EVIDENCE OF GORDON DESMOND MOLLER ONZM ON BEHALF OF PANUKU DEVELOPMENT AUCKLAND (ARCHITECT) 7 AUGUST 2018

Transcription

1 0117 BEFORE THE ENVIRONMENT COURT I MUA I TE KOOTI TAIAO O AOTEAROA ENV-2018-AKL IN THE MATTER of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) AND IN THE MATTER BETWEEN of the direct referral of applications for resource consent for the necessary infrastructure and related activities associated with holding the America's Cup in Auckland PANUKU DEVELOPMENT AUCKLAND Applicant AND AUCKLAND COUNCIL Regulatory Authority EVIDENCE OF GORDON DESMOND MOLLER ONZM ON BEHALF OF PANUKU DEVELOPMENT AUCKLAND (ARCHITECT) 7 AUGUST 2018

2 QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE My full name is Gordon Desmond Moller. I am a Fellow and Past President of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. I hold a Diploma in Architecture from the University of Auckland, an Honorary Doctor of Literature of Victoria University of Wellington, an Honorary Membership of the Australian Institute of Architects. I have received the New Zealand Institute of Architects Gold Award in recognition of my body of works and in 2008 I was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Architecture. In a career spanning 48 years and a Principal of an Architectural Practice, I have been involved in a wide variety of work, including public projects such as the Wellington Civic Centre, Sky Tower and Sky City, Macau Tower and Convention Centre China, Houses of Parliament Muscat, Oman, The Viaduct Events Centre, the Point Apartments and the ASB Waterfront Theatre; these last three projects all being within the Viaduct Basin and Wynyard Quarter zone. In 2003 I was the joint convenor of the Auckland City Urban Design Panel and I have been a member of the Technical Advisory Group for Sea+City; Waterfront Auckland and Panuku Group since 2006, involved in conceptual planning and reviewing all development on the Auckland Waterfront. I have had a long association and interest in the regeneration of the Auckland waterfront and I was involved in the Plan Change to create the framework for the Wynyard Quarter, a member of the Council Waterfront 2040 master planning and a member of a Conceptual Design Team for Westhaven. I have designed and completed a number of projects within the Viaduct and Wynyard Quarter Precincts. I advise that I have read the Code of Conduct for Expert Witnesses contained in the Environment Court Practice Note 2014 and to the extent that I am giving expert evidence, have complied with it in preparing this evidence. I confirm that the issues addressed in this evidence are within my area of expertise and I have not omitted material facts known to me that might alter or detract from my evidence. 2. INVOLVEMENT IN PROJECT In 2017 I was appointed by Panuku Development Auckland (Panuku) to help determine the requirements for the bases or the 36 th America s Cup (AC36). This 1

3 0119 included what components or activities the base buildings would need to accommodate and how they might function, their dimensions and likely building envelope, what yards were required, where public access might be provided, and how all of those might best be laid out and provided on the land and wharf structures under consideration. In addition, I was asked to prepare sketches and designs of possible bases to assist the visual, landscape and urban design assessments and to provide one example design of the bases considered to meet the various requirements that could be readily utilised by any syndicates if they wished. I was also requested to design alterations to the Viaduct Events centre to enable it to accommodate Emirates Team New Zealand. My work included working closely with a wider team of Civil Engineers, Town Planners, Traffic Engineers, Coastal and Maritime consultants, Panuku Waterfront Executives, and Legal Advisors, as well as with Emirates Team New Zealand, to formulate the best outcomes for creating the AC36 village (Village) for the defence of the America s Cup. 3. SCOPE OF EVIDENCE I have been asked to provide evidence in relation to my involvement in the proposed bases for the defenders and challengers for AC36. This comprises a base on an extended Hobson Wharf, five bases on Wynyard Point and Wharf and an adaption of the Viaduct Events Centre on Halsey Wharf. Based on my waterfront and other design experience, I believe the proposed Wynyard Hobson scheme creates a successful operational Village for an efficient competitive yachting event and one which public can be involved in and enjoy. I prepared a Design Statement which was lodged with the application (CBD Vol A, CB11) as well as a series of drawings with designs for each of the bases, including the alterations required to the Viaduct Events Centre (CBD Vol A, CB44). My evidence will cover the following matters a) The adaption and modification of the existing Viaduct Events Centre as an operational base for Emirates Team New Zealand; 2

