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Waitangi Precinct:
Competition Entry, Wellington, 2005

KTAAW: Kerstin Thompson Architects,
Architecture Workshop

Architects’ Statement: New grounds for play

Our proposal offers new grounds for play, for the city of Wellington. Imagined as
an extension of Waitangi Park, it reconnects earth, sky and sea and strengthens
the city and water edges of the precinct.

Our scheme provides a gentle topography held and framed by robust buildings,
with new opportunities for living, working and playing. It achieves a balance
between the development of the waterfront and its continued enjoyment by the
public. The careful siting and scale of our suite of buildings and landscapes
maximises the experience of the waters edge, while maintaining precious view
lines from within the park and the city’s north-south streets. This proposal offers
a place from which to consolidate Wellington’s position as the cultural capital of
New Zealand, and new ground on which to play out the city’s future.

Taking a stroll

Imagined as a promenade, in celebration of the established walking patterns
of Wellington, the design traces a primary path from Oriental Parade alongside the
historic sea walls of Port Nicholson Yacht Club, under and over our folded ground,
past the graving dock, beside the Chinese garden, through our gallery up to the
marae of Te Papa. The integration of buildings and landforms orchestrates a journey
which frames the harbour and city, and provides intimate and open spaces for repose.

Celebrating city and sea

The proposal occupies two sites and each defines a key edge of the Waitangi
precinct. Site 1/2/3 forms the waters edge and Site 4, the city edge. They are
designed to be in conversation with each other across the park.

The waters edge is celebrated through our lyrical folded ground: a trafficable roof
that gently rises up from Waitangi Park, forming a view corridor to the Tararua
Mountains. A new horizon, it frames the harbour and creates an urban promontory
to complement the field of the park. Underneath is a substantial portion of the
program, including cafes, restaurants, a fish market and deli.

The city edge is defined by the gallery, a robust timber framed structure referencing
local construction methods and the hardiness of marine structures. It is an
exemplary demonstration of contemporary environmental design. As a carapace,
it forms a climatic buffer to protect the heat and light sensitive galleries which are
held within its volume. The gallery is urban in character, providing a major space

Following an initial call for
expressions of interest, five
firms and teams were invited
to develop entries for the
Waitangi Precinct: Japanese
architect Shin Takamatsu;
John Wardle Architects from
Melbourne; Oosterhuis_Lenard
and UN Studio, both from the
Netherlands; and the trans-
Tasman team of KTA AW
(Wood, 2005). John Wardle
won the competition for Sites
1, 2 and 3 and UN Studio, for
Site 4.

Architecture Workshop, in
collaboration with Isthmus
Group and Tonkin & Taylor,
received both accolades and
an NZIA Supreme Award for
Architecture for their Oriental
Bay Enhancement project in
2006, Oriental Bay being but a
stone’s throw from the Waitangi
Precinct. These two urban
design projects, both produc-
ing collaborative architecture
and landscape architecture
outcomes, demonstrate that
the Wellington City Council,
and its subsidiary Wellington
Waterfront Ltd., are committed
to improving the quality of that
city’s urban public spaces and
the accessibility and experience
of the Wellington waterfront,
thus making the lack of compa-
rable initiatives in certain other
New Zealand towns and cities
all the more noticeable. – Eds.

INTERSTICES 08 115

Waitangi Precinct:
Competition Entry, Wellington, 2005

KTAAW: Kerstin Thompson Architects,
Architecture Workshop

for cultural events, defining the city edge of the site, and also forming the primary
edge to the view corridor from Tory Street to the harbour. The Hostel building
addresses Cable Street.

New ecologies

With this landmark project, we have sought to use architecture and landscape to
contribute to the larger sustainable future of the city. We propose a constructed
environment: one that, as a sophisticated ensemble of buildings, landscapes and
site infrastructure, forms a new ecology that supports events, people and place
in a balanced relationship. Green features of the proposal exploit Wellington’s
climatic conditions for carbon neutral technologies.

City edge – environmental statement

Contemporary art galleries are energy intensive, due to the requirements for
conservation and close environmental control. Our response closely integrates
architectural design, the ‘positively Wellington’ climate, the natural sources of
energy local to the waterfront site, and the organization and topography of the
site elements. An ‘eco-skin’ is used to absorb heat in winter and to reflect heat
in summer. Natural day-lighting is provided to the main circulation routes. The
building will be heated and cooled using energy and water efficient reversible
heat pumps, fed from the natural seawater gradient beneath the site, with bores
for supply and recharge. The opportunity exists to interlink the plant and energy
management systems with those of the main Te Papa complex.

Waters edge – environmental statement

Energy use is minimized, by the use of double aspect apartments with winter
garden balconies and maximum access to natural light and ventilation. The long-life
building enclosure has best practice levels of thermal insulation, and low
emissivity double glazing. Each apartment is also provided with solar hot water
panels integrated into the roof structure. Water conservation will be encouraged by
the use of ultra-low flow sanitary fixtures, and by roof-water collection and recycling
for toilet flushing. Low energy lighting and appliances complete the strategy.

Green transport solutions will also be encouraged as the development forms an
important boardwalk node in the pedestrian network of Wellington. Car parking
will be minimized, within the commercial constraints of the development
and, where provided, will be on a ‘small car’ basis. Secure cycle storage will be
provided for residents, with additional facilities for the general public. The option
exists to provide facilities for re-chargeable electric vehicles.

The design provides a new paradigm for mixed use development in Wellington.

References

Wood, P. (2005). Waitangi Park Competition. Architecture New Zealand (November-
December), 18-23.

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The section through the waters edge site shows reduced height near the sea.

Site plan identifying the waters edge (Site 1/2/3) and the
city edge (Site 4). The south-east corner (bottom right in
the image) is now Wraight Athfield’s award-winning
Waitangi Park.

Site diagram identifying the two primary view corridors through the precinct.

The waters edge facilities, with the folded ground plane in the foreground, the old Herd Street Post Office and the Overseas Terminal behind, and proposed
gallery building on the far left.

Exploded axonometric of the key elements of the
waters edge site: sea wall; declaimed land; apartments
and commercial outlets; the ‘program wall’ with fish
market, deli, restaurant and recreational hiring facili-
ties; and the folded ground plane, filtering the light to
spaces below.

Sectional diagram showing the environmental strategies incorporated into the folded
ground plane and apartment building, including solar and photovoltaic panels,
rainwater harvesting, insulation, double glazing, natural cross ventilation and
bicycle storage.

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Above: Exploded axonometric of the key elements of the city edge.
Below: The section through the city edge part of the proposal shows
increasing height towards the city centre.

Sectional diagram showing the environmental strategies incorporated
into the gallery building to achieve energy efficiency, including the use
of renewable energy and the philosophy of reduce-reuse-recycle.

The city edge / gallery building, neighbouring Te Papa.