Avondale
Rec Centre
Location
Avondale, Auckland (Tāmaki Makaurau)
Year
2017
Client
Motu Design, Hoopla Projects for Te Whau, Julie Wilson & Farah Saad (Design Tutors)
Avondale, a suburb in the west of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, has a rich history of production and transport.
Originally named Te Whau, after the estuary arm of the Waitematā Harbour which runs along the western edge of the suburb, Avondale is situated on the Great North Road. Completed in the late 1850s, this road was once the only way to travel directly to central Auckland. A railway connection completed in the 1880s cemented Avondale’s place on the western edge of the city and brought further settlement. Brick works, tanneries, mills, and pottery works were common in early Avondale.
At the town centre sits a huge gap within the urban fabric. In June 1997, the 3 Guys Supermarket announced it was to close its doors and in 1998 the supermarket building was demolished. To the immense frustration of the residents, 20 years have passed without development on this central site.
The genesis of the project takes inspiration from the Whau river, the Māori translation means “floating wood” which gets its name from the cork tree (Entelea Arborescens). These trees are scattered throughout the riverbanks and were commonly used by Māori in the construction of their wakas. The top strake or Rauawa utilised this light wood to help with buoyancy. The wood was typically secured to the upper part of the waka’s haul with a peg and weave technique. The design’s plan mimics this pattern of the three-point weave helping anchor areas of the large site and stitching in the wider urban fabric.
Each peg addresses sections of the city, the first being the far corner of the site which opens up to the city's foot traffic as well as Avondale's iconic Huntsman spider sculpture. The second establishes a connection with the Heart of Great North Road. Lastly, the 3rd looks towards the Whau river and where it meets the Waitematā harbour. The elevation view of the building takes inspiration from Avondale's industrial history and its many Brickworks. Most famously, William Hunts St Georges Road Brickworks (Located south 1.5 km of the site). This Factory helped produce most of Auckland’s iconic and highly sought-after red bricks that are found in many historic buildings around the wider city. The three forms that elevate up out the building nod to the old brickworks' chimneys of the past, helping establish a modern take on Avondale's once dominant industrial skyline.