4 0120 b) Base and yard requirements; c) Hobson Wharf; d) The five bases on Wynyard Point and Wharf; and e) Conclusion. 4. SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE In my opinion the design evolution of the current proposal to accommodate up to seven bases for the yachting teams to contest the America s Cup is a good one, that balances the needs of the operational base for a particular design class of yacht, and the visibility and interaction of the public with the various teams, and also the regeneration of the western zone of the Auckland Waterfront. The existing Viaduct Events Centre will act as the anchor, being the centre point of the Village waterfront, and also as the base for the defender of the America s Cup. The proposal to extend Hobson Wharf by 74 metres will give sufficient operational space for the required building footprint for a two-yacht base, together with publicly accessible open space and connections to the principal east/west axial Waterfront Pathway. This will also create a legacy waterfront open space which could be beneficial in the longer term as a permanent competitive yachting base; youth maritime centre; or as possible extensions to the existing Maritime Museum. The accommodation of five temporary bases on Wynyard Point with berthage onto Wynyard Wharf satisfies both operational site size areas, public accessibility and a remediation of the existing bulk fuel depot areas. The last aspect is important as the long-term plan within the Wynyard Quarter Precinct is for a five hectare park to occupy much of this reclamation, together with mixed use development commensurate with the recent and current design-led outcomes for the area. While the proposed five yacht bases are temporary for up to ten years, this can mesh with the staged development of Wynyard Point, which is staged to coincide with the termination of existing maritime industrial leases. 3

5 0121 The overall proposal for the Village is extended from Quay Street at the eastern end through Te Wero and the Viaduct Harbour, to the North Wharf/Wynyard Quarter Precinct, giving maximum accessibility and enjoyment for the public. The America s Cup is a spectacular and dramatic event and activity, and it is brilliantly relayed and analysed by digital television transmission to the public. In real-time, the vast majority of the public cannot have first-hand experience of the racing other than by television relay, and therefore access and viewing of the yachts and crews up close is a very important part of the enjoyment of the event. 5. RELEVANT FACTS AND CONTEXT In this statement of evidence I do not repeat the project description and refer to the summary of the application in the evidence of Mr Rod Marler (Panuku). The overall design philosophy for the proposed syndicate bases is based on a maritime village environment, respecting and reusing key elements of the existing waterfront infrastructure, and developing a coordinated and coherent approach to a collection of building forms, materiality, texture, colour and lighting. The six new temporary base buildings comprise five located on Wynyard Point and one on an extended Hobson Wharf structure. 6. VIADUCT EVENTS CENTRE The key architectural Parti (or idea) has been to deploy the existing Viaduct Events Centre, Base A, as the anchor element for the Village with its strong marine/events character, and then as a generator for the built forms proposed for the other six bases, such that the specific operational functions relate to the launching yards, water spaces and pontoons, and to their east and west peripheral locations. Thus, a cohesive built form embraces the two water areas of North Wharf (Wynyard Wharf South Waterspace) and the Outer Viaduct Harbour, together with public promenades linking all these areas. The Viaduct Events Centre to accommodate Emirates Team New Zealand was designed as a Marine Events Centre with flexible spaces, and efficient access and 4

6 0122 servicing features. It was also designed as a Hi Tech 5 star rated sustainable building so it is easily adaptable as a high technology yachting facility. A copy of the Architectural Drawing Set I prepared was attached to the application. These drawings included the necessary alterations required to the VEC to accommodate the ETNZ base (CBD Vol A, CB44, from page 2474). The accessible ramp on the eastern elevation is being partly removed to facilitate 14 metre wide x 9 metre high large doors for yacht access, and a portion of this ramp is retained at the southern end to create a raised viewing platform for the public to view static displays, and the yacht yard and launching pontoons. An interactive centre alongside proposed by ETNZ will provide the public with extensive maritime and sports yachting education and entertainment, demonstrations and participation, technology and performance. The existing elevated viewing deck on the north elevation will be maintained for public access with the addition of a glass enclosed lift and additional stair access. The existing 12-metre-high Viaduct Events Centre Grand Hall adapts easily for the boat shed with its 50 metre length, 30 metre width and 12 metre clear height such that specific fitout for the yacht workshop can use existing infrastructure and structure to operate as a highly efficient operational base. 7. BASE AND YARD REQUIREMENTS The base buildings are essentially a maritime industrial use with plan dimensions and heights to accommodate specific requirements of storage of competitive yachts, assembly and maintenance, together with comprehensive amenities accommodation for team personnel comprising of administration, design, health and exercise, food and beverage, and hospitality. As I described earlier, during the preparation of the application for resource consent I worked closely with members of Emirates Team New Zealand to understand the requirements for the single and double bases. Based on those discussions I determined that there were a number of critical dimensions that needed to be considered when designing the yard area and bases. In each case, all bases require a minimum 35m deep yard. The key components for each base and yard area also included provision for a boat shed, rigging bay and sail loft. 5

