Friday, March 5, 2010

[PROJECT] + ASB HQ



ASB Bank Ltd and Kiwi Income Property Trust have agreed to develop the new ASB Head Office at Wynard Quarter [aka SEA+CITY]. The design of the building is cutting edge and contemporary, truly unique to Auckland.

It is a shame that the usual suspects are acting up again: Aaron Bhatnager and Alex Swney are complaining about the height of the building - what height ? For some unknown reason people think that Auckland city is a lifestyle block, they would much rather see a squat block with little or no flair stretching across many city blocks. Mr Swney goes even further and suggests that the building will block the sea - uh ? It is set back from the sea, there is a huge boulevard in front of the building - do your homework Alex.

For once we actually agree with Brian Rudman who finally supports the idea of Auckland having more "imagination" but at the same time he fails miserably when he states that the feature at the top of the building looks like "a giant, meringue-shaped, seagull dropping" ... No, no Mr Rudman, use your imagination - it looks like a funnel, the same kind that you will find on an ocean liner and it will also serve a purpose. The funnel will bring in cold air during the summer months and warm air during the winter months.

As for this building - we say to ASB - BUILD IT, it is your money and your building. For far too long the minority in this city have held Auckland to ransom. The sooner we become a dynamic, creative and sprawl free city, the better !

7 comments:

  1. Hi there, have just found your blog and wanted to let you know how much I've enjoyed reading back through the posts. I'm considering studying landscape architecture and have been looking at a lot of things online, so it's nice to see a blog focused on a city I actually visit all the time. Keep it up!

    By the way, I'm not hugely enthusiastic about the look of this building. Not quite my taste I think.

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  2. Good to finally see a new update!
    AS

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  3. Great site, just discovered it, a fantastic discovery, really interesting thanks ! I have alot of reading ahead of me.

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  4. Looks like a smurf to me.

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  5. I admit I don't think of it very charitably either - but maybe the funnel analogy (especially if it actually has a use as described) might make me like it more.

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  6. A little birdy told me that the funnel might be removed from the amended design. A shame really.

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