“Fat” gawky Hotel and Apartment building : Questionable design even with 4 floors lopped off

What environmental considerations, Mr Page?

More than minor.

[Everyone will remember the learned Mr Page from the Betterways hotel and apartment building application for 41 Wharf St at the waterfront, not so long ago.]

Mr Bryce (independent planner): …a “key concern” for submitters…the building would block sun from reaching the Regent Theatre and surrounds from 3pm at winter solstice. “At this time of year, the proposal will effectively remove all remaining access to sunlight received over [the] southern end of the western side of the Octagon.” (ODT)

Mr Page (the developer’s ‘Brief’): The “potential shading effect” was acknowledged, but Mr Page was confident the hotel’s benefits “will far outweigh” those concerns. (ODT)

Mr Page, again : The hotel’s “tall, slender built form” minimised the impact on those living closest to the hotel project site… (ODT)

Good heavens.

Source: Application documents

—

At Facebook:

### ODT Online Tue, 11 July 2017
Hotel developer still confident
By Chris Morris
Dunedin’s latest five-star hotel bid will “not be viable” if the developer is forced to reduce the building’s height, it has been claimed. But the man behind the project, Tekapo businessman Anthony Tosswill, remains confident the hearings panel set to decide the project’s fate can yet be swayed by the hotel’s benefits. The comments came from Phil Page, the lawyer acting for Mr Tosswill, days after the public release of an independent planner’s report running the ruler over the hotel proposal.
The report by Nigel Bryce concluded consent be declined unless Mr Tosswill agreed to a “substantial reduction” in the building’s height, by four storeys, to bring it down from 60m to 45.5m.
Read more

****

Resource Consent Application LUC 2017-48 and SUB 2017-26, 143 – 193 Moray Place, Dunedin (Proposed Hotel)

The hearing will be held on Mon 31 Jul, Tue 1 Aug, Wed 2 Aug, Thu 3 Aug and Fri 4 Aug 2017 in the Edinburgh Room, Municipal Chambers (off the Octagon). The hearing will commence at 9.30 am each day.

█ Consultant Planner’s Section 42a Report (PDF, 4.3 MB)

[excerpt]

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATION
[5] For the reasons set out in paragraphs 72 to 334 below, I consider that the Proposal in its current form, will not promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources in accordance with Part 2 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA or the Act).
[6] The Development promotes a contemporary design, which is considered acceptable within this setting and articulates sufficient design interest and modulation through the facades and its pinwheel like form expressed in the tower component of the building. The building’s design incorporates a base building or podium, which allows the structure to have an active street frontage to Moray Place and Filleul Street, which is considered a positive design response.
[7] The Development will be ‘juxtaposed’ against a backdrop of the heritage buildings located to the east of Moray Place, including the Town Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral when viewed from the west and St Paul’s Cathedral and the Municipal Chambers when viewed from the south (including from the Octagon).
[8] The building’s overall height is considered to generate an over-dominance on properties to the north and west of the Site, and will have more than minor adverse effects on the amenity values of residential properties to the west of the Site. This is largely due to the significant change in scale introduced by the Development and the lower scale built environment that currently exists to the west and north of the development site, comprising predominantly two to three storeys in height.
[9] The Development will adversely impact upon the townscape values of the TH02 Octagon townscape precinct under the Operative Dunedin City District Plan (Operative Plan), including loss of sunlight penetration into the Octagon during the Winter Solstice and will adversely impact upon the setting and pre-eminence of existing heritage buildings such as the St Paul’s Cathedral and the Municipal Chambers building when viewed from the Octagon.
[10] The Development is considered to result in more than minor visual amenity and shading effects on Kingsgate Hotel to the south of the Site. The Kingsgate Hotel will experience prolonged and more sustained loss of light over a wider part of the property and associated buildings over the critical morning period during the Equinox and Winter Solstice periods (or collectively over ¾ of the year). This conclusion has been reached having regard to the potential for the Site to be developed up to a maximum height of 11 metres with a building erected against all boundaries (the ‘controlled activity building outline’).
[11] For the scale of the building to be mitigated to an acceptable level, and to maintain and enhance the amenity values of the City Centre and wider environs, Council’s urban design consultant, Mr [Garth] Falconer recommends reducing the proposed building height by four levels to bring the total height down to nine storeys (Level 13, +157,500 (datum level) on Drawing Section AA). This reduction would provide for a maximum height of 45.6 metres from existing ground level, or a maximum height breach of 34.4 metres (including the lift shaft). This mitigation response would not remove any of the 210 visitor accommodation rooms (hotel rooms), and would maintain supporting facilities including licensed premises, retail, conference, meeting facilities and on-site amenities, parking, and servicing areas. I note, for completeness, that the Applicant is not currently proposing to reduce the height of the Development.
[12] In its current form, it is my recommendation that the proposal should be declined.

More about Garth Falconer, DCC’s consulting urban designer:
LinkedIn profile: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/garth-falconer-a0699bb3
Owner and Director, Reset Urban Design Ltd: http://reseturban.co.nz/

Take a glimpse of the ‘urban form’ at Takapuna, North Shore Auckland (his home turf), to know Mr Falconer is likely missing any handle on building height for a heritage city like Dunedin.

****

Agenda and all documents including Submissions at:

http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/council-online/notified-resource-consents/notified-applications-pending/luc-2017-48-and-sub-2017-26

****

At Facebook [see comments]:

### ODT Online Sat, 8 Jul 2017
Reject hotel bid: planner
By Chris Morris
A planner has recommended rejecting Dunedin’s latest five-star hotel bid, unless the developer agrees to a “substantial reduction” in the building’s height. The recommendation to decline consent came in a report by independent consultant Nigel Bryce, made public yesterday, ahead of the public hearing beginning on July 31. In his report to the panel of independent commissioners, Mr Bryce said the hotel development would “visually dominate” its surroundings, including the town hall, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Municipal Chambers. It would be the tallest building in the central city and would cast a shadow over the Octagon, as well as the nearby Kingsgate Hotel, during winter. Together with other impacts, the development was considered to be “non-complying” under the city’s district plan rules. It would only be acceptable if the building was reduced by four storeys, lowering its overall height from 60m to 45.6m, which was still well above the existing 11m height limit for the site, his report said.
Read more

[initial coverage]
7.7.17 ODT: Decline hotel consent: report

### ODT Online Wed, 28 Jun 2017
Two from North Island on hotel hearings panel
By Chris Morris
The panel to decide the fate of Dunedin’s latest five-star hotel bid features one familiar face and two from the North Island. Tekapo businessman Anthony Tosswill’s bid to build a 17-storey hotel and apartment tower in Dunedin would be considered over five days, beginning on July 31, it was confirmed yesterday. […] The panel of three would be headed by chairman Andrew Noone, now an Otago regional councillor, acting in his role as an independent commissioner. […] Alongside him will be fellow independent commissioners Stephen Daysh, of Napier, and Gavin Lister, of Auckland.
Read more

—

Related Posts and Comments:
● 14.5.17 RNZ reports July hearings for proposed hotel apartment building [comments by Mr Tosswill]
● 4.5.17 Submissions close 10 May : Proposed 17-storey, est. 62.5 metres-high Moray Place hotel/apartment building
● 7.4.17 Proposed hotel *height and design* —the very least of it #sellingoursouls
● 5.6.17 Application lodged for FIASCO Hotel by Tosswill #DunedinWrecks
● 18.12.16 DCC set to take away CBD car parks without Economic Impact research
● 15.10.16 Battle of the hotels : DCC meat in the sandwich (unedifying)
● 5.10.16 Dunedin bauble #votecatcher
● 4.10.16 The Demon Duck freak show of partial ‘Civic’ information! Before voting closes! #Dunedin
11.1.16 Un hôtel. Dunedin.
19.8.15 Hotels ? Business ? [DCC lost +++152 fleet vehicles] —Cull in charge of building chicken coops, why ?
1.4.14 HOTEL Town Hall… Another investment group, Daaave’s pals from the communist state?
25.3.14 Hotel We LIKE: Distinction Dunedin Hotel at former CPO

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Source: Application documents

RNZ reports July hearings for proposed hotel apartment building

Image: Paterson Pitts Group

Image: Thom Craig Architects

### rnz.co.nz Wed, 10 May 2017 at 6:13 p.m.
RNZ News: New Zealand / Business
Hotel plans prioritise visitors over residents – objectors
By Lydia Anderson – Otago/Southland reporter
Residents above the proposed site for Dunedin’s first five-star hotel say it’s not right their view of the city will be blocked so tourists can have a better one. The 17-storey ‘Electric Thistle’ Moray Place design would sit behind the city’s heritage buildings in the Octagon. More than 200 submissions on the project have been filed – three quarters of them in opposition. The hotel’s height and modern design has some residents worried – at about 64m high it would be significantly taller than the current 11m limit imposed on the chosen site, which is currently a carpark.
….The proposed hotel would feature 210 hotel rooms plus apartments, cafe, a wine club, public hot pools and conference rooms.
….The hotel’s developer [?]* Tony Tosswill, who represented Horizon Hospitality Group, said the hotel was being built high rather than wide out of consideration for the views of people living in the city rise area. To meet international five-star standards the hotel needed views and around 200 rooms, he said.
….Public hearings on the submissions will take place in July.
Read more

● Full application: 143-193 Moray Place – LUC-2017-48 and SUB-2017-26
● View all submissions

****

The applicant is NZ Horizon Hospitality Group Limited http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/5876487

The name of the building developer/financier hasn’t been announced. Asian finance is suspected as being needed but likely not obtained yet; New Zealand’s Australian-owned banks aren’t providing credit on speculative developments at this scale.

