But at a guess, the fragmented nature of the facade has evolved from the retention of the existing Airways House as a concrete framed shell, with separate structures both north and south of that to fill up the rest of the site. Its then been transposed across the central atrium to reflect a different logic on the Boulcott St side, possibly relating to the ground layout there.

Between the two there is a massive concrete retaining wall and ledge that the current temporary housing sits on. It looks as though the atrium will use that to scale up from Willis St to Boulcott.

Can be seen here in a post on Skyscraper City
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=19955268&postcount=569

I’d like to have seen a more consolidated development there with a pedestrian lane up through to Boulcott, and perhaps some kind of plaza in the middle servicing all the buildings.

It reminds me a little of the giant rogue adenoid in ‘gravitys rainbow,’ minus the humour.

Pretty confusing really… As so little information is provided, i wonder if this is still in early concept development?

And why is green glass so ubiquitous suddenly?

There is also a gross simplification of the sunlight coming into the street in this picture, with sun streaming into the east facade, and reaching down to Willis St. I do hope that the architects have not been using such blatant misrepresentation on their applications to the city. What is wrong with the picture (let alone the design) is that the sun is high in the sky, coming from the south (shadows are being cast on the north side of elevations, which is just 100% wrong), the shadows and indeed the buildings themselves are missing from the north and east. For a start you’ve got a number of existing buildings of not inconsiderable height directly on the other side of the street, including the brand new / under construction hideous Chews Lane apartment complex straddling the lane directly opposite.

So apart from this appalling render, you’ve also got issues that Willis St, one of Wellington’s busiest and sunniest shopping street, is going to be further plunged into gloom by this proposal. A lot of previous buildings were from the 60s era, when podiums were compulsory, and so the towers are set back from the street facade line. But this little green troll of a design has 13 stories straight up from the street, and even has 11 floors tilting out into the street over the pavement – into what presumably is public territory.

This part of Willis St at present is a pleasant, sunny, and enjoyable part of the city, with the current setbacks allowing midday and afternoon sun to stream into the shops here. All that would be lost if this design went ahead. Time for a definite rethink ! And a realistic render with all the real buildings in place, not this travesty of a marketing deception.

The roofscapes featured in the right of the render look interesting, its a pity they seemed confined to only a small terrace or two. It would be nice to see a true green roof around Wellington.

The atrium and public lift also sound promising. Wellington elevators tend to get co-opted by the public, especially around oriental bay and the terrace. It would be great for someone to see this thoroughfare used as an opportunity.

Any news on the development of the current telecom building clusters? Im hesitantly curious to see how the site is going to be transformed into an ‘urban green village’.

An Auckland architecture firm – Clark Brown Architects – have designed a tower for the site, and Creative Spaces have been charged with refurbishing the retail mall.

However I understand that it has been put “on hold” for a while.

Clark Brown have done some good stuff, and some OK stuff in Auckland.

Its an interesting side effect of the Chews Effect – everyone is clambering to be in the centre of it all, much like a Key/ Clarke dive for the political centre. There actually used to be a great view out from this site, but any sea views will be mostly taken out by the Chews Apartment tower going up now. This part of Willis St, already busy, is going to get a whole lot busier…

I’d be keen to know who or what is going to go in the next site north – the blank site, possibly owned by a Singaporian company, if Skyscraper city rumours are correct.

Anyone know?