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Competition Brief 2010 |
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| Mt Albert Town Centre Rejuvenation Student Design Competition This was a physical planning and design ideas competition for students only. There was no single brief at the beginning, as the work started across six parallel studios, belonging to three educational institutions - AUT University, The University of Auckland, Unitec Institute of Technology.
The overall analysis and intervention area was spread over the entire suburb of Mt Albert, but a particular focus was encouraged on the central commercial area along the railway and New North Road. The main objective of the competition was to come up with fresh and bold ideas for how the future town centre might be developed as an economically prosperous, socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable community. The main assets of the area are heritage landscapes and buildings, city rail station and a lively community that cares about its past and future. These were to be complemented in the coming decades with a programme of intensification which mostly revolved around medium density residential, office-commercial, retail, hospitality, civic-cultural and public transport. Entries were invited in four broad categories:
- Urban Design
- Landscape Architecture
- Architecture
- Spatial Design
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Competition Winner 2010 |
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| Competition Winner Brendan Scott-Woods, Unitec
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An outstanding work of urban design and well above the second placegetters. This was a very good & professional entry. Services & public spaces are linked, with the town centre appropriately placed at the major intersection; taller buildings at the centre without dominance & shadowing.
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|  | | | Kimberly Read, Auckland University
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| A design for intensification and how it fits into the existing urban fabric without destroying it. | Simon Liang, AUT
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| Manipulates strong forms but still integrates with the town centre and creates open spaces. | Honourable Mentions
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Emily Evans, Auckland University
A high quality presentation, a very beautiful piece of urban architecture
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Kallam Brown, Auckland University
A dramatic presentation in a strong sculptural form
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Tess Fenwick, Unitec
A genuine effort to explore intensification
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Dillon Towers, Unitec
The idea of strong work of landscape infrastructure as a catalyst is well explored in this entry
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Catherine Lee, AUT
A strong memorable image for the town centre
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Meg Kane, Unitec
A major attempt to provide public space at a key intersection
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| | Competition Background | |
| | | | Prize Givers
MP David Shearer's office lobbied local Mt. Albert businesses alongside UDF, AUT, Unitec and University of Auckland who contributed towards a pool of prizes in excess of $3,800 to enable an ideas competition amongst students that focusses on regeneration concepts for Mt. Albert.
The competition was independently convened and facilitated by Timo Neubauer, director of Urban Design Network Ltd.
Eligibility
The competition was open to students in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design or spatial design programmes at Auckland University, Unitec or AUT, involving nearly 100 students, some working collaboratively, cut down to 32 finalists.
Objective of the Competition
The aim of the competition was to bring together some of the best young, creative minds in Auckland to generate fresh ideas for a town centre which is in serious need of regeneration. At a meeting in winter 2010, students heard from stakeholders, including community representatives, local authorities and local body politicians, about the current condition of the neighbourhood, the need for sensible investment in the area, aspirations for revitalization / regeneration, constraints and opportunities of environmental and built heritage, issues relating to fragmented land holdings, anticipated growth scenarios and Mt Albert's future role as a transport interchange.
Format
Recognising the diversity of contributions from students from different disciplines, all following their specific studio briefs, the competition was split into 4 categories: - Urban design, aims to reward the best revitalisation/regeneration masterplan for Mt Albert
- Landscape architecture, aims to reward the best public space/landscape architecture intervention
- Architecture, aims to reward the best architectural intervention (individual or groups of buildings)
- Spatial design, aims to explore aspects of social, cultural & material life in Mt Albert as they are implicated particularly in contemporary technological, informational & communications issues. Entries in this category are concerned with the translation of these aspects of cultural life into specifically spatial & experiential terms.
All entries were due on 27 October 2010 to be judged the next day.
Judging criteria included: - quality of the analysis and relevance for the proposal (is the research & analysis integrated into outcomes?)
- creative quality of the proposal (is the work original, innovative, visionary or maybe even provocative?)
- relevance of the proposal to the community (does the work respond to the specific problems/aspirations of the community?)
- technical viability (is the proposal technically sound? eg, mix & location of uses, densities, building typologies, public/private interface, hierarchies of routes & open spaces, street profiles, etc)
- economic & environmental sustainability (is the proposal desirable & viable in the long run?), and
- quality of presentation (are the communication means clear & appropriate?)
The judging panel consisted of:
Graeme Scott (chair), director of ASC Architects and The Office of Urban Research, chair of the Auckland branch of Urban Design Forum
Cllr Cathy Casey, elected councillor for Albert Eden Roskill Ward
Cllr Chris Fletcher, elected councillor for Albert Eden Roskill Ward
Debi Pyle, member of Mount Albert Residents' Association (MARA)
Garth Falconer, practicing landscape architect and urban designer, director of Reset Urban Design
Greg McBride, practicing urban designer, urban design manager at Harrison Grierson Consultants
Sir Harold Marshall, convener of the Social Concerns Group of the Mt. Albert Methodist Church and member of MARA
Nicola Williams, urban designer at Auckland City Council
Siavash Momeny, interior designer and artist, national creative director of GAZE
Tracy Ogden-Cork, practicing architect and urban designer, director of Motu Design and member of Urban Auckland
Price Giving
The prize giving was held on 29 October 2010 at Mt Albert Baptist Church with approximately 150 people present. Graeme Scott read out the judging panel's citations for all winning entries. MP David Shearer, Cllr Cathy Casey and Cllr Christine Fletcher congratulated the winners. Overall the members of the community present at the prize giving were very complimentary on the competition results.
Exhibition
Following the prize giving at Mt Albert Baptist Church, MP David Shearer's office arranged for the four prize winners to be exhibited at Mt Albert Community Centre in Rocket Park, followed by a week's exhibition at Mt Albert Community Library at St Lukes.
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| | Acknowledgements & Additional Reporting | |
| | | | UDF was proud to assist with the sponsorship of this student design competition in recognition of and to support urban design education. UDF looks forward to being involved with sponsoring similar events in the future.
UDF acknowledges:
Bob Dey for the Bob Dey Property Report for featured text and photo of winner Brendan Scott-Woods (photo with his entry) published on this page. To read Bob Dey's full article on the Mt Albert town centre rejuvenation student design competition click here copyright: the images displayed on this page belong to the student and/or their respective tertiary institute. Unauthorised extraction/publication is not permitted. Please contact webmaster@urbandesignforum.org.nz if you have any enquiries. | |
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| | Contact Us | |
| | | | UDF would like to hear from your or any tertiary institute that may offer Urban Design competitions or the opportunity for UDF to become more involved in the tertiary sector. Email us on: enquiries@urbandesignforum.org.nz For your Urban Design event to be listed on our UDF Event's calendar please email our webmaster: webmaster@urbandesignforum.org.nz | |
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