Pullman Hotels is fêted as the hotel manager.

█ Spokesman for the (unnamed) developer is Anthony Tosswill of Tekapo, NZ. Mr Tosswill is not the developer, as may have been construed from MSM news items.

****

The following comments from Mr Tosswill were received for publication by What if? Dunedin in late April. Links to the threads where they appear are provided here:

2017/04/24 at 9:37 pm
Anthony Tosswill
In reply to Elizabeth.
why do you wish to destroy employment in Dunedin, why do you want to prevent creating Jobs and more revenues for the Community and supporting Tourism and local Business?
Why do you wish to keep subsidizing Dunedin venues when they can support themselves with the Services that this Hotel can offer.
Why dont you disclose who you are so People can judge you and your motives. The Jobs that Cadburys will make redundant are you able to give them Jobs or the new Students ending there education.
When was the Last New Hotel Built in Dunedin? Dunedin None Queenstown 6, Queenstown 26,000 Dunedin 126,000.
How about supporting Development, and Jobs or are you one of those that just as you say destroy everything before its starts.
Who am I, I am a spokesman for the Developer

2017/04/24 at 9:46 pm
Anthony Tosswill
In reply to Elizabeth.
Great Video, it suggests you are supporting Terrorism. Is that amusing blowing up things. It also suggests you want to stop Jobs, supporting local Business. preventing People attending Events and Venues, dislike tourism and dont want a venue that supports Dunedin. I suggest you at least remove the Blowing up of the Developments its in very bad taste.
When reading comments on this site its easy to see why it has so little support.
I am a spokesman for the Developer, who are you?

2017/04/25 at 4:58 pm
Anthony Tosswill
In reply to Peter.
I would like to point out that Residents in Londo complained about the about the Shard in London and the London Eye yet, Yet Today we Recognize London for these 2 Buildings as they are also Top Tourists sites as is the Palace. Hindsight is marvelous
Do you recall the complaints when the stadium prior to been Built now its recognized as one of the Top 20 in the World. Dunedin be proud.
One may tell us of Identical Buildings so we can learn from your expertise.
The Design relates to minimizing views from residents behind plus maximizing views of Tourists that want to appreciate Dunedin and its Harbour we believe in our design and concept.
Retrospective opinions are great if you are trying to stop the future progress of Dunedin, if your view point is taken seriously its Dunedin’s loss.
Spokesman for the Developer.

2017/04/25 at 5:28 pm
Anthony Tosswill
In reply to Elizabeth.
Hi Elizabeth,
you made several comments. Architectural design.
a) Design and the Changes,
In Response, I respectfully point out that does not relate to commercial facts or results, hence for any 5 Star Hotel and in Particular in Dunedin our view is very different but it is for this type of Development whats been Built in All Cities around the World, we are one of the 99% (Not the 1%)
b) We have incorporated a Design that shows off Dunedin, with new Technology that is expected today by 5 Star Guests. Dunedin is the Showcase, the Development is to provide Access to the City not be the City~
You suggest and refer to your time and Resources “What are They”?
It Also appears that you think Asians are also different or at least there Money is, maybe you should complain also about the contribution made by Asians that go to Otago University is their money bad? I like Asian People, I married to one.
Love to know more about whatever Cargo Growth is? Are you a Supporter of Cadbury Factory Closure as well? Is that not a local Resource?
400 Persons Daily Spending Money in New 5 Star Hotel in Dunedin is Growth to Dunedin, please re add up the equation since you have an alleged financial background your sums should add up one cold think,
Good on you Farmer for having an independent view point congratulation is this Elizabeth’s Blog its appears to be!
Spokesman for the Developer

—

Related Posts and Comments:
● 4.5.17 Submissions close 10 May : Proposed 17-storey, est. 62.5 metres-high Moray Place hotel/apartment building
● 7.4.17 Proposed hotel *height and design* —the very least of it #sellingoursouls
● 5.6.17 Application lodged for FIASCO Hotel by Tosswill #DunedinWrecks
● 18.12.16 DCC set to take away CBD car parks without Economic Impact research
● 15.10.16 Battle of the hotels : DCC meat in the sandwich (unedifying)
● 5.10.16 Dunedin bauble #votecatcher
● 4.10.16 The Demon Duck freak show of partial ‘Civic’ information! Before voting closes! #Dunedin
11.1.16 Un hôtel. Dunedin.
19.8.15 Hotels ? Business ? [DCC lost +++152 fleet vehicles] —Cull in charge of building chicken coops, why ?
1.4.14 HOTEL Town Hall… Another investment group, Daaave’s pals from the communist state?
25.3.14 Hotel We LIKE: Distinction Dunedin Hotel at former CPO

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Submissions close 10 May : Proposed 17-storey, est. 62.5 metres-high Moray Place hotel/apartment building

Where to access more information about the application:

Dunedin City Council website:

█ Current notified resource consent applications
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/council-online/notified-resource-consents

Applicant: NZ Horizon Hospitality Group Limited
[ http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/5876487 ]
Subject site: 143-193 Moray Place
Status: Non-complying activity
Submissions close: Wednesday, 10 May 2017 at 5:00 p.m.

█ Application information + submission information/online form at:
143-193 Moray Place – Non-complying activity – LUC-2017-48 and SUB-2017-26

A P P L I C A T I O N ● D E S C R I P T I O N

Land use consent is sought to construct and operate a commercial residential development involving 210 visitor accommodation rooms (hotel rooms), 64 self-contained apartments, four self-contained penthouse suites, together with licensed premises, retail, conference, meeting facilities and on-site amenities, parking, and servicing. The development proposes a new building with 17 storeys (including the lift core on the top of the building, and three levels of the building extending below ground). The overall height of the proposed building varies in relation to the existing ground level, but will be approximately 62.5m at the highest point above the existing ground level (including the lift core). The proposed building is assessed as a non-complying activity under the operative Dunedin City District Plan. The application includes an assessment of effects.

Land use consent is also sought for earthworks because the site development will involve an estimated 8,914m3 of earthworks and a maximum cut depth of 7.35 metres from existing ground level.

Subdivision consent is sought for a unit title subdivision in relation to the proposed building. The application includes plans of the proposed subdivision.
The subject site is located in the Central Activity Zone in the operative Dunedin City District Plan and is located within the north Princes Street/Moray Place/Exchange townscape precinct TH03.

The proposed building is a non-complying activity under the operative Dunedin City District Plan (due to non-compliance with Rule 9.5.2(i) no front or side yards, Rule 9.5.2(iii) veranda requirements along Filleul Street frontage of the site, and signage under Rule 9.5.2(vi)). The building also exceeds the maximum 11 metre height limit under Rule 9.5.2(ii) which requires consent as a restricted discretionary activity under Rule 9.5.3(i). The proposal is also a controlled activity under Townscape Rule 13.7.2(i).  

The proposed earthworks are a restricted discretionary activity under Rule 17.7.3 of the operative Dunedin City District Plan.

The unit title subdivision is a non-complying activity under Rule 18.5.2. Rule 18.5.3 requires that every allotment in a subdivision must have both legal access and vehicle access to a formed road. The rules for subdivision do not expressly provide for unit title divisions where the allotments created may comprise multiple units within a building.

The subject site is zoned Central Business District in the proposed Second Generation Plan and a secondary pedestrian frontage applies.

The proposed 2GP was notified on 26 September 2015. The relevant objectives and policies of the 2GP must be considered. Rules in the 2GP can be deemed as operative if no submissions have been made in opposition. The application says that some 2GP rules may be deemed operative. If the decision maker determines that 2GP rules are deemed operative these rules will apply instead of the corresponding Dunedin City District Plan rule. {bolding by whatifdunedin}

█ SUB-2017-26 & LUC-2017-48 – Public Notice (PDF, 31.4 KB)

Please read the accompanying documents and reports that apply to this application, as listed here.

—

M A K I N G ● A ● S U B M I S S I O N

█ Online submission form

█ SUB-2016-26 & LUC-2017-48 – Submission Form (Form 13) (PDF, 38.9 KB)

IMPORTANT: If you wish to make a submission on this application you may do so by sending a written submission to the consent authority, Dunedin City Council at PO Box 5045, Moray Place, Dunedin, 9058 Attn: City Planning, no later than 5:00 pm on the closing date shown.
● Email: resconsent.submission@dcc.govt.nz

The submission must be dated, signed by you, and include the following information:

• Your name and postal address and phone number/fax number;
• Details of the application in respect of which you are making the submission including location;
• Whether you support, oppose, or are neutral towards the application;
• Your submission, with reasons;
• The decision you wish the consent authority to make;
• Whether you wish to be heard in support of your submission.

Please note: If you make your submission by electronic means, a signature is not required.

An acknowledgment of your submission will be sent by post when the submission is accepted as complete. The application may be viewed at the City Planning Enquiries Desk, Customer Service Centre on the Ground Floor, Civic Centre, 50 The Octagon.

You must serve a copy of your submission on NZ Horizon Hospitality Group Limited, the applicant, whose address for service is Anderson & Co Resource Management, PO Box 5933, Dunedin 9058, as soon as reasonably practicable after serving your submission on the Dunedin City Council.

