Because I am a glutton for punishment, I sat down and watched the entire WCC Council sub-committee meeting recently, on the discussion around Te Ngakau Civic Square. It was also the first time I have watched new Mayor Andrew Little. In contrast to previous mayors, this meeting went really smoothly – Little was not the Chair of the meeting, and said relatively little. That’s a big step forward for Wellington – we’ve had too many half-arsed nutty Councillors in previous years, some of whom are still there – but they were all very well behaved today. Things are looking up…. I hope!
So, what were they discussing? Well, amazingly, asking Councillors to vote for some $23 million of savings, and all this was being carefully explained. And debated, including right down to the nitty gritty – or $2.5m difference between permanent closure of the former Capital E building and a “cold shell” refurbishment instead. Bug discussion was: What the heck to do with it? Nightclub? Music Venue? Who said Apartments?!? Theatre? Certainly no-one is suggesting Children’s Experience venue any more. Maybe the best suggestion was simply: Storage Venue. Hmmmm. Your suggestions please!
Here’s a plan – these are all screen grabs from the live stream from YouTube – sorry about the quality.
Here’s an optimistic picture of happy laughing people converging in Te Ngakau – but the thing to really get excited about here is the flat surface, and the excision of the most popular feature: a rectangle of artificial grass. Everyone loves the “football pitch” except for Nicola Young, who says it is horrible and she is glad to see it go. Clearly not a fan of lunchtime football…
Here’s the Programme of renewal, which Farz and the other bloke outlined to the collected Councillors.
You might be wondering what things are in that picture above – for clarification, here is a 3D picture of the “Town Hall Annex” which I think is the white bit on the left, a white wiggly box, like a giant box of corrugated aluminium. In between that and a gold curvy wall to the west side of the Town Hall there appears to be a glass wall – I’m going to presume that this is the entry. No idea who designed this – were Athfield Architects the architects of the Town Hall refurbishment? The new bit may possibly designed by WAM, or maybe SPA, but who knows? Do you knows? Tell us ! It is so bland and devoid of any detail, that who knows what is happening.
Oooh – here is a a picture of a bridge – being supported on one side by a Sea Wall and on the other side by a potential Storage depot. Can we please stop calling it Capital E by now?
Here’s a shot of the Old Town Hall, in the process of being put back together again. Or, a storage depot for stacks of timber, enjoying the music at a performance of John Cage…
Let’s enjoy this updated picture of the Civic Square – with some spotty tiles which are probably a (very advanced, we hope) form of infinitely water-resistant waterproofing. But hold on a second – what is that right there? A timber box on stilts? Can we Zoom in to that picture a little?
Why Yes we can – by the magic of modern science we can see that it is indeed a timber box – looks like some slabs of CLT sitting on a steel frame. And to my mind, this looks a lot more interesting than the white wavering wibbly wall as shown in the images a bit higher up. Funzies!
In truth this may be nothing much more than a toilet block for TownHall goers, or possibly a central listening post for the (formerly deleted?) mixing desk / recording studio. But it deserves for us to know more – where / what / who / how / why? Details on a postcard please!
Postscript:
Spotty tile patterns – almost like shading or a worn pathway through the forest – in reality probably a computer-driven plan of the tiling pattern.
It (the Square) has also got one of those squirty hose / fountain things that squirts water up your skirt / trousers when you are not looking !! I guess they have solved the waterproofing issues then! Or maybe just embraced the wetness!
An interesting composition projected for the future. Classical / Victorian / Edwardian, then a bit of golden bling from the Modern / Post-Modern era turning the corner, and finally a floating wobbly white box.
Interesting decision to remove the 30 year old trees and raised lawn area from the square – these seemed to have been the most popular areas on a nice (& rare) summer days to sit, eat your leftovers and contemplate your life decisions……
…..not sure if cabbage trees and tussocks with a few box seats will provide the same amenity. But then i may just be bitter and cynical and the result could be fantastic. Time will tell!
