New Auckland tower a statement of confidence
A -storey high-rise hotel and apartment tower in Auckland will become a new companion to the city’s iconic Sky Tower, after a trans-Tasman architectural collaboration breaks new ground.
The $182 million development on Federal Street will be built for ICD Property, a Melbourne developer which invited the world’s best architects to participate in the design competition.
The 180-metre-tall building will occupy a 1,600 sqm site at 65-71 Federal Street, between Victoria and Kingston Streets on the seaward side of the Sky City complex. It will combine retail space, a hotel with more than 200 rooms, investor apartments and owner occupier penthouse suites.
According to Auckland’s mayor Phil Goff the new tower is “a huge investment” and “a statement of investor confidence in Auckland”.
The design, developed by Woods Bagot’s Melbourne studio and Auckland’s Peddle Thorp, was “inspired by New Zealand’s extraordinary geology and fauna” says Woods Bagot principal and design leader Peter Miglis.
Sightlines to culturally significant landmarks, the height of the streetscape, pedestrian connectivity to key destinations and Auckland’s weather were all carefully considered.
The design respects the Sky Tower, the primary marker locating the city centre, by protecting views to the horizon from the Sky Tower’s observation deck.
The architects also felt that “the street needed help”.
“We know that the skyline defines a city’s identity, yet it is the streets – where people inhabit the city – that define its character,” says Woods Bagot associate principal Andrew Walter.
As a result, the design team developed green laneways which connect to the water and encourage movement through and into the site.
By elevating the hotel lobby to the top of a podium, the lower street levels are freed up for public-facing amenity, including a food and beverage ‘marketplace’. The ‘sky lobby’ will also provide great viewing.
The building will be green-rated with an embedded power network. The tower will be clad in curtain wall glass – a glazing system with aluminium mesh between the panes of double glazing to improve the building’s environmental, acoustic and structural performance.
With open balconies not possible at high levels because of the wind strength, internal conservatory winter gardens with angled façade panels will provide the feel of an outdoor environment.
ICD Property’s deputy managing director Matthew Khoo says the design is an “excellent outcome for the site and for the city, and our team is very excited to collaborate with the design partnership to deliver this project”.