Alternatively, you can Email copy of your submission to NZ Horizon Hospitality Group Limited via Anderson & Co Resource Management (Dunedin) –
Attention: Conrad Anderson conrad_a@xtra.co.nz

—

V I E W S ● A N D ● L A N D S C A P E ● C O N T E X T

7. Architectural Drawings, including Arch Statement and earthworks (PDF)
8. Subdivision plans (PDF)
13a. Photomontage notes (PDF)
13b. Photomontage (PDF)
13c. Anticipated Views Assessment Notes – supplementary (PDF)
20. Urban Design (PDF)
21. Memo – Re: Glass (PDF)

NB. Note a number of the angled street views provided in the application are partial only – the full extent of the proposed building (in order to help assess accompanying effects) is not given except in wider landscape perspectives such as when seen from across the harbour or along street vistas. Most close-up perspective views of the proposed building, such as when seen from the Octagon, may appear to be ‘diminished’ or foreshortened in height – scale accuracy is difficult to determine in the presentation renders without technical knowledge of how the views were generated. It is somewhat likely that independent peer review(s) of the (landscape and townscape) presentation renders provided by the applicant and their consultants will be sought by submitters, if not the processing authority.

█ Spokesman for the (unnamed) developer is Anthony Tosswill of Tekapo, NZ.
Mr Tosswill has noted in comments to What if? Dunedin that he speaks for the developer. Mr Tosswill is not the developer, as may have been construed from news items published by the Otago Daily Times previously.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Selected renders from application documents : Thom Craig Architects and Paterson Pitts Group

*Poor quality of images as received via DCC webpages.

Proposed hotel *height and design* —the very least of it #sellingoursouls

At Facebook:

[screenshot]

Channel 39 via YouTube [screenshot]

—

Related Post and Comments:
5.6.17 Application lodged for FIASCO Hotel by Tosswill #DunedinWrecks

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Application lodged for FIASCO Hotel by Tosswill #DunedinWrecks

At Facebook:

****

Tekapo-based businessman Anthony Tosswill is hoping to send the signal “the city is open” with this master-disaster, or something closely akin.
JFC i

An application for resource consent was lodged with DCC today for this unlanced boil on the elegant hind quarter of our heritage city.

Details in brief according to ODT deputy editor Craig Page at Channel 39 News tonight:

● 17 storey ‘glass hotel in central city’
● 60 [read 64] metres at highest point
● 210 rooms
● 64 apartments
● 4 penthourse suites
as well as retail opportunities.

The proposal exceeds the district plan height limit (11 metres) – meaning the application is to be publicly notified.

ODT will publish concept renders and contextuals tomorrow.

Get your Smart Hats on Dunedinites, give him a fricking run for his (or other people’s) money. Beyond the Mass Unsightliness, you will lose your convenient central city parking area – be prepared to walk for blocks next time you want to attend events at the Council, Town Hall, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Central Library or Regent Theatre.

Has the Dunedin City Council SOLD YOU OUT ???
Ratepayers own/owned the site. What DEAL has been done by council politicians and staff to prosper an OUT OF TOWN private individual above and beyond your immediate and long term LOCAL requirements in the central city.
JFC ii

DCC Webmap – Filleul St council-owned parking area (shaded)

█ Market Gap Report Hotels – Evidence Stephen Hamilton, Horwath HTL
December 2012 (PDF, 482 KB)

—

Related Posts and Comments:
● 18.12.16 DCC set to take away CBD car parks without Economic Impact research
● 15.10.16 Battle of the hotels : DCC meat in the sandwich (unedifying)
● 5.10.16 Dunedin bauble #votecatcher
● 4.10.16 The Demon Duck freak show of partial ‘Civic’ information! Before voting closes! #Dunedin
11.1.16 Un hôtel. Dunedin.
19.8.15 Hotels ? Business ? [DCC lost +++152 fleet vehicles] —Cull in charge of building chicken coops, why ?
1.4.14 HOTEL Town Hall… Another investment group, Daaave’s pals from the communist state?
25.3.14 Hotel We LIKE: Distinction Dunedin Hotel at former CPO

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

NZ Loan and Mercantile : Concept and master plan by architect Paul Ries

Letting the building “tell its story”, involves retaining and keeping exposed as many historic features as possible.

### ODT Online Wed, 4 May 2016
Redevelopment revised (+ video)
By Vaughan Elder
Owner Russell Lund’s previous plans to redevelop the three-storey 143-year-old heritage warehouse building in Thomas Burns St involved building 24 long-term apartments on the top floor, but he told the Otago Daily Times yesterday he had changed tack. He has brought over United States architect and friend Paul Ries, who has drawn up ambitious plans to convert the two top floors into more than 50 short-stay apartments, with the ground floor used as a commercial space.
Read more + Gallery

Otago Daily Times Published on May 3, 2016
Dunedin Loan and Mercantile building

█ Site Plan and Images: Paul Ries | Supplied by Russell Lund

Related Posts and Comments:
6.8.15 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —meeting tomorrow
13.3.15 Making heritage work | Dunedin New Zealand
28.11.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —Resource Consent granted (pics)
26.11.14 Retraction (see comment on ‘Heritage Counts’)
26.9.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —what ESCO said!
30.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing
24.10.09 Rodney Wilson: Dunedin as national heritage city

█ For more, enter the terms *harbourside*, *heritage* or *lund* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Building Owner | Architect

Dezeen: W57 —West 57th Residential Building by BIG

Durst Fetner Residential commissioned Copenhagen based BIG in the spring of 2010 to introduce a new residential typology to Manhattan.

sltube7 Uploaded on Feb 10, 2011
Jacob Slevin Bjarke Ingels Is BIG in New York City with W57
(by Designer Pages)

GlessnerGroup Uploaded on Feb 15, 2011
W57 – West 57th Residential Building [no audio]
W57 is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise, West 57th has a unique shape which combines the advantages of both: the compactness and efficiency of a courtyard building providing density, a sense of intimacy and security, with the airiness and the expansive views of a skyscraper.
©Glessner Group, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

Construction is due for completion in 2016.

█ Architect: Bjarke Ingels Group

—

### dezeen.com Tue, 8 Feb 2011 at 12:41 pm
West 57th by BIG
By Catherine Warmann
Durst Fetner Residential (DFR) today announced the design of West 57, a 600-unit 80/20 residential building on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. The building is designed by renowned Danish Architect firm BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and is their inaugural North American project. The building’s program consists of over 600 residential units of different scales situated on a podium with a cultural and commercial program. The building will strive for LEED Gold Certification.

“It’s extraordinarily exciting to build a building whose architecture will attract visitors from around the globe,” said Hal Fetner, CEO of Durst Fetner Residential. “BIG’s design is innovative, evocative and unique and the building’s beauty is matched only by its efficient and functional design that preserves existing view corridors while maximizing the new building’s access to natural light and views of the Hudson River. West 57th will establish a new standard for architectural excellence and its creative design, sustainable-construction and operations, breathtaking views and distinctive amenities will make it New York’s most sought after residential address.”

“New York is rapidly becoming an increasingly green and livable city. The transformation of the Hudson River waterfront and the Highline into green parks, the ongoing effort to plant a million trees, the pedestrianisation of Broadway and the creation of more miles of bicycle lanes than the entire city of my native Copenhagen are all evidence of urban oases appearing all over the city. With West 57th we attempt to continue this transformation into the heart of the city fabric – into the centre of a city block,” Bjarke Ingels, Founder, BIG.

“The building is conceived as a cross breed between the Copenhagen courtyard and the New York skyscraper. The communal intimacy of the central urban oasis meets the efficiency, density and panoramic views of the tall tower in a new hybrid typology. The courtyard is to architecture what Central Park is to urbanism: a giant green garden surrounded by a dense wall of spaces for living.”
Read more + Images

[view full screen]

BIG from DRKHRSE (posted 4 months ago)
An aerial view of Bjarke Ingel’s newest building in NYC, at W57

█ Drone Photography: Darkhorse

### dezeen.com Wed, 16 Sept 2015 at 11:10 am
Drone video shows progress on New York “courtscraper” by BIG
By Jenna McKnight
Communications firm Darkhorse has used a camera mounted to a drone to capture footage of Via 57 West, the residential building by Bjarke Ingels Group that is now rising in New York. Construction is underway on the tetrahedron-shaped building, which is located on West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The design is pulled up at one corner, to create a 467-foot-tall (142-metre) structure. It topped out several months ago, with the addition of the final structural beam, and work is now continuing on the building’s facades. The unofficial movie by Darkhorse shows images of Via’s sloped exterior, which is punctuated with south-facing terraces that look toward the Hudson River.

Encompassing 861,00 square feet (80,000 square metres), the building will contain 709 residential units and a large central courtyard. The project also calls for retail space totalling 45,000 square feet (4,180 square metres).

“We call it a courtscraper,” Ingels told Dezeen in an interview last year. “It’s a combination of a skyscraper and a courtyard building. One side is the height of a handrail and the other side is the height of a high-rise.”

The project is being constructed in an area with a mix of building types. W57 is sandwiched between a power plant, a sanitation garage and a highway. The building’s amenities will include a pool, fitness centre, basketball court, golf simulator, library and screening room. Residents will also be able to reserve “living rooms” for entertaining that feature fireplaces, chef’s kitchens, dining rooms and large terraces.
Read more + Images

█ Other residential projects now underway in New York include 152 Elizabeth Street by Tadao Ando in the Nolita neighbourhood, 520 West 28th Street by Zaha Hadid near the High Line, and a luxury condo building by Alvaro Siza that is slated to rise near BIG’s Via 57 West.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dezeen: Grands ensembles and their urban veterans #Paris

Denise, 81, Cité Spinoza, Ivry-sur-Seine, 2015

Photo essay: French photographer Laurent Kronental has spent four years capturing the “grands ensembles” housing projects in Paris, juxtaposing the monumental buildings with their elderly occupants.

