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    • Building rumours 21: end-of-year round-up
      • Here's an assortment of new building news to wrap up 2007, starting from the confirmed and moving towards the more speculative.The apartment building at 158 Cuba St, which one would expect to be approaching construction since the previous building was demolished a little while ago, now has a name and a shiny website: Cubana.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture
      • cuba-street

        • Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • The fun police
      • "Graffiti Alley" between the Left Bank and Ghuznee St may have just been edged out in the Wellingtonista Best Public Art awards, but it's still the most dynamic and democratic site of all. There were some particularly interesting goings-on a couple of weekends ago, and when I walked past early one the evening the masked artists were hard at work; later that evening they were still there, but being sternly spoken to by the boys in blue.
      • Tagged as:
      • art
      • cuba-street

        • Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Density done right: The Altair
      • It's been a while since I've written a post in this occasional series, but that's partly because there are depressingly few good recent examples to choose from. I've been looking for exemplary inner-suburban infill developments, and while this one is stretching the definition a bit, other infill developers could learn a lot from it.The Altair townhouse development in Newtown's Rintoul St is, at three storeys, what I would call a low-rise medium-density development.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture
      • newtown

        • Newtown, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Back to the Promenade
      • After being closed for reconstruction for most of the year, the Tug Wharf Promenade at Kumutoto reopened this morning. Apart from new lighting and seats, the main feature is a new bridge, supported by a "Cradle" at one end and a "Crane Tower" at the other.
      • Tagged as:
      • waterfront

    • Growing a spine
      • I've mentioned the "urban spine" concept many times before, and the expectation that much of Wellington's population growth will occur along a relatively compact corridor extending from Johnsonville via the CBD and hospital to the airport. The consultation and planning process has already started for Johnsonville, and now attention is moving to the southern parts of the city with the "Adelaide Rd - Planning for the Future" process.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture
      • consultation
      • newtown

        • Newtown, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Waterfront fatigue
      • No doubt many of you have had your fill of waterfront posts, but there was a slew of ill-informed letters to the editor in today's Dominion Post that I felt compelled to reply to. There are too many specific errors and misinterpretations to fit into in a 200-word rant, and I thought I'd try to tone down some of my usual vitriol, so I tried to offer a constructive discussion of why good public space design is more subtle and complex than just leaving as much empty space as possible.
      • Tagged as:
      • waterfront

    • Last chance feedback
      • Feedback on the Frank Kitts Park and Kumutoto schemes closes today, so if you haven't done so, today's your last chance to pop down to the Waterfront Project Information Centre and give your feedback.
      • Tagged as:
      • waterfront

    • Kumutoto Option A
      • Public feedback closes on both the Frank Kitts Park redesign and Kumutoto sites 8-10 scheme this Friday, so I've got a lot to get through by then. After discussing all the Frank Kitts options, let's move on to the first of the six Kumutoto entries.
      • Tagged as:
      • waterfront

    • Wharf Plaza
      • The public spaces at Kumutoto are gradually being reopened after their revamp. This week the area between the Steamship Wharf and Meridian Energy buildings, which according to Wellington Waterfront Ltd is to be called "Wharf Plaza", is having the last finishing touches applied. While the "spring" weather may not exactly be conducive to lingering outside, the green lights under the new benches look especially good at dusk.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture
      • waterfront

    • Pass mark for the park
      • Among the various items on the agenda of the recent Waterfront Development Subcommittee meeting was a review of Waitangi Park. There are five separate PDFs to download there, including a survey of park users and an interesting quantitative study of which sections of the park were being used and when, but the guts of the report is a large tabular Design Quality Audit.
      • Tagged as:
      • waterfront

    • Good sports
      • There's a Waterfront Development Subcommittee meeting on tomorrow night, and for once, I'm not going to put myself through all that pain. While there's no single development up for specific debate, this time, feedback is due on the entire draft Waterfront Development Plan, so all the interested parties are having their say.Of the 633 written submissions, 604 were about the future of indoor sport given the changes to Sheds 1 and 6; and in particular, most of these called for the ground floor of Site 10 to become the new indoors sports venue, along the lines of what I've also been suggesting.
      • Tagged as:
      • indoor-sports-centre
      • waterfront

        • ASB Sports Centre, Kemp Street, Kilbirnie, Wellington, Wellington Region, 6022, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Mt Cook summit
      • Mt Cook has been facing a few changes recently, and the locals have been vocal in their response. The next step is a well-publicised public meeting tomorrow night, and it will be interesting to see what comes out of that.Quite apart from specific issues of supermarkets, swimming pools and traffic, I get the feeling that Mt Cook has long faced a more fundamental question: one of identity.
      • Tagged as:
      • mount-cook

