Britomart Showcases, Auckland

Assembly, together with Dunning Thornton Consulting Engineers and Motm Architects Ltd for Stanley Group Ltd delivered the Showcases project in 100 days from receiving the concept sketches prepared by Cheshire Architects Ltd for Cooper & Company.

The delivery involved the full slab, structural, cladding and lighting design involving primarily prefabricated elements. To achieve the tight timeframe Assembly worked with consultants and fabricators that we have worked with before on other projects such as the Zoo hub. All components were shop drawn and checked by Assembly to eliminate “check-on-site” measurements. Suppliers and fabricators were carefully vetted by Assembly and Stanley Group to ensure the timeframes could be met.

The cladding was manufactured by Fraser Engineering and was designed as a clip on installation for speedy install. The glossy black powder coated panels are also backlight, with light emanating from the perforations providing a subtle yet and responsive night time light show.

AWARDS

• BestAward
• New Zealand Commercial Project Award
• NZIA Auckland Architecture Award in category of Commercial Architecture:
• The award citation read: Temporary in nature but substantial in scale these sophisticated structures perform their retail function while also making a valuable contribution to the Britomart streetscape. Cleverly designed for economical assembly and disassembly, the buildings, with their Meccano-like perforated steel skins express a joy in construction. Lit up at night, they cast some welcome illumination onto the Britomart footpaths.