### dezeen.com Sun, 3 Jan 2016 at 6:00 pm
Laurent Kronental’s Souvenir d’un Futur photos show Paris’ forgotten housing estates
By Dan Howarth
With his Souvenir d’un Futur series, Kronental has photographed residents of the estates among the concrete structures and vast open spaces of the crumbling futuristic complexes built during Paris’ housing boom in the 1950s and 1960s. In this exclusive essay for Dezeen, he explains how his images highlight a sometimes neglected generation in often marginalised urban areas, which both “carry with them the memory of a Modernist utopia”.
Read more + Slideshow

Les Tours Aillaud, Cité Pablo Picasso, Nanterre, 2014Les Tours Aillaud, Cité Pablo Picasso, Nanterre, 2014Paulette, 83, Les Damiers, Courbevoie, 2015Josette, 90, Vision 80, Esplanade de La Défense, 2013

█ As a laureate of the 2015 La Bourse du Talent award in the Landscape/Architecture category, Kronental’s work is on show at the National Library of France until 7 February 2016.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Jean, 89, Puteaux-La Défense, 2011
Les Tours Aillaud, Cité Pablo Picasso, Nanterre, 2013

Uglies: Black-tie at 715 George

715 George St, corner Regent Rd, Dunedin

█ Clan Construction Commercial Ltd
http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/4013678

—

### ODT Online Thu, 10 Dec 2015
Student apartments going up
Construction has begun on six new student apartments at the corner of George St and Regent Rd, Dunedin. The 962sq m triangular-shaped site is owned by Straits International Ltd, and was the site of a service station for about 80 years. The Dunedin City Council has given resource consent for the company to construct four residential units in a two-storey building (block 1) and two residential units in a three-storey building (block 2), thereby creating 22 habitable rooms. Construction is expected to be completed next year.
ODT Link

—

Comments at ODT Online:

Student apartments
Submitted by Barnaby on Thu, 10/12/2015 – 6:35pm.

No! This was not a service station site for 80 years. There was a beautiful two-storey substantial brick heritage house on this site until about the 1970s. This is just another step in the incremental loss of North End heritage. This shows very poor planning from DCC, making this part of town, and the main street in this case, an ever expanding precinct of badly designed cheaply built high density housing. These will add to the stock of other similar structures forming “North Dunedin’s slums of the future”. Ratepayers’ will probably end up funding the future purchase of such cheap accomodation to mitigate associated social problems and the appalling visual amenity. Very poor city planning indeed.

Habitable room disasters
Submitted by ej kerr on Fri, 11/12/2015 – 12:43pm.

Prominent George St corner sites are being trashed by the banal. More habitable rooms – No emphasis on good contemporary design, no flair.
This one’s built right to the footpath on the main street, with little modulation and no hint of garden or vertical planting possible, except something to the corner part-screened by the witless bus shelter shoved on its concrete pad.
Given the rich inheritance, where has Dunedin street architecture gone? Where are the design professions? Why so much visual erosion? Where is the NZ Institute of Architects? Why no City Architect Office and independent Urban Design Panel to uphold design values for Dunedin residents and ratepayers?
Ugh! DCC planning fail. DCC urban design fail. DCC district plan fail. When will DCC grow up – to promote sympathetic edgy contemporary architecture and design for major city axials, at the very least. A step up from turning Dunedin into bog city with tawdry gateway approaches.

Related Posts and Comments:
[distasteful]
6.1.14 George Street: Two new uglies (thanks DCC, no City Architect…)

[sensitive]
9.1.14 Facadism: 3%, 10%, 50%, 75%, 99.9% (how much is enough) | University of Otago warps Castle Street

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: misted lettered tweaked by whatifdunedin

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —meeting tomorrow

“You can’t be too confident, but if we’re all reasonable I think an agreement is definitely within reach.” –Russell Lund

Farra Engineering chief executive John Whitaker agreed yesterday when contacted there had been “good work” during mediation.

### ODT Online Thu, 6 Aug 2015
Extra conditions may rescue project
By Chris Morris
Plans to breathe new life into Dunedin’s historic Loan and Mercantile building could be about to take a significant step forward. Building owner Russell Lund will meet a group of neighbouring harbourside businesses, as well as Dunedin City Council and Otago Chamber of Commerce representatives, tomorrow to discuss the stalled project.
Read more

—

Related Posts and Comments:
13.3.15 Making heritage work | Dunedin New Zealand
28.11.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —Resource Consent granted (pics)
26.11.14 Retraction (see comment on ‘Heritage Counts’)
26.9.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —what ESCO said!
30.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing
24.10.09 Rodney Wilson: Dunedin as national heritage city

█ For more, enter the terms *harbourside*, *heritage* or *lund* in the search box at right.

[click image to enlarge]

—

Post/image by Elizabeth Kerr

Business owner forcibly removed from Dunedin Central police station

TODAY local businessman Jon Leng, owner of Chapel Apartments at 81 Moray Place, found himself being manhandled / roughed up by police officers as he was shown out of Dunedin Central police station.

Did Our Lovely Police keep any video footage of the incident – WIPED?!?
Oh, three foyer cameras ‘not online’, they said?

Apparently, the moment selected to ‘move on’ Mr Leng coincided with the absence of witnesses in the foyer…. conveniently, the woman receptionist was seen to lower her head (and eyes) for the expulsion.

Hopefully, Otago Daily Times, which Mr Leng visited shortly after the bruising, will run some decent coverage of the ruffled protagonist with his broken ($800) glasses.

Perturbed about the advertised 130-person party (Ball!) at Backpackers, next door at 2 View Street, Mr Leng had visited Dunedin Central to speak to Inspector Melanie Aitken who heads the investigation (into harassment and intimidation of View Street residents) that followed screening of ‘Party Central’ on Sunday TVNZ (10 May 2015).

Because ‘Mel’ Aitken made herself unavailable, Mr Leng decided not to leave Dunedin Central until she met with him. Fair enough.

At some point, however, he was forcibly removed from the station.

—

Chapel Apartments, 81 Moray Place [Google Street View]

—

### ODT Online Tue, 14 Jul 2015
View St event worries neighbour
By Carla Green
Residents of a notorious Dunedin student party flat have sent a letter to neighbours, saying they are “having a Ball” on Friday but are “really keen to minimise any inconvenience to you”. However, the owner of a neighbouring building, [Jon] Leng, is sceptical the event in the View St flat will be any different from previous parties. […] Mr Leng rents his View St property to short-term tenants, and said every time the student flat held a party in the past, he had to provide refunds.
Read more

█ Download: Ball at Backpackers, letter (PDF, 267 KB)

Note: According to DCC, Backpackers (2 View Street) may host a maximum of 50 people at ‘The Ball’, not the 130 persons invited by tenants.

—

Related Posts and Comments:
26.5.15 Student involvement in Dunedin drinking culture
● 12.5.15 View Street, seen from Moray Place [2 View Street owner details]
11.5.15 Don’t for Chrissakes play down effects of liquor barons #DUD
11.5.15 Aftermath of Sunday TVNZ on ‘Party Central’
● 8.5.15 Sunday TVNZ #Dunedin —10 May TV1 at 7:00 pm
2.4.15 University rolls down, Harlene not the only problem….
28.3.15 University of Otago landscaping
22.3.15 University of Otago: More national and global publicity #HydeStreet
18.2.15 University of Otago: Toga Party 2015 #video
16.2.15 University of Otago can’t beat broadcast news and social media #image
● 8.5.14 Student Proof Carpet – New Zealand #video
15.2.14 University of Otago: Starter questions for Harlene

█ For more, enter the terms *university*, *harlene*, *alcohol*, *publicity*, *hyde*, *party*, *octagon mud*, *student*, or *blaikie* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

View Street, seen from Moray Place

Google Street View – Dec 2012 [screenshot]

View Street. A heritage street containing historic townhouses (once private family residences, of which only one remains in this use) and apartment buildings. Otago Girls’ High School provides an ‘architectural’ dénouement at the top of street. The church building to Moray Place and View Street has been converted to upmarket apartments.

The infamous 2 View Street (student proof carpet….) is second from right (cream painted facade), a former church hall then backpackers. It was purchased by a Mr Nicolas Beach in 2010. Mr Beach on-sold the property for an artificial profit (don’t ask). From that time it’s been all downhill for other people living on the street —with so little support from city authorities, the property owner (currently, an absentee living in Australia), and the university. It’s called turning a blind eye, passing the buck.

—

Quotable Value NZ [screenshot]

—

WHO OWNS 2 VIEW STREET
From the DCC Rates Book:

Ratepayer name(s): Ross Maxwell Pty Limited

[oh look, that infamous firm] Postal address for this assessment
C/O Edinburgh Realty Limited PO Box 5772 Moray Place Dunedin 9058

NZ Companies Register:

ROSS MAXWELL PTY LIMITED (5447574) Registered
http://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/5447574

Showing 1 of 1 directors:
Ross MAXWELL
55 Abbott Street, Wallsend NSW, 2287, Australia

Total Number of Shares: 1
Extensive Shareholding: No
Shareholders in Allocation:
Allocation 1:
1 shares (100.00%)
Ross MAXWELL
55 Abbott Street, Wallsend NSW, 2287, Australia

—

Related Posts and Comments:
11.5.15 Don’t for Chrissakes play down effects of liquor barons #DUD
11.5.15 Aftermath of Sunday TVNZ on ‘Party Central’
● 8.5.15 Sunday TVNZ #Dunedin —10 May TV1 at 7:00 pm
2.4.15 University rolls down, Harlene not the only problem….
28.3.15 University of Otago landscaping
22.3.15 University of Otago: More national and global publicity #HydeStreet
18.2.15 University of Otago: Toga Party 2015 #video
16.2.15 University of Otago can’t beat broadcast news and social media #image
8.5.14 Student Proof Carpet – New Zealand #video
15.2.14 University of Otago: Starter questions for Harlene

█ For more, enter the terms *university*, *harlene*, *alcohol*, *publicity*, *hyde*, *party*, *octagon mud*, *student*, or *blaikie* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Michael Vidalis | aSocial Architects

via Academia.edu

Social Spaces by aSocial Architects?
Deciphering the Proliferation of Contemporary Heterotopias
By Michael A Vidalis
Registered Architect, MArch – Athens, Greece
PhD Candidate in Urban Sociology

Kitagata Housing project, SANAA Architects. More at Google Images

—

We are in a new era, setting forth another perception of urban space: A totally subjective, idiosyncratic view of space.

