|
Thursday 31 October, 2024
|
|
|
|
Hundreds of aluminium rods are currently being installed as part of the Wellesley St entrance building’s feature ceiling. The rods are designed to mimic the stems of harakeke (reeds) and the movement of water – creating a rippled lighting effect.
|
|
|
Kia ora Nigel,
It's been another busy month, with several features of Te Waihorotiu Station and surrounding streetscapes now clearly visible in the midtown area. Read on for all the updates and more!
Last week, the station team hosted the NZ Herald for a sneak peak underground - plus a chat with CRL Ltd's CEO Patrick Brockie about CRL's testing and commissioning phase. Read and watch the story here.
As always, to contact us here at Te Waihorotiu Station you can email aotea@linkalliance.co.nz or call 0800 CRL TALK (0800 275 8255 and press option 3) to speak to us.
Kind regards,
The Te Waihorotiu Station team
|
|
Your new streets are taking shape
|
|
|
|
With upgraded footpaths now complete on the western side of Albert Street, we are now well into drainage and roading upgrades (as seen here near 99 Albert St).
|
|
The Link Alliance team continues streetscape reinstatement work across multiple areas. This month we made good progress in the Mayoral Drive area with upgrades now well underway, and the footpath between Huawei Centre and Victoria Street is now open.
Also of note, take a look here at this beautiful native puriri tree helping to “green” our city centre. Standing tall and proud in between the station’s Albert Street entrance (near Victoria St) and the iconic Sky Tower, it's the latest addition to midtown’s streetscape upgrade programme. Can you also see the cycle racks now installed in the background?
|
|
Community and business support
|
|
Sign up to our public station perimeter tours
We have public station perimeter tours happening every month. While these tours do not go underground, they are still popular and always book up - reserve your free place here.
CLG (Community Liaison Group)
Thanks to those who attended our recent CLG drop-in. The CLG's focus was our annual Social Impact and Business Disruption review (see presentation here). We'll be sending out the draft report soon for any further comment - please keep an eye on your inboxes.
|
|
|
|
As part of our engagement with future users of the CRL, this month we hosted Auckland Transport's Capital Projects Access Group (CPAG). We have been working closely with CPAG to ensure design elements make catching the train easy and safe for people with low or no vision and those with mobility needs. These include tactile pavers, hearing loops, step-free access via lifts and a carefully designed platform to ensure the most minimal gap between the platform and the train.
|
|
Station construction update
|
|
Station entrance structures (Wellesley and Victoria Streets)
- As we work toward the full reveal of the feature ceiling rods inside the Wellesley Street entrance building, take of look here at the rods as viewed from the outside of the building this week.
- While not yet fully complete, you can start to see emerge a blue motif embossed on the golden rods.
- Designed by mana whenua artist Graham Tipene and the Link Alliance architectural team, this motif represents the movement of water – a nod to the Waihorotiu stream that still runs below nearby Queen Street. Check out how it compares with the digital render below showing the completed station building.
|
|
Passenger concourse level
- The feature ceiling above the concourse at the Victoria St (northern) end of the station is now installed.
- Like many features of Te Waihorotiu Station, the ceiling is designed to represent the movement of water.
|
|
- The entire Te Waihorotiu Station is designed to mimic the shape of a waka (traditional canoe).
- Take a look here at a view looking down the concourse, clearly showing the "curve" in the station as found in a waka.
- Here you can also see some of the station's seven skylights and one of the four cross-beams.
|
|
Platform and train track level
- One of the key construction activities underground is the installation of the floor tiles - we are now not far from having the entire station tiled!
- Also at this level, the station is preparing for the first test train to travel through the CRL - watch this space!
|
|
|
|
Platform level fit-out is now over 90% complete!
|
|
|
|
Looking up from platform level to concourse, and further up to the station's ceiling.
|
|
|
|
As floor tiling continues, so to does installation of customer infrastructure. Take a look at this shiny new bench, just installed on the passenger platform.
|
|
Northern area (between Victoria & Wyndham Streets)
- Milestone alert! The reinstatement of Auckland’s heritage bluestone wall is now underway.
- This historic retaining wall was built in 1881 from local bluestone material and is located on the eastern side of Albert Street between Wyndham and Victoria Streets.
- The wall was deconstructed in 2020 to enable Te Waihorotiu Station construction.
- Each of the approximately 1800 blocks were surveyed, numbered, and have been stored offsite for the past four years. Our stonemason contractor has now returned and is carefully reinstating the wall, block by block - up against the exterior of the Te Waihorotiu Station wall.
|
|
|
|
We’ll keep you posted on progress as this heritage midtown feature is restored.
|
|
Auckland Council's midtown regeneration programme
Find out all the latest information about the regeneration of midtown on the ProgressAKL website.
We also recommend you subscribe to Auckland Council's midtown newsletters - use this link to keep up-to-date with other construction project info and the exciting changes happening in the area. Click here to read the most recent midtown construction newsletter.
|
|
|
The first completed section of Te Hā Noa has opened
The first section of a redesigned Victoria Street - from Elliott Street to Queen Street - has opened to the public. It’s lighter and leafier. It feels more sociable. It functions with contemporary purpose, signposting more of what’s to come. See the impressive photos above and here.
Midtown wastewater upgrades begin
Preliminary work for Watercare’s Midtown Wastewater Upgrades begun this month. Three midtown sites are being prepared and shafts are being built, ready for a tunnel boring machine to be lowered into the ground in 2025. These underground wastewater upgrades are a key component of the Auckland Council group’s midtown regeneration. Find out more about this project here.
|
|
|
|
As we prepare to welcome the first test train through the CRL, watch this "explainer" for the latest on CRL's testing and commissioning phase.
|
|
|
|
