Global architecture firm Woods Bagot is relocating their Christchurch office to Auckland, with the new studio to open in January 2021.
Having worked on several projects in the New Zealand market for ten years, the firm is moving to premises in Britomart in the heart of the harbour city. Woods Bagot’s local NZ projects – both delivered and in the process of being delivered – have a combined value of 1.9 billion NZD.
Woods Bagot director and regional executive chair (Australia & New Zealand) Kate Frear said the planned return to Auckland represented a natural progression for the firm in a strengthening market.
“New Zealand has been an important part of Woods Bagot’s regional pipeline for a decade and has steadily grown over the past four to five years. The nation has also managed the pandemic extremely well and is positioned to come out of it even stronger,” Frear said.
Woods Bagot has worked on major projects in Auckland by partnering with local firms; these include the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) for SKYCITY, with Warren and Mahoney and Moller Architects, and the PwC Tower at Commercial Bay, also with Warren and Mahoney.
Following the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 in Christchurch, Woods Bagot worked on the orchestrated plan (known as the Blueprint) for the recovery of the city. The plan identified 17 anchor projects including the Te Pae Christchurch Convention & Exhibition Centre designed by Woods Bagot with Warren and Mahoney, which is scheduled for completion next year.
“On projects from Auckland in the north through to Dunedin in the south, our local team has drawn on the expertise within the firm’s global studio network,” Frear said.
“We’ll continue to provide the international experience that the local market has reached out for, with the critical local cultural and design input that makes our work for, and of, its place,” she said.
Woods Bagot’s upcoming projects in Auckland include a mixed use office and hotel development at Sylvia Park for NZX listed company Kiwi Property. Development manager Greg Tolley described Woods Bagot as “an important part of the design team working to support Sylvia Park’s evolution to a dynamic mixed-use destination”.
The name of Woods Bagot’s Auckland studio chair will be announced in the New Year.
Image: PwC Tower, Commercial Bay, Auckland. Designed by Woods Bagot with Warren and Mahoney (Photo: Simon Devitt)