It is supported that architecture in synergy with sociology could produce “better” architecture. Architecture that is socially functional will have an added value. Thus, a new level of meaning can be added to architecture, enhancing the quality of reading of the urban space. Additionally, a holistic and continuous dialectic juxtaposition of all perspectives (absolute, relative and relational space), produces meaning in regards to the space and its transformations.

Vasilis Avdikos (2010) notes that “The view that space has also a relational dimension, fills that void, establishing the human is, as an equal part of a relation. A dialectical relation between the structures/infrastructures and superstructures of a society, between its signifier and the signified. The relational view of space cannot function independently of its absolute and relative view. Only a holistic and continuous dialectic juxtaposition of all these perspectives, produces meaning in regards to the space and its transformations”.[1] Defining superstructures as the meanings, ideology, logic, culture, feelings, consciousnesses, values, traditions and memories, that arise as a result of the operation and use of the structures (market, laws, justice, political parties, school, etc.) and infrastructures (the “built” or man-made environment: buildings, squares, streets, technology and the like). In short, as Avdikos observes, the superstructures operate like a mirror image or reflection of the absolute and relative space, within which specific spatial frames are formed.[2]

In 1999 I was invited to present a paper in a conference; In “Towards a Social Architecture”, I supported the view that we must comprehend and address the social aspects and priorities of architecture. A short time thereafter, a journalist visited my office, surprised for the ideas presented. I replied laconically that it is surreal to think otherwise, regardless if the architectural community in the western world had abandoned the idea of a socially responsible architecture a few decades ago.[3]

It is reminded that the new architecture of the Modern Movement promised to promote or foster social change, in order to alleviate the misery of the working class in the industrial city; or, to at least ameliorate the quality of their lives. Initially the Modernists had the best of intentions for a socially responsible architecture, although they failed as their plans often contravened reality.

Nathan Glazer observed that architects did a 180 degree turn and renounced the social ideals of the Modern Movement, disillusioned with the failure of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project and similar projects. Realizing that they were incapable of addressing social problems, they abandoned the initial enthusiasm of a social agenda and decided to focus on what they undoubtedly knew best: Design. To be specific, design as a solely artistic form.

The demolition of Pruitt-Igoe (1976) would essentially mark the beginning of a new era, setting forth a different perception of space for architects: A totally subjective, idiosyncratic view of space. Sociologist Robert Gutman often noted that humans and their needs are not within the main interests of architects. In short, architects no longer concern themselves with what sociologists or social scientists have to say.

As a result, today’s spaces designed by starchitects, imbued with elements of sensationalism, surprise or disorientation, with an emphasis on escaping reality through heterotopias (Michel Foucault, 1967), etc., should come of no surprise. For architectural space produced today has as its point of departure the aforementioned negation of the social agenda; in this light, today’s architecture appears entirely logical as faithful to the new creed. Space, especially urban space, where most of humanity now resides and communicates, has become idiosyncratic, becoming a monument to its designer.

To prevent any misunderstandings, this is not to negate the entirety of contemporary architecture or imply an inferiority of the new aesthetics; but to suggest that architecture in synergy with sociology could produce better architecture. Architecture that is socially functional will have an added value. Thus, a new level of meaning can be added to architecture, enhancing the quality of reading of the urban space. For the social dimension will not limit or harm the architectural aesthetics, as some practitioners may fear. On the contrary, a holistic perspective will redefine space and its associated aesthetics, as the absolute, relative and relational readings will coexist.

As architecture is undisputedly considered an art form, the definition of art surfaces, reminding us of the feelings evoked upon reading or viewing a subjective creative work. When the social parameter is absent or suppressed, as is often the case today, the feelings produced will most likely be negative or indifferent at best. Therefore, it should be of no surprise that society often perceives architects as non-practical people, relative to the use of space by humans, i.e., in reference to the social dimension.

As a consequence of the above limited standpoint, we are often hearing architects talk amongst themselves, getting the impression that they view their profession solely as the practice of whimsical art that earns them monies; regardless of the rhetoric. A rather cynical view, by a profession that designs human space, because this is what architecture essentially does…

I don’t think that architecture is about solving human problems at all. Psychologists solve human problems, sociologists solve human problems, economists solve human problems. We’re none of those things. We do culturally necessary projects to me, which have a value for the culture in general. What should the architect do in society? I don’t think the architect should do anything, frankly. Peter Eisenman [4]

—

FOOTNOTES
[1] Vasilis Avdikos, “Space as relation: Methodological approaches and research framework”, Geographies, v. 17, 2010, p45 (Hellenic journal).
[2] Ibid. p42.
[3] Interview to Aris Karer. The paper was published in its entirety in Express, April 1999, Health section, p17. The title given was “Residences for … humans” (Hellenic economic newspaper).
[4] David Basulto – ArchDaily. Interview in 2011 in: http://www.greekarchitects.gr/tv.php?category=291&video=475#first_division (January 9, 2015).

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Frampton, Kenneth. Modern Architecture: A Critical History. London: Thames & Hudson, 1992.
Hayden, Dolores. The Power of Place. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The M.I.T. Press, 1998.
Harvey, David. Social justice and the city. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1973.
Lefebvre, Henri. The Production of Space. Translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 1991.
Massey, Doreen. Space, Place, and Gender. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1994.
Sassen, Saskia. The global city: New York, London, Tokyo. 3rd ed. Princeton: Princeton: University Press, 2001.
Soja, Edward. Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory. London: Verso, 1989.

—

█ SANAA (Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates) is a multiple award-winning architectural firm based in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1995 by two Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima (妹島 和世 1956-) and Ryue Nishizawa (西沢立衛 1966-). In 2010, Sejima and Nishizawa were awarded the Pritzker Prize. Examples of their work include the Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion in Toledo, Ohio; the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, NY; the Rolex Learning Center at EPFL in Lausanne; the Serpentine Pavilion in London; the Christian Dior Building in Omotesando in Tokyo; the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa; and the Louvre-Lens Museum in France. Read more

█ Kitagata Housing project, SANAA Architects
The apartment building is part of a large scale public housing reconstruction project located about 15 minutes from Gifu City by car. Four women architects were selected under the coordination of Japanese architect Arata Isozaki to execute the projects. This L-shaped Wing designed by architect Kazuyo Sejima sits on the south-east part of the site where the idea for the overall layout of the development was to run the buildings around the perimeter. Sejima: “Given that this building is made up of rental apartments, it could be assumed that various types of families would live in those units. In other words, we imagined that forms of co-habitation would not be restricted to the existing standard family, but that different types of groupings of people should be considered…”
In the project master plan, the courtyard lies between the four separate housing blocks designed by Akiko Takahashi, Kazuyo Sejima, Christine Hawley, and Elizabeth Diller. Because of the diversity of architectural design found within the project, strong site imagery and geometry have been created for the courtyard to unify the distinct parts of the project and to give the project a memorable identity. See more at http://gifuprefecture.blogspot.co.nz/

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: Kitagata Housing project, Gifu City, Japan – (top) Wikimedia Commons: Raphael Azevedo Franca; (bottom) via gifuprefecture.blogspot.co.nz

Tragic names: Torch at Dubai, on fire

Updated post Sat, 7 Mar 2015 at 2:11 p.m.

█ Wikipedia currently lists the tallest residential buildings in the world.

### NZ Herald Online 1:28 PM Saturday Feb 21, 2015
Dubai skyscraper fire: Blaze rips through Torch residential building in marina district
A fire has ripped through the Torch in Dubai – one of the tallest residential buildings in the world. The skyscraper, which is 336.1m (1,105ft) tall, is in the marina district of the city. The fire is believed to have started on the 50th floor and is spreading quickly, in part due to high-winds. One witness said it looked like “the Titanic going down”, Gulfnews.com reports. Terrified residents were forced to flee and emergency crews rushed to the scene to tackle the blaze which burned across several floors of the enormous structure. There were no reported injuries, officials told NBC News, but it was unclear whether all the residents had been accounted for.
Read more

● BBC News: Fire rips through Dubai skyscraper (video, with commentary by Kathryn Dickie 13th floor resident)

The Marina Torch, also known as Dubai Torch or just The Torch, is a supertall residential skyscraper at the Dubai Marina, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The 79-storey Torch opened in 2011.

—

Wikipedia (update) —2015 fire
A fire broke out in the building on 21 February 2015 2:00 a.m. local time. Eyewitnesses stated that the fire started with a grill located on one of the building’s balconies. Although it appeared no fatalities occurred, seven people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. Video footage shows structural debris falling from the burning storeys to the ground. The fire appeared to have started in the middle of the building and spread rapidly due to high winds, causing the flames to flare up, resulting in “massive problems” for the fire department and the backing up of traffic on the nearby highway for several miles. External cladding was charred from the 50th floor to the top of the tower. Eyewitnesses reported the fire starting in the middle of the tower, and falling debris setting lower levels on fire. Link

Jaime Müller Published on Feb 20, 2015
The Torch Tower On Fire . Dubai Marina . Dubai #1
[ENG] The Torch Tower is burning up in Dubai Marina!
[PTB] O Torch Tower – meu prédio vizinho – está pegando fogo!

