132 Halsey Street
132 Halsey Street
Project
Accommodation / Residential
Location
132 Halsey Street,
Wynyard Quarter
Client
Willis Bond
Value
$73 Million
Period
42 Months
Consultants
Architects /
Athfield Architects
Structural /
Dunning Thornton
Facade & Services Engineer /
Mott MacDonald
From the outset, this high-end Wynyard Quarter project was conceptualised as establishing the benchmark for Auckland’s newest waterfront neighbourhood. Designed by leading firm Athfield Architects for Willis Bond & Co, the nine-level, Homestar-rated building incorporates 55 apartments, all with views and decks to both sides – a unique characteristic that makes the most of the sublime waterside setting, but also imposed a high level of design complexity. When you also consider that the site was reclaimed land with significant soil issues, and that the project got started around the same time as several other buildings in the immediate vicinity, 132 Halsey St was always going to be a challenging build.
That complexity extended from the unconventional design for the below-sealevel basement – requiring the pouring of multiple slabs – to the bespoke nature of the apartments, with each residence composed subtly differently to its neighbours, to the dazzling gold penthouse box that seems
to float above the building, a feat that demanded both structural gymnastics and construction savvy.
All of it required that Haydn & Rollett be at the top of its game for this one, problem-solving on the job, managing the busy site safely and, above all, maintaining open and effective communication with the client and other stakeholders.
Now that the dust has settled, the building’s residents and visitors to the Wynard Quarter can appreciate what has been achieved at Halsey Street. The architects’ conviction that this building should engage in a very specific way with its location, its neighbours and the adjacent public spaces has generated something that belongs entirely to its setting. And Haydn & Rollett’s determination to rise to the challenge has produced a quality finish under difficult circumstances. The benchmark has been set.