of the night sky and intimately consider the cosmos and our collective future.
The apartments at 67&71 Federal Street are a dramatic break from the past. A personalised direct lifting service takes residents directly into their homes, without entry corridors or strangers or keys,
making every apartment a penthouse with its own lift. The apartments are best in show in all aspects of material supply, a direct to manufacturer approach which ensures the highest quality components in an integrated technology rich environment that we call The New Standard. We have been working on it for almost three years and are finally releasing it here. This is the building that we have been learning for our whole lives to achieve, a moment in time that changes everything that will come after it. The kind of building that Auckland deserves.
ANDREW BARCLAY – WARREN & MAHONEY – QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT IN THE WORLD? It’s very hard to single one out, but the Eiffel Tower passes all of the tests that can be applied to greatness. The building has been a successful ambassador for France for 130 years and is the most visited man-made structure in the world. The Eiffel Tower is timelessly elegant, a pure expression of architectural and structural innovation and is now synonymous with the identity of Paris. Its most important contribution has been to assure designers that it is possible to capture beauty and cultural identity in a durable way that is universally recognised. Although the ICD Federal Street project has different drivers and occupies a very different place in history, we believe that the project has the potential to speak directly about Auckland’s place in the world.
WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT ICD’S FEDERAL ST PROJECT?
The ICD Federal Street project presents an opportunity to achieve two key objectives that have so far not been resolved within the hotel-residential typology in Auckland. The project will be positioned in one of Auckland’s most exciting locations at the epicentre of the city’s hospitality and entertainment precinct. This means that the project has the potential – and the responsibility – to contribute to Auckland’s increasingly vibrant inner-city life by day and by night. The brief encourages an innovative approach to connecting with immediate context, the wider city, its visitors and its citizens. Secondly, the time is right for projects within the central city to speak directly about Auckland’s unique people, culture and geography. The scale of the ICD Federal Street project means that identity can be expressed both at the ground plane and at the skyline. The stories, metaphors and symbols of New Zealand’s mana whenua provide a completely unique foundation for design to capture the dignity and enduring value of embedded culture.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST EXCITING THING IN STORE FOR AUCKLAND’S FUTURE?
Auckland is evolving very quickly into a global world city that can legitimately claim to be the Capital of the Pacific. Within the next few years a range of major projects will be completed that will provide new facilities for visitors and citizens to mix in one of the world’s great harbour cities. Auckland is increasingly recognised both as the gateway to New Zealand and as one of the most liveable cities in the world. This evolution takes place against a global backdrop that is increasingly tense, both politically and economically. New Zealand’s primary global advantage is it’s ‘agile diversity’ – it’s continued commitment to resolve differences, to recognise the value of cultural heritage and to stand firm as a place of independence and freedom. The most exciting thing in store for Auckland is therefore this: that the world will increasingly recognise its value as not only a beautiful city – but also one that expresses its identity as a vibrant, diverse and open urban hub in the South Pacific.
PETE MIGLIS – WOODS BAGOT – QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT IN THE WORLD?
There are many, but one in particular is the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters. This project was able to transform a congested centre of Hong Kong by providing a public domain amenity to the public – like a “gift” back to the city.
WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT ICD’S FEDERAL ST PROJECT?
The combination of the site location and the brief will provide a catalyst of positive urban transformation for this part of the city. The project will transform Federal St and its surrounds, especially at street level with a focus on further supporting Auckland’s urban implementation programme of giving the streets back to the people. It will also enhance the city’s skyline and importantly it’s all about a building that will reinforce Auckland as a global city.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST EXCITING THING IN STORE FOR AUCKLAND’S FUTURE?
Auckland “City of Sails” and one of the most liveable cities is experiencing an economic boom, and this is currently noticeable and tangible. These changes are physical, cultural and social on a number of levels and will elevate Auckland as a vibrant, attractive, international city that has its own special qualities that are unique to Auckland.
Read more at www.65federalst.co.nz
