12 Madden Street
The Wynyard Quarter Innovation Precinct (WQIP) masterplan envisages an active, laneway-based, mixed-use community of innovation, residential and retail uses. The 12 Madden project, located at the heart of this precinct, is a 6-storey commercial building comprising of 8700m² of floorspace designed to meet the needs of the contemporary workplace paradigm.
The site sits adjacent to several existing industrial buildings which offer up a strong character – a powerful asset for the development and a point of authentic differentiation. The architectural approach of 12 Madden responds to the form and materiality of this existing character and ensures that the resulting architectural form is ‘grounded’ in