Auckland Ferry Terminal

Auckland Ferry Terminal

The ferry building from the harbour
Alternative names Downtown Ferry Terminal
General information
Type Ferry building
Architectural style Edwardian Baroque
Construction started 1909
Completed 1912
Renovated 1986-1988
Cost ₤67,944
Client Auckland Harbour Board
Design and construction
Architect Alex Wiseman
Main contractor Philcox and Sons
Designated 25-Nov-1982
Reference no. 102
References
"Ferry Building". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. 

The Auckland Ferry Terminal, sometimes called the Downtown Ferry Terminal or simply Ferry Building, is the hub of the Auckland ferry network that connects Auckland City with suburbs in North Shore, west Auckland, and south Auckland, and islands in the Waitemata Harbour and Hauraki Gulf. The ferry terminal is in the Auckland CBD on the Auckland waterfront. It is at the north end of Queen Street, opposite the Britomart Transport Centre, which is the hub for local buses and trains.

Facilities

The ferry terminal is composed of two main elements, with an older, yellow Edwardian Baroque building facing Queen Street and the city side, while the newer wharves and waiting area building (the actual ferry terminal of today) face the Waitemata Harbour.

The terminal seen from Quay Street

Old building

The building usually referred to as the Auckland Ferry Terminal was designed by Alex Wiseman, and built by Philcox and Sons. Completed in 1912 on reclaimed land out of sandstone and brick with a base of Coromandel granite, it cost ₤67,944 to construct (approximately NZ$10.9 million in 2016),[1] a large sum for the day.[2]

Since 1982, it has had a Category I classification with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust,[3] and was extensively restored between 1986 and 1988.[2] It now contains shops and cafes on the lower level, with most ferry operations moved to the new building.

The new section from Quay Street

New building

The more contemporary ferry piers and waiting area were constructed mostly as an open-sided structure with a curved seagull/sail-roof, which together with ornamental "smokestack" turrets is designed to evoke ships berthed behind the original building. It also needed to be of a low profile to retain building views, and was designed by architect Murray Day to be easily maintainable and expandable.[4]

Major remedial work

In 2009-2010, ARTA did major remedial work on the wharf structure, which had not had such work done since construction. The initial works found some parts of the structure in worse shape than expected, as saltwater had slowly infiltrated the reinforced concrete. Initial urgent works were expected to finish in 2009.[5]

References

  1. "Inflation Calculator". Reserve Bank of NZ. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 The Auckland Ferry Building (from the 'roadworks.co.nz' Queen Street website. Retrieved 2007-12-05.)
  3. "Ferry Building". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  4. Well connected (from Commercial Design Trends Volume 2114, 'Trends' magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-05.)
  5. Arta Newsletter, January 2009 - Issue #8 (from the ARTA website. Accessed 2009-02-01.)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Auckland Ferry Terminal.

Coordinates: 36°50′35″S 174°46′01″E / 36.843°S 174.767°E / -36.843; 174.767

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.