Waterfront update

File under: landscape architecture, architecture, waterfront, Wellington

The OPT redevelopment is the most significant new project to be announced on the waterfront, but there are a lot of other things going on, both large and small. I took this as an opportunity to experiment with ZoomIn's Places and Groups functions, and created a Wellington Waterfront Changes group to map all the recent and upcoming develpoments (at least, all the ones I could think of). Many of these have been planned for a while, but there are a few interesting items that came up in the latest revision of the Waterfront Development Plan (115kB PDF) for the 2006/07 finanical year. These include:

• The Chinese Garden may be sited at Frank Kitts Park, rather than at Site 4 (between Te Papa and Waitangi Park) as first intended. This change has been suggested by the Chinese Garden community, prompted by the fact that the building at Site 4 may take several years to find funding, leaving that site in limbo. No detailed plans have been produced for the relocated park, but the most likely location would be the roadside section where the mini-bungy is currently housed. Several people I know have said that the Waitangi site would never have been great for the Garden anyway, and now that Frank Kitts Park's function as an events venue has been taken over by Waitangi Park, the former will become more of a quiet reflective place, which suits the Chinese Garden brief well.
• The south end of the Events Centre is going to get an upgrade, and though some may suggest that the best "upgrade" for that building would involve a large amount of high explosive, it seems that someone's going to get the challenging job of making it attractive while still allowing for truck access. There are still plans to include a pedestrian link across Jervois Quay to Willeston St, though the details are still to be worked out.
• At Kumutoto, Shed 11 is likely to become the new home for both the Centre for Photography and the NZ Portrait Gallery, though funding needs to be secured from central government before this can be confirmed. Its identical neighbour Shed 13 will then take over its events and exhibitions role. When combined with the Site 7 building, the bars at Steamship Wharf (Loaded Hog et al) and the revamped public spaces (due by about September next year), it looks like this will be a very lively and diverse part of town.