As you may be aware Council members were briefed on Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct Development Plan, created by Pōneke Collective with Council officers, on September 4. The council will receive further briefings on per-site proposals in July next year.

The Town Hall, Te Matapihi Central Library, and the Civic Administration Building (CAB) and Municipal Office Building (MOB) site redevelopment projects are underway. The Development Plan includes options for the remaining areas of the precinct, including the City to Sea Bridge, Michael Fowler Centre, Jack Ilott Green, and City Gallery, and the landscaping of the square itself and adjoining areas.

~ “Single vision” plan to redevelop Civic Square “will take time”

The Pōneke Collective is led by Warren and Mahoney in collaboration with Tīhei, Place Collective and Ripple Resilience.

Tīhei is led by Arts Foundation Laureate, Rangi Kipa, who work previously with Warren and Mahoney on the Te Tiriti installation at Archives NZ in 2022.

Place Collective is a newly formed company listed under Anna Harley. Ripple Resilience is a newly form company listed under Amy Macdonald.

Of concern in this mix of restoration, destruction and redevelopment, is what will happen to the City to Sea Bridge. We would like to draw attention to Jeremy Hansen’s Spinoff article, In praise of Wellington’s City to Sea Bridge, on the project.

Lots of people think Ian Athfield designed the City to Sea Bridge as an extension of his firm’s work in Civic Square. Athfield and Rewi were friends who worked together on Capital Discovery Place – the short-lived children’s museum under the steps on Civic Square – and an unsuccessful proposal for Te Papa with Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, the designer of the Guggenheim Bilbao. But the City to Sea Bridge is the creation of Rewi and architect John Gray – who’s currently engaged in the campaign to save it.

~ Jeremy Hansen