Pedestrian-dominated space revealed for lower Queen St

Wednesday, 4 October 2017

Artist renderings of a new Britomart public square.

A vision of a car-free, pedestrian-friendly space for lower Queen St has been unveiled.

City Rail Link's (CRL's) design team, in conjunction with Auckland Council, have released a number of concept images detailing a plaza and public square outside Britomart Transport Centre.

It would serve as a welcoming point for travelers into Auckland.

The designs illustrate what will become a new multi-purpose civic heart for the city once construction on the CRL has been completed.

It will function as a visitor arrival space, a public meeting place, and had provisions to host major cultural and sporting events in the CBD.

Britomart Transport Centre was previously a vehicle free zone, before buses were moved there.

The square would be used to host sporting events in the city center.

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The designs were completed for review by the Auckland Urban Design Panel and the City Centre Advisory Board.

If adopted, it would see a return to a pedestrian dominated space on lower Queen St, as buses had ruled the area since 2003.

The area underwent a temporary transformation into a public space in 2016, when artificial grass, surface paint and artworks were installed by the CRL team.

Even though it was surrounded by construction at the time, it proved a popular destination for locals and visitors to congregate.

CRL spokeswoman Carol Greensmith said the plaza would be a vehicle free gathering and sitting space, for everyone to enjoy.

It was expected to be finished in early 2020, once Britomart Transport Centre works were completed, she said.

Heart of the City chief executive Vic Beck said while the designs were still in development, it was supportive of the overall direction being taken.

'We want our city centre to be vibrant and a great place to be and spaces like this are essential in creating this,' Beck said.

Creating attractive public spaces where people wanted to spend time and linger would bring economic benefits to surrounding businesses, she said.

Aside from the waterfront and Britomart there were not enough great public spaces in the downtown area, so developing this area would be vital and would add to the growing network of new public places across the wider city centre, she said.

'In a city centre that is growing and where space is limited, public spaces like this are absolutely critical for social interaction, for events, for people to gather, pause and celebrate.'

Auckland Design Office design champion Ludo Campbell-Reid said the project heralds the start of some of the larger transformational moves of the City Centre Masterplan - a vision and strategy to steer Auckland's development over the next 30 years.

'It is a unique space in the city centre, being at the centre of a multi-modal transport hub, it is the single most viable space in the city for a 'self activating ' public plaza where the sheer busyness of the space provides a unique attraction,' Campbell-Reid said.