—

Dubai Marina – cap of Torch showing, upper centre right [elitetowerdubai.com]

Dubai Marina, view from Torch 76th floor Sept 2009 [imredubai.blogspot.co.nz]

The Torch Skyscraper [via BBC] was the world’s tallest residential building at its opening, but has since been surpassed by six others; it’s now thought to be the 32nd tallest building in the world, according to the Skyscraper Centre. It has 676 apartments. A two-bedroom flat starts at more than $500,000 (£325,000). Residents have access to an eight-storey garage and a swimming pool overlooking Dubai’s waterfront.

The World’s tallest apartment tower chronologically (Dec1/2011 status) – hosted at flickr [click to enlarge]

*Note the graphic by R Braddish (above) claims The Torch has “86 floors” whereas multiple sources state it has “79 storeys”.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dezeen: 3 projects #materials

17 March 2014
Wooden strips coil around staircase at Strasbourg hotel by Jouin Manku
Les Haras de Strasbourg (France) is a hotel and restaurant project unlike any other. Composed of a four-star hotel and Michelin 3-starred chef Marc Haeberlin’s first brasserie, Les Haras presents an original solution to the question many provincial cities are facing: how to redevelop and harness the potential of their architectural heritage. Managed by the Institute for Research into Cancer of the Digestive System (IRCAD), presided over by Professor Jacques Marescaux, the project allies architectural creativity and technological innovation, two particular areas of French expertise, with philanthropy, an unprecedented mix for a historic redevelopment project in France.

Parisian studio Jouin Manku created this 55-room hotel inside an 18th century building previously used as an equestrian academy, with a restaurant that features a staircase wrapped in a spiral of wooden strips. The pieces of oak around the stairs, which link two floors of the hotel’s brasserie, create handrails on one side and a balustrade around the top.

“The interior design for the hotel and brasserie is characterised by its authenticity and modernity,” said the designers. “A particular idea of luxury and comfort inspired by the equestrian world, restrained and subtle.”

The staircase sits between a circular bar and open kitchen at the entrance level, where informal seating and a few dining table are located. Upstairs, guests dine beneath the original wooden roof supported by chunky beams and columns. Private booths are created within pods and large curved seats covered in saddle leather, while long tables extend down the length of the space to accommodate larger parties. Stonework around the windows has been left exposed and the walls are finished with rough plaster.

The wood structure is also highlighted in the simple bedrooms, which are painted white and decorated with leather details on the headboards and furniture.

Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku have expressed their vision of this former stud farm and historic site, in a design that is both elegant and simple. They have deliberately chosen to limit the range of materials used; solid wood, natural full hide leather and blackened or brushed metal to transpose the original life of this emblematic Strasbourg building into something resolutely contemporary and simple, whose architectural details attest to the studio’s creativity.
Read more + images

—

14 May 2014
Hotel Hotel Canberra lobby, Australia, by March Studio
March Studio was commissioned to design the lobby for the Nishi building, a multi-storey apartment building located in Canberra’s arts and culture precinct New Acton. The building houses two floors of hotel rooms, wrapped around a central courtyard and light well. The ground floor contains Hotel Hotel’s lobby, reception, concierge and bar, as well as retail and hospitality tenancies. The grand staircase links the apartment block with the hotel, whose design was developed by 50 artists, designers and makers including Japanese studio Suppose Design Office.

The space features thousands of pieces of recycled wood, which are fixed around the walls and ceiling to create irregular patterns around the building’s precast concrete pillars. “Freed to scatter up the walls and across the ceiling, the suspended timber filters exterior light and views into and from internal spaces,” said March Studio in a statement. “Spidery, pixelated shadows are cast on the floor and bare walls.” The lengths are supported by steel rods that run from the ceiling to the ground floor, while sparser clusters of timber-covered steel rods line the front of the entrance.

Each tread of the staircase is made up of three different types of glue-laminated timber profiles. Longer lengths of timber profiles protrude from the middle of the staircase to create an illuminated central balustrade. The staircase leads up to the hotel lobby and bar, which occupies two floors of the building. Here, chunky lengths of concrete and timber create bulky pieces of furniture, while decorative lighting fixtures hang from the ceiling and circular skylights bring in daylight from overhead.
Read more + images

—

29 December 2014
David Ben-Gurion’s former home renovated by Pitsou Kedem Architects
A Tel Aviv flat that was once the home of Israel’s first prime minster has been renovated and extended by local firm Pitsou Kedem Architects to create a new basement level with industrial-style fittings. A framework of chunky black I-beams supports the ceiling of a new basement floor, added to the flat formerly owned by the late David Ben-Gurion, who was instrumental in the founding of the Israeli state and was prime minister between 1955 and 1963. The project, called Past Turned Into Space, involved reorganising the interior of the ground floor apartment, which is located within a two-storey block designed by Ukrainian architect Yosef Berlin in 1925.

“Since the construction elements we created were totally new, we took care not to hide them but left them exposed in order to tell the story of the renovation.”

The protected building features renaissance-style arches with segmental keystones, balconies and pale pink plasterwork, and is located within a UNESCO heritage site in Tel Aviv. This meant the architects had to contend with severe building restrictions to add the subterranean level that would enable them to expand the residence into a 220-square-metre duplex apartment. A palette of exposed concrete, glass and steel were continued throughout the interior, lending an industrial appearance to the interior spaces that contrasts with the building’s ornamental facade. “We chose to use concrete and steel because we treat them as timeless materials,” said the architects. “This combination with a preservation building felt right.”
Read more + images

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images:
Les Haras de Strasbourg – via Jouin Manku
Hotel Hotel, Canberra – Peter Bennetts unless otherwise stated by Dezeen
Tel Aviv apartment – Amit Goren, with styling by Eti Buskila

Small apartments —then !! New York by Gehry #2011nuclear

### design-milk.com 13 Jun 2014
Tiny 100-Square-Foot Apartment Virtually Transforms Throughout Day
Posted by Gregory Han
When it comes to forecasting the future, there are two schools of thought: one that sees our planetary cup still half full, the other alarmingly half empty. You can cast Bernardo Schorr, MFA candidate in Parsons’ Design and Technology program and Creative Technologist, with the camp predicting a gloomy dystopian future…. a future where a great many of the world’s population will have to live in much smaller dwellings out of necessity, “in windowless apartments with areas limited to 100 square feet.”

But not all is lost! Schorr also believes digital technologies can be engineered to allow occupants of these micro-apartments to escape the sensation of being confined within prison cells by projecting immersive virtual environments to “expand” the walls far beyond their true dimensional boundaries. Offered as an “utopian solution for a dystopian scenario”, Schorr’s “Mixed Reality Living Spaces” project serves as an experiment for a future when windows will have become a luxury and our circadian rhythms regulating sleep and activity will be cued increasingly by a pixel perfect simulacrum of the world outside.
Read more + Photos

Bernardo Schorr Published on May 15, 2014

Mixed Reality Living Spaces
[Conceptual only, what would 3D printers make for body hugging multi-use furniture, here we don’t find out – but the design principle is worthy. -Eds] Mixed Reality Living Spaces is an imagination of how current and near-future technologies will help us cope with issues of space scarcity and confinement that will derive from urban development.

—

### design-milk.com 16 Apr 2014
Transforming Apartment Maximizes Small Space
Posted by Caroline Williamson

With 60 square metres (approximately 645 square feet) to work with, Russian designer Vlad Mishin designed the Transformer Apartment which contains several transforming elements. The apartment is separated lengthwise by a massive, faceted wall structure that is made up of black metal framework and plywood that hides away various household functions.
Read more + Photos

****

New York by Gehry at Eight Spruce Street

█ Video + Slideshows (floor plans and more) http://www.newyorkbygehry.com/
█ ArchRecordTV Frank Gehry’s Beekman Tower on design and construction
█ Videos at Youtube for Beekman Tower and 8 Spruce Street

Overview via Wikipedia:
8 Spruce Street, originally known as Beekman Tower and currently marketed as New York by Gehry, is a 76-story skyscraper designed by architect Frank Gehry in the New York City borough of Manhattan at 8 Spruce Street, between William and Nassau Streets, in Lower Manhattan, just south of City Hall Park and the Brooklyn Bridge.

8 Spruce Street is one of the tallest residential towers in the world, and the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere at the time of completion in February 2011. The building was developed by Forest City Ratner, designed by Frank Gehry Architects and WSP Cantor Seinuk Structural Engineers, and constructed by Kreisler Borg Florman. It contains a public elementary school owned by the Department of Education. Above that and grade-level retail, the tower contains only residential rental units (898 in total), a rarity in New York’s Financial District. The skyscraper’s structural frame is made of reinforced concrete, and form-wise it falls within the architectural style of Deconstructivism together with the begun later and completed earlier Aqua skyscraper in Chicago.

28.11.11 New York Times – The Appraisal
Living in a 76-Story Work of Art, and a Symbol of Rebirth

The school is sheathed in reddish-tan brick, and covers 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) of the first five floors of the building. It will host over 600 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade classes. A fourth floor roof deck will hold 5,000 square feet (460 m2) of outdoor play space. Above the elementary school is an 898-unit luxury residential tower clad in stainless steel. The apartments range from 500 square feet (46 m2) to 1,600 square feet (150 m2), and consist of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. All units are priced at market-rate, with no low or moderate income-restricted apartments. It does not contain any units for purchase.

