Context
Located at Z Pier in the Westhaven marina precinct the site is boarded by the motorway and overlooked by the St Mary's Bay residence.
Design
Utilitarian facilities primarily seek to cater for the functional needs and services they are created for. There is also opportunity to lift the experience of the user beyond this. The original typical council WC "bunker" has been recycled into the showering facility, with the new extruded form housing the Male/Female WC's, Accessible WC, Washroom & Store.
Design themes centre around the idea of enhancing an everyday experience through creating visual delight with colour and a rich material pallet and having varying spatial qualities.
Four different coloured cast glass panels created by Cast Glass artist Jenny Smith reflect a cross section of the Auckland region - Bronze (West Coast Iron Sand), Olive (Waitakere Ranges), Red (Urban/Suburban Landscape), Jade (Waitemata/Hauraki Gulf).
NZIA Resene Local Award Winner 2011 Jury Citation
"Built to a tight budget and timeframe this waterside WC is a clever incorporation of artwork into a public space. The project is a successful adaptive re-use of, and addition to, an existing structure, manifesting the Architect's thoughtful consideration of security in the public realm."
Strachan Group Architects is a multiple award-winning Auckland practice. Grounded in a specific and detailed first-hand knowledge of construction the team brings a highly developed sense of craft to the task of creating sustainable buildings with precision and elegance.
The keen sense of attention that the practice brings to the interpretation of a client’s brief is equalled by a rich and complex understanding of how to respond to the subtleties of site, the impacts of the natural environment, and the many contexts within which a building must operate. To these qualities SGA adds a precise understanding of the requirements of construction, with an advanced level of experience of prefabrication and the use of digitally controlled machinery in the fabrication of building elements under tightly controlled conditions.
SGA takes pride in it's ability to communicate ideas about building as they develop in conversation with clients, consultants and contractors. This skill has been honed in the extensive involvement the practice has had in education, where it has delivered a number of design/build projects with architecture students that have been recognised by the New Zealand Institute of Architects by a series of Awards.
Recognised by their peers as an innovative and exciting practice, SGA consists of a group of highly skilled people with a diverse range of complimentary skills. This flexible team is highly attuned to new developments in the building industry, appreciated by their many clients and capable of undertaking work at any scale.