Kia ora ,

It's been another very busy month at Te Waihorotiu Station with significant progress across all areas of the site. Of particular note is the completion of excavation at the concourse level (one level below ground) - which means for the first time our teams can pass through the entire station underground from north to south. 

As always, to contact us here at Te Waihorotiu Station you can email us at: aotea@linkalliance.co.nz or call 0800 CRL TALK (0800 275 8255 and press option 3) to speak to us. 

And don't forget our community satisfaction survey is still open until the end of tomorrow, Thursday 1 September. Follow the link to provide your feedback.

Dame Whina Cooper TBM approaches her final stop

Faces of Te Waihorotiu Station:
Roseanne & Tharindu

Hundreds of us come to work each day at Te Waihorotiu Station and we all have a story to tell. Each month we aim to profile some of our crew. This month we turn the spotlight on Roseanne and Tharindu, our utilities engineers - watch the video above and take a look at some of their very complex Victoria Street work below!

Community and business support

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Te Waihorotiu Station construction progress

• Concrete façade panels continue to be installed on the Wellesley Street entrance building, including the "earth" element panels on the northern elevation - read on for more about this later in the newsletter.
• Underground, the focus is on internal blockwork walls and the transition to partition wall fit-out using plasterboard. We have also begun to install the over-track ventilation system - a large duct running the length of the station using precast concrete panels.

• Above-ground, the final sections of the airbridge linking Albert Street with the Crowne Plaza Hotel are now back in place, with the road now fully open for hotel traffic and the Atrium Carpark. 
• Underground, all dirt has been removed from the concourse level (B1), so the focus now is completion of concourse slabs and the final cross-beams.
• Deeper down, the team is in the final push to remove all dirt to the base slab level (B4), using our telescopic excavator located at surface level. 

• With the completion of the roof structure across Victoria Street, underground excavation continues at pace -- all dirt is due to be removed by the end of the year.
• Both the Victoria Street eastern and western entrances are now clearly visible - it's really starting to feel like a train station! 
• Utilities relocation and upgrade works also continue, carefully sequenced and coordinated with the construction of the station structures and utility service providers. A major watermain serving the city centre was successfully relocated over the station roof this month. 

• Work to extend the running tunnels continues to progress south from Wyndham Street. This includes formwork and steel reinforcing for the rectangular tunnel box, followed by concrete pours.
• In this area we are building outer walls, a central wall, and finally a roof for the tunnel box. 
• Work here is essentially connecting into the existing running tunnels from Waitematā Station (Britomart), linking into the Te Wai Horotiu Station concourse and platform structure. 
• Train track infrastructure has also started to be laid in the C2 tunnels running from beneath Wyndham Street to Waitematā Station.

Kids artwork to be permanently installed at Te Waihorotiu Station

During the first COVID-19 nationwide lockdown in 2020, City Rail Link made a call out to the children of New Zealand to send in their artwork showing where they would travel if the CRL tunnels could take them anywhere -- real or imagined. The call saw kids from hundreds of schools across the country share their masterpieces.

These young artists who contributed will see their creations printed onto ceramic tiles and placed permanently on a wall inside Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) - just below Victoria Street. 

Architecture at Te Waihorotiu Station

Last month we shared how CRL’s design reflects the Māori creation story of Ranginui (the sky father) and Papatūānuku (the earth mother). This month, we find out more about how the station buildings share this central kōrero through their architecture.  

Four separate station design elements combine to tell the story... 

• Earth Element – representing Papatūānuku. At Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape Stations the earth element is represented by precast panels, the colour and texture of which mirrors Waitematā sandstone.

• Sky Element – representing Ranginui and is depicted by the upper facade treatment. It is a hard working permeable, breathable, skin which responds to the functional and technical requirements of the station. The orientation of the sky element shingles, allows for air intake and exhaust for the louvres sitting behind.  The sky elements at Te Waihorotiu and Maungawhau/Mount Eden Stations are different interpretations of ‘the tears of Ranginui’.

• Threshold Element – these are unique to each station and represents an aspect and narrative relating to each station’s Māori deity (atua), or god. The threshold is the physical point between the outside streetscape, and inside the station. We’ll share more about this aspect of station design in an upcoming newsletter.  

• Fourth Element – represents Te Whaiao (the daylight or glimmer of dawn). It is a transitional element, providing layering, solidity and reflectivity to connect the earth element with the sky. A physical reminder of the act of Tāne Mahuta pushing apart his parents, Ranginui and Papatūānuku.

Station names open for public consultation

City Rail Link has an exciting development to share in its journey to officially name its four stations. Public consultation is now open, meaning Kiwis across Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa can share their views on the names behind this important mahi (work). Earlier in the year City Rail Link put forward a proposal to have four stations names, gifted by its Mana Whenua Forum, officially recognised by the national place naming authority.

These te reo Māori names – Maungawhau, Karanga-a-Hape, Te Waihorotiu and Waitematā – are proposed to replace the pre-existing/interim names. The names are inspired by the cultural heritage of the of the geographic locations these stations will serve, which will be reflected in the designs of the buildings themselves – further deepening the station’s connection to people and place. The authority, the New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa, has considered these names and made minor adjustments to the grammatical presentation as below.

• Maungawhau/Mount Eden Station
• Karanga-a-Hape Station (Karangahape)
• Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea)
• Waitematā Station (Britomart)

Find out more and ‘Meet Your Stations’ here or have your say by taking part in the public consultation.

Midtown regeneration:
Updates on neighbouring public projects

Building Te Waihorotiu Station is the largest construction project in midtown, but there are plenty of other public projects happening nearby as part of regeneration in the area.  Note these projects are not Link Alliance works. 

The Myers Park Underpass upgrade is now well into construction. 

The Wai Horotiu Queen Street Project has made good progress over recent months and is scheduled for completion in November. A reminder that a new "Essential Vehicle Area" has been introduced on Queen Street. 

Te Hā Noa Victoria Street Linear Park and the Wellesley Street Bus Improvements projects are now in detailed design phase with construction due to start in 2023. More information about these projects will be provided to the community soon. 

Other works coming up include Watercare wastewater and Vector power upgrades. Affected properties will be notified as the works programme is confirmed. 

Read more about the regeneration of midtown in the September/October edition of OurAuckland. 

This month we look at what a nib wall is - we've been installing lots of these across the station recently.  A nib is a short section of a wall that juts out from a building’s main structure. Nibs are often used in situations where partitions are required. Take a look at these nibs located in our Wellesley Street building - these will eventually form toilet cubicle areas.