The building also includes space for New York Downtown Hospital. The hospital will take up 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2), and will have public parking below ground. There are public plazas on both the east and west sides of the building, one 11,000 square feet (1,000 m2) and the other somewhat smaller. Street-level retail, totalling approximately 1,300 to 2,500 square feet (120 to 230 m2), is included as part of the project.

30.3.11 Architectural Review
Eight Spruce Street by Frank Gehry, New York, USA

Early reviews of the 8 Spruce Street tower have been favourable. The building was also heavily criticized for “appearing as a nuclear meltdown”, for being the most expensive per square foot residential tower in Manhattan and for receiving $204 million in federal bonds for its $875 million construction cost. In The New York Times, architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff praised the building’s design as a welcome addition to the skyline of New York, calling it: “the finest skyscraper to rise in New York since Eero Saarinen’s CBS building went up 46 years ago”. New Yorker magazine’s Paul Goldberger described it as “one of the most beautiful towers downtown”. Comparing Gehry’s tower to the nearby Woolworth Building, completed in 1913, Goldberger said “it is the first thing built downtown since then that actually deserves to stand beside it”. CityRealty architecture critic Carter Horsely hailed the project, saying “the building would have been an unquestioned architectural masterpiece if the south facade had continued the crinkling and if the base had continued the stainless-steel cladding. Even so, it is as majestic as its cross-town rival, the great neo-Gothic Woolworth Building designed by Cass Gilbert at 233 Broadway on the other side of City Hall Park.” Gehry designed both the exterior, interiors and amenities spaces, along with all 20 model apartments.

█ Frank Gehry is perhaps the most celebrated practicing architect in the world today. He has been the recipient of dozens of awards recognizing excellence in architecture including the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which honours “significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture”. Over the past five decades, under Gehry’s creative direction, Gehry Partners, LLP has designed public and private buildings in North America, Europe, and Asia. Hallmarks of Gehry’s work include a particular focus on creating spaces that are comfortable to the people who use them, and that exist well within the larger context and culture of their location. The firm’s approach to design is one in which the client becomes fully engaged in the process, making each project a true collaboration.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: New York by Gehry at Eight Spruce Street (from top) businessinsider.com, urbanedgeny.com, architectural-review.com, en.wikipedia.org

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —Resource Consent granted

Dunedin City Council has granted resource consent with conditions (LUC-2014-259) to Russell Lund, owner of the former NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building, for the development of residential apartments on the upper (top) floor.
The building is located in the Port 2 zone and the Queens Gardens Heritage Precinct (TH12).
The entire external building envelope is listed for protection in the Dunedin City District Plan.
Heritage New Zealand has registered the former industrial warehouse as a Category 2 historic place and recognises its heritage values and significance within the registered Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area.
The building is pivotal to contextual readings and narratives for the Port of Dunedin, Steamer Basin, and reclaimed foreshore as much as future development in the Port 2 and Harbourside zones incorporating public access to the water’s edge.

Decision
The final consideration of the application, which took into account all information presented at the hearing, was undertaken during the public-excluded portion of the Hearing.
The Committee reached the following decision after considering the application under the statutory framework of the Resource Management Act 1991:

Land Use LUC-2014-259
Pursuant to section 34A(1) and 104B and after having regard to Part 2 matters and sections 104 and 104D of the Resource Management Act 1991, the Dunedin City Council grants consent to a non-complying activity being the establishment of residential activity within the NZ Loans (sic) and Mercantile Building and associated building alterations at 31 & 33 Thomas Burns Street, Dunedin, being the land legally described as Section 21-22 Block XLVII held in CRF 0T288161 (Limited as to Parcels) subject to conditions imposed under section 108 of the Act, as shown on the attached Certificate.

█ Download: LUC-2014-259 Letter of decision

Right of Appeal — In accordance with Section 120 of the Resource Management Act 1991, the applicant and/or any submitter may appeal to the Environment Court against the whole or any part of the decision within 15 working days of the notice of the decision being received.

—

[click to enlarge]

Recently, architectural historian Peter Entwisle assessed the building’s significance in the national context and recommended review of the registration status to Category 1. Earlier assessment work in the 2000s commissioned by the Otago Branch Committee of New Zealand Historic Places Trust and led by Elizabeth Kerr, included the achievement of two academic studies by University of Otago history student Stephen Deed with supervision from Dr Alexander Trapeznik towards Committee review of the building’s registration and establishment of a historic area on the Dunedin harbourside. Assessment work for registration of the historic area was successfully completed by the NZHPT Otago Southland Area Office. Unfortunately, ongoing restructuring within the Trust has meant review of the building’s registration has not been prioritised or resourced. It is hoped that Mr Entwisle’s strong research will lead Heritage New Zealand to mandate the work with some urgency.

Onwards…….

—

Related Posts and Comments:
26.11.14 Retraction (see comment on ‘Heritage Counts’)
26.9.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —what ESCO said!
30.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

—

Post and images by Elizabeth Kerr

*All images lowres only at this webpage.

Dunedin: Randoms from inside warehouse precinct 18.10.14

Photographs taken at the Vogel St. Street Party (public tours) held on Saturday, 18 October. [click to enlarge]

—

Jetty St overbridge with McIndoes, ADI, Jade and Reed’s buildings

View from Stavely Building rooftop across NMA Building to Holcim on Fryatt St

Bond St apartments and mixed use

Former Chief Post Office bronze-framed windows

Stavely Building, cnr Bond and Jetty Sts, apartments with shared atrium

Reed’s Building (former Otago Education Board offices), 75 Crawford St

Street art cnr Princes and Jetty Sts by Pixel Pancho (ITA)

Agricultural Hall and Sammy’s (former His Majesty’s Theatre), Crawford St

Street art, DCC carpark in Water St

Stavely Building parapet decal (side on) – Gresham Hotel relief (woman’s head)

Light fitting, Stavely Building – Chalk it up, DCC carpark Water St

Street furniture outside ADI (former Donald Reid Stores Building), 77 Vogel St

Mural by Phlegm (London), former Rogan McIndoe Building, Vogel St

Former Otago Harbour Board offices (43 Jetty St) seen from Reed’s Building

Former Gresham Hotel, Queens Gardens, cnr Rattray and Cumberland Sts

Street art by Be Free (AU), alley off Police St (behind 104 Bond St)

—

Related Posts and Comments:
15.10.14 Vogel St. Street Party | Saturday 18 Oct 3pm – 11pm
22.6.14 Vogel Street Heritage Precinct (TH13) [photos]
5.8.14 DCC staff-led CBD projects that impact ratepayers | ….council debt
28.9.14 “DCC entitlement” about to ramrod change at CBD #manipulation
1.7.14 Jonathan Howard: ‘Changing Dunedin City: Snapshots from the air’
19.2.11 Reed Building, 75 Crawford Street for demolition?
13.6.10 No temporary cover: historic Stavely Building of Dunedin

—

Images by Elizabeth Kerr

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building —what ESCO said!

Land Use Consent: LUC-2014-259
31-33 Thomas Burns Street, Dunedin
NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building

█ Application LUC-2014-259 (PDF, 4.0 MB)

—

[see related posts below] The consent hearing reconvened on Monday 22 September at 9:30 AM to hear closings of the city planners and right of reply for applicant Russell Lund. The hearing is now closed; commissioners Andrew Noone (chair), David Benson-Pope and Lee Vandervis are considering their decision.

Background to this post:
Following the initial hearing held on Tuesday 19 August, it is What if? Dunedin’s contention that Debbie Porteous, for the Otago Daily Times, provided news stories which failed to give appropriate weight and balance to submissions and evidence from supporting and opposing submitters, the applicant, and experts for the parties.

ODT stories:
█ 20.8.14 Demolition threatened; job loss possibility raised
Esco Dunedin site manager Dean Taig told the panel if the apartments were allowed next door he would have “grave concerns” for the future of the foundry which employed 39 people and had plans to employ 100 people.
[negative writerly tone]

█ 21.8.14 Businesses fear being driven out of area
It is a choice between buildings and jobs, a panel considering whether to allow apartments in a heritage building in Dunedin’s waterfront industrial area has been told. The district plan had already made the choice for them, lawyer Phil Page also said, because it said there could not be incompatible activities in the same area.
[negative writerly tone becomes shrill, no right of reply for applicant]

█ 29.8.14 DCC to foot apartments consent bill
The development is opposed by nearby industrial businesses, which are concerned about reverse sensitivity issues such as noise and smell and the effect of gentrification of the area on their future enterprises.
[stirring, ends with a negative, no right of reply for applicant]

What on earth had ESCO put to hearing?
● Evidence of Counsel for ESCO Dunedin Pty Ltd – D R Clay (Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Lawyers – Auckland) (PDF, 704 KB)
● Evidence of Dean Taig, site manager of ESCO Dunedin Pty Ltd Dunedin foundry (PDF, 246 KB)
● Evidence of Michael Smith, independent traffic engineering expert (Traffic Design Group) (PDF, 531 KB)
● Evidence of Shane Roberts, independent planning expert (Opus International Consultants) (PDF, 1.82 MB)

—

█ These snivellings from Ms Porteous ran counter to a supportive comment by editor Murray Kirkness on Saturday 6 September:

“It is certainly encouraging that another local developer is prepared to foot the bill to preserve a distinctive piece of the city’s heritage. It is to be hoped his plans go more smoothly than those for Russell Lund’s restoration and apartment conversion of the Loan and Mercantile building. That proposal is complicated by the fact it is in the wharf area and has been opposed by neighbouring industrial businesses. The council hearing into Mr Lund’s consent application resumes this month.” (ODT)

█ On Tuesday 9 September, reporter Chris Morris also cleared the biased air of Ms Porteous, with last sentences:

“Last month, building owner Russell Lund criticised a council planner’s decision to recommend declining consent for his planned redevelopment of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Building. That proposal, which has attracted more support than opposition, is still being considered, with an adjourned hearing set to resume later this month.” (ODT)

Heritage advocates are awaiting something/anything in print from Ms Porteous about the applicant’s technically fulsome right of reply given on 22 September. Why the delay, we ask?