As for your timber box – there are more images of it here (along with plan of the square) – white wavering wibbly wall all around it seems!
https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/projects/te-ngakau-civic-precinct-programme/revitalising-te-ngakau-civic-square
Yeah ,The Wooden box will get a white skirt by the time it is completed,
Although the fact that the building’s foundations are essentially just Dynabolts onto the remains of the MOB floor make me think ( despite the plans showing it as long term) that they can easily remove it should Precinct say we *really* need that space to make the economics of our proposed Tower block add up –
With Precinct incorporating the “Front of House” stuff ( Toilets/Bag check) into the lower floors of their Tower…
“building’s foundations are essentially just Dynabolts onto the remains of the MOB floor” – oh say it isn’t so ! Hopefully something way more substantial than that?
Thank you oh King of the Potato People, very helpful indeed. Yes, it certainly looks as though the raised beds have gone, but as far as I understand, there were two major problems with the old design. Firstly, that it was structurally necessary, but functionally problematic to have the square higher than the edges, so people exiting the older buildings (MOB, Town Hall, City Gallery) did so at a lower level and then had to walk up to a higher level. This in turn affected the newer buildings floor levels too, like the CAB and the new Library. As a consequence the levels were all over the place and the “square” leaked like a sieve.
Secondly, the new Base Isolators needed and installed below the refurbished Library will have taken out a huge chunk of the available space in the Basement, so things underneath the Square and the Library are likely to be very different to what they once were. Less parking for one! Possibly also different heights? And what happens in a basement when one building is base isolated and potentially moving around from side to side, and other parts are fixed in position and moving in time with the ground instead.
There does appear to be a huge height change in the overall basement carpark ,
The base isolators are one the existing foundation pillars,
https://wellington.govt.nz/news-and-events/news-and-information/our-wellington/2024/12/te-matapihi-released-onto-its-base-isolators
Here’s what it was like, so not too much difference,
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/109502805/car-parking-plunder-wellingtons-council-banks-21m-in-fees-and-fines-in-one-year
I think in the council briefing they talked about the number remaining the same, but some had changed category, presumably fewer spaces for high roofed vehicles near pillars,
re my comment: “updated picture of the Civic Square – with some spotty tiles which are probably a (very advanced, we hope) form of infinitely water-resistant waterproofing.”
I now have reason to believe that this is actually the final ground level surface ie concrete pavers or tiles. Also spotted in the final renders of the space as shown in the WCC report.
I’ll put them in the post as well.
Beautiful renders by whoever did them. It is a skill that is often under-rated especially after the amount of effort that goes into some of them.
Beautiful renders indeed, and they could be by the architects of the buildings / the Civic Square space, or they could be by a specialist rendering company. But what is really interesting to me is the actual pattern of pavers / tiles – in that there is actually NOT a pattern of pavers / tiles, but a randomised scattering. There are at least 3 colours – let’s call them black, white and grey – but this is in complete contrast to Auckland’s Te Komititanga Square, where they have selected Māori patterning to be at the forefront of the design. As in:
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2020/12/22/te-komititanga-and-views-from-the-past/
I thought that there were some special significant pavers that were to be dug up, saved, and re-used.
It appears they have been lost in the wait…. Perhaps look at the bottom of the lagoon ?
Lost? Surely not! I’d prefer to think that they’re in safe, secure, storage somewhere, chatting amiably with the Cuba Street Floral Clock, keenly awaiting their day in the sun. ;)
There is apparently a couple of Athfield concrete nikau palms missing round town too,
For some reason they weren’t originally installed on the colonnade up to the bridge, and they then found their way to the Airport, but they have subsequently vanished….
https://fyi.org.nz/request/21551-athfield-nikau-palms
The Special Significant Pavers, the Cuba Street Floral Clock, and now the Concrete Nikau Palms – that’s a threesome! It’s all starting to look a bit risque. . .
Someone better call Benoit Blanc