7 0123 These factors determined the size of the base and yard area. Remaining floor area of approximately 2000m 2 over two or three levels is used to provide administration offices, interactive public areas (retail), team amenities, team & sponsors area, kitchen, toilet & change facilities, and the design offices. As explained further below, each base consists of a boat shed with dimensions between metres wide and 35 metres deep and up to 12 metres clear height together with rig and sail loft facilities. The building footprints shown on the application plans meet the briefing sizes, but each of them has varying overall sizes depending on the precise location and physical characteristics. There are four bases for two yachts each which need these requirements, and three bases for single yachts, with equivalent apportioned areas. Specifically, I determined the following critical dimensions for Bases C-G: Bases C-G on Wynyard Bases C&D Double Bases with provision for two boats. (width x length) Boat Shed 38x35m Rigging Bay 7x35m Sail Loft 30x10m Bases E&F Single Bases with provision for only one boat. Boat Shed 20x35m Rigging Bay 13x35m Sail Loft 30x10m Base G Single Base with provision for only one boat. Boat Shed 20x35m Rigging Bay 16x35m Sail Loft 30x10m 6

8 0124 The following drawing shows how I used these critical dimensions to create the base and yard areas for Bases C-G. 8. HOBSON WHARF The siting of a new building Base B on the Hobson Wharf extension presents an opportunity to design a series of related building forms using similar volumetric dimensions to those on Wynyard Point, together with detailing and construction which can advance a strong architectural maritime language respecting existing built forms and infrastructure. The existing Blue Water Black Magic extension to the Maritime Museum, with its subtle and dynamic form and materiality, is adopted as a reference point for the six temporary base buildings, juxtaposed with an architectonic articulation of grid, relating to the various functions and public interface of the amenities, with the adjacent boatshed / rig and sail loft being clearly expressed as related functional elements. 7

9 0125 As for Bases C-G, the critical dimensions for Base B are: Base B Base B Double Base with provision for two boats & enhanced team area. (width x length) Boat Shed 40x35m Rigging Bay 10x35m Sail Loft (above Rigging Bay at Level 2) 10x25m For Base B, there is 17.5x35m at ground level for the office and team facilities. My design allows for 21.5x39m at upper levels with the inclusion of a 4m cantilever, as shown in the following drawing: The building footprint on the Hobson Wharf extension was determined by the need for a 35m yard that allowed boats to enter and be taken out of the water to the south in the sheltered Outer Viaduct Harbour. There was also a requirement to continue the public access promenade around the edge of the wharf extension. A 10m public access area was provided for along the north of the building footprint. 8

10 0126 As shown in the following diagram, the size of the proposed extension to Hobson Wharf was determined by the need for a 35m yard and 35m base building (plus sail loft intrusion) to accommodate the new class of America s Cup boats, and to provide for the public promenade. I am aware that there have been a number of discussions between the landscape and urban design experts and refinements to what were known as the Design Guidelines (now called Design Requirements) and so the degree to which overhangs or other features are allowed might have changed as a result. 9

11 PUBLIC OPPORTUNITIES The overall proposal for the Village is extended from Quay Street at the eastern end through Te Wero and the Viaduct Harbour, to the North Wharf/Wynyard Quarter Precinct, giving maximum accessibility and enjoyment for the public. The promenades on the north, west and south-east zones of Halsey Wharf will enable the public to experience both the servicing, display and launching of the yachts from Base A in the Viaduct Events Centre with similarly promenades on the Hobson Wharf extension provide the same for Base B. At the same time, the Wynyard Point redeployment will also provide extensive access enabling the public to experience the buildings up close, with large view windows into the boat sheds which will provide appreciation of the high technology racing craft within. Generous overhangs on all the base buildings amenities zones will provide shelter from sun and rain, and will punctuate and articulate the promenade areas. 10. CONCLUSION For the Village, we have endeavoured to create something special from the briefing requirements and palette of water, wharves, promenades, carefully detailed built form, and the existing buildings of Maritime Museum and the Viaduct Events Centre, together with generous public areas and connecting Wynyard and Viaduct Harbour Precincts. Based on my waterfront and other design experience, I believe the proposed Wynyard Hobson scheme creates a successful operational Village for an efficient competitive yachting event and one which public can be involved in and enjoy. Gordon Moller 7 August