It’s pleasing to learn Murray Kirkness kindly phoned Russell Lund this evening to say a story appears in tomorrow’s newspaper.
THANK YOU MURRAY !!
We look forward to reading this, we hope….

—

Related Posts and Comments:
30.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: wikimedia.org – NZ Loan and Mercantile Building by Ben C Hill for Heritage New Zealand [NZHPT]

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building: Looking round at potential

Updated post Wed, 3 Mar 2015 at 2:39 p.m.

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building, built in stages between 1872 and 1885. Historical building and harbour views (1925) before the addition of the concrete top storey with saw-tooth roof in 1929, the space now proposed for residential use. Details from photographs reproduced in Trapeznik’s book Dunedin’s Warehouse Precinct, pp 34 & 68 [Hocken Collections]

31-33 Wharf Street, proximity to Steamer Basin and Chinese Garden
[Google Streetview 2013]

—

ODT 29.8.14 (page 12)

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building with forecourt of Chinese Garden, from Rattray Street. [Elizabeth Kerr]

—

### ODT Online Fri, 29 Aug 2014
DCC to foot apartments consent bill
By Debbie Porteous
The Dunedin City Council is footing the bill to process the consent required for the development of the former Loan and Mercantile Building in the harbourside area. But the chairman of the panel deciding whether to grant consent to convert the building to apartments says the historic agreement has no bearing on the decision. The no fee arrangement is the result of a council resolution dated September 2011, in which the council agreed any resource consent required for the development and use of the building at 33 Thomas Burns St should be processed at no cost to the applicant. The resolution was part of a suite of agreements resulting from the mediation process that resolved appeals to Plan Change 7: Dunedin Harbourside.
Read more

—

Building details [Google Streetview 2013] – The NZ Loan and Mercantile Building, originally known as the Otago Wool Stores, was built in 1872 for stock and station agents Driver Stewart and Co. Heritage New Zealand lists the construction professionals as Walter Bell, Robert Arthur Lawson, and Mason & Wales Architects Ltd. According to Trapeznik, William Mason was the architect responsible for the plainer part of the complex in the early 1870s. RA Lawson designed the right-hand corner extension in 1880, with additions in 1883 and 1885.

█ More photos here.

—

Related Posts and Comments:
18.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix (interiors)
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building… (site tour, hearing)
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…
18.3.14 Dunedin Harbourside: English Heritage on portside development
21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin has public backing

█ For more on Dunedin’s Harbourside and Plan Change 7, enter the term *harbourside* in the search box at right.

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (b. 1872-85), next to the former W. Gregg & Co. coffee factory (b. 1878) and the Wharf Hotel established circa 1880
[Google Streetview 2013]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

● NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co. Ltd Building – mention by Alexander Trapeznik in Dunedin’s Warehouse Precinct at http://www.genrebooks.co.nz/ebooks/DunedinsWarehousePrecinct.pdf (2014) pp66-71

● W. Gregg & Co. coffee factory and store, Fryatt St – mention by blogger David Murray at http://builtindunedin.com/2014/02/17/thomas-bedford-cameron-architect/

● Wharf Hotel – mention by Frank Tod in Pubs Galore: History of Dunedin Hotels 1848-1984 (Dunedin: Historical Publications, 1984) p61

█ Peter Entwisle recently researched the history and significance of the NZ Loan and Mercantile Building, and presented his findings in evidence to hearing for the application (scanned):
LUC-2014-259 History and Heritage Significance of the NZL&MA Building 19.8.14 (PDF, 2 MB)

—

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #randomsmartphonepix

Updated post 19.8.14 at 9:21 p.m.

Land Use Consent: LUC-2014-259
31 & 33 Thomas Burns Street, Dunedin
New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building

█ Consent Hearing reconvenes — Wednesday 20 Aug at 2:00 PM
ALL WELCOME | Edinburgh Room, Municipal Chambers, The Octagon

—

Related Posts and Comments:
17.8.14 Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building…
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

—

Post and images by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: Public site tour held on Monday afternoon, 18 August 2014 – hosted by building owner Russell Lund in association with Stewart Hansen of the Wharf Hotel (50 participants)

Public Notices: NZ Loan and Mercantile Building #SiteTour #ConsentHearing

Land Use Consent: LUC-2014-259
31 & 33 Thomas Burns Street, Dunedin
New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building

█ Consent Hearing — Tuesday 19 August at 9:00 AM
Edinburgh Room, Municipal Chambers, The Octagon

█ DCC Planner’s Report (PDF, 4 MB)

—

Related Posts and Comments:
13.8.14 Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage (letters)
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: wikimedia.org – NZ Loan and Mercantile Building by Ben C Hill for New Zealand Historic Places Trust

Chamber’s Own Goals —Heritage

Peter McIntyre and John Christie from the Otago Chamber of Commerce had lots to say about the rejuvenation of Dunedin’s heritage fabric and the city’s “vibrancy” after their trip to Portland, Oregon in 2011. What they said then is directly contradicted by the Chamber’s submission on the application for resource consent to redevelop the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Building (31-33 Thomas Burns Street) for residential use.

—

█ Full annotated copy | CoC Own Goals – Heritage (PDF 1.51 MB)

Related Posts and Comments:
11.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Building (audio)
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

NZ Loan and Mercantile Building

### radionz.co.nz Mon, 11 Aug 2014
Radio New Zealand National – Jim Mora with The Panel
The Panel with Michael Deaker and Sue Wells (Part 1) ( 23′ 8″ )
16:07 Topics – we’ve heard from the doctors union the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists that 42 per cent of our senior doctors now qualified overseas. [discussion starts at 14:50 minutes in] The grand old New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Building in downtown Dunedin, developer Russell Lund wants to restore this category two building dating from 1872 and create a 24-unit apartment complex but there is significant opposition due to noise concerns.
Audio | Downloads: Ogg MP3

█ http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thepanel

—

Land Use Consent: LUC-2014-259
31 & 33 Thomas Burns Street, Dunedin
New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building

█ DCC Planner’s Report (PDF, 4 MB)

Related Post and Comments:
8.8.14 NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building…

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: wikimedia.org – NZ Loan and Mercantile Building by Ben C Hill for New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand)

NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building, 31-33 Thomas Burns Street

Updated Post 11.8.14

█ (audio) http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thepanel

█ LUC-2014-259 DCC Planner’s Report (PDF, 4 MB)

DCC Hearings Committee:
Andrew Noone (Chairman), Kate Wilson and Lee Vandervis.

Look out for more in the news… see Comments on this thread.
DCC Planner (name): Darryl Sycamore
Points at issue in the report will be raised at this site, independently.

Disclaimer: Elizabeth Kerr is not a submitter on the application.

—

NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building [Photo: Ben C Hill for NZ Historic Places Trust via wikimedia.org]

█ Heritage New Zealand – Registration report and history (List no. 4755)

█ The well-loved building is one of a group of significant structures listed in Heritage New Zealand’s Dunedin Harbourside Historic Area (List no. 7767)

█ District Plan: Located in the Queens Gardens Heritage Precinct (TH12) and the entire external building envelope is listed for protection in Schedule 25.1 (item B106)

ODT 16.7.14 Plans for landmark building outlined [see ODT photos]
ODT 21.7.14 Excellent proposal to renew building Opinion by Peter Entwisle

—

### ODT Online Wed, 6 Aug 2014
Chamber resists apartment units
By Timothy Brown
The Otago Chamber of Commerce opposes residential development of a historic Dunedin building – arguing the proposal has shades of the costly and largely aborted harbourside rezoning. But building owner Russell Lund has struck back, accusing the chamber of ”knee-jerk nimbyism”.
Thirteen submissions supported the proposed redevelopment of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd building, while four were opposed and one was neutral.
Read more

—

DCC Residential conversion 31 & 33 Thomas Burns Street – LUC-2014-259
Closed: 30/07/2014

Notification of Application for a Resource Consent – Under Section 93(2) of the Resource Management Act 1991.
The proposal is to convert and utilise the second (top) floor of the former NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building for residential activity. There will be eleven three-bedroom apartments and twelve one-bedroom apartments established within the existing building. The exterior of the existing building will have new glazing, windows, balconies, doors, entry and south light modifications. There will be ten on-site parking spaces at the corner of Willis Street and Thomas Burns Street for residents’ use. […] The proposed residential activity within the Port 2 zone is considered to be a non-complying activity pursuant to Rule 11.6.4. The modification of the building is considered to be a restricted discretionary activity pursuant to Rules 13.7.3(i) and 13.7.3(ii).

A detailed set of location maps, plans and an assessment of effects are provided with the application. The application has been submitted with an acoustics report.

█ Read more, including application documents at the DCC webpage

NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency Co Ltd Building (render signed by HNZ 30.5.14)

█ For more, enter the terms *loan and mercantile* or *harbourside* in the search box at right.

—

Posted By Elizabeth Kerr