        • Mount Cook, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6021, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Kumutoto green
      • Here's the first signs of the revamped public space at Kumutoto nearing completion: pohutukawa and grasses being planted along the western side of the Steamship Wharf building.
      • Tagged as:
      • waterfront

    • A sporting site
      • Submissions on the Draft Waterfront Development Plan close on Friday, and while my opinion on most of it is just "get on with it", there's one area where I'll be promoting a specific change. While the ground floors of Sites 8, 9 and 10 have been designated simply as "retail", I think that Site 10 should be explicitly set aside as an indoor sports facility to replace Sheds 1 and 6.
      • Tagged as:
      • indoor-sports-centre
      • waterfront

        • ASB Sports Centre, Kemp Street, Kilbirnie, Wellington, Wellington Region, 6022, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Any port in a storm
      • The long-awaited Port Café at Chaffers Dock finally opened yesterday, and I had a chance to pop in for lunch today. I nearly had a heart attack, but not from the grease: the mains were mostly over $20, which was not what I was expecting from a casual café and takeaway!
      • Tagged as:
      • restaurants-and-bars
      • waterfront

    • Kumutoto khazis
      • It may not have as rarefied a subject as the Memorial Park, but there has been another design competition going on: an internal contest among staff at Studio of Pacific Architecture, who have co-designed the public space at Kumutoto, for a combined public toilet and "folly" to go near the southwest corner of the Steamship Wharf building.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture
      • waterfront

    • Stupidly lazy?
      • A perceptive (though perhaps less than tactful) commenter said, in response to my post on the Johnsonville Town Centre Plan:The major flaw seems to be the assumption that J'Ville becomes a walkable community.
      • Tagged as:
      • johnsonville
      • transport

    • Mojo rising
      • Mojo already has six cafes in Wellington, and the cartel continues to expand. There's an outlet planned for the ground floor of the Watermark apartments, and according to the neighbours, there will soon be a Mojo in upper Cuba St.
      • Tagged as:
      • cuba-street
      • retail
      • waterfront

        • Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Quick questions
      • Is it better to have a supermarket in Mt Cook, so that the locals can do their shopping on foot rather than taking a taxi from Thorndon via the bypass, or a swimming pool? Would replacing Crossways with 3-4 storeys of apartments, and creating a new set of community facilities on the ground floor, be a possible compromise that would keep Mt Vic residents happy?
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture
      • crossways
      • mount-cook

        • Mount Cook, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6021, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Promenade
      • The promenade between the Chaffers Dock complex and Chaffers Marina is finally open, after being closed for construction for a very long time. It's still not possible to walk from the eastern end directly to the Overseas Passenger Terminal, as they're still asphalting that part, but you can now at least walk along the waterfront edge of the buildings then along the eastern side to Waitangi Park.
      • Tagged as:
      • waterfront

    • Shops that pass in the night 12
      • The stretch of upper Cuba St shops being redeveloped as part of The Wellington apartment and hotel complex is now almost completely tenanted. As I noted a couple of months ago, Eyeball Kicks and the superette have already moved in, and Mojo coffee and Caffé Italiano are both supposed to be on the way.
      • Tagged as:
      • cuba-street
      • retail

        • Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Deco delights
      • The development of Chaffers Dock may be dragging on interminably (the ground floor shops and public area have been "just about to open" since last year), but there's recently been a very welcome little bit of progress. The long-promised public viewing platform on the roof is finally open, and it provides wonderful elevated views of the harbour, city and Waitangi Park.
      • Tagged as:
      • heritage-buildings
      • waterfront

    • Car-nival
      • 's going to be huge, of course. This weekend's Cuba St Carnival is set to be the biggest yet, with some unmissable acts on the Main Stage and even the Courtenay Place bars getting in on the act. The open-ended consent means that its future is secure, and you can get there by bus for only $1 (assuming that there are any drivers available). Some of us are getting very excited indeed about the weekend, and with luck even the weather might come to the party.
      • Tagged as:
      • cuba-street
      • cuba-street-carnival

        • Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Shops that pass in the night 11
      • Cuba Street is continuing to evolve, and some of the shifting around is due to big changes at the upper end. We're yet to see much activity around Car-O Drive, but the first retail units in The Wellington complex are just coming on line.
      • Tagged as:
      • cuba-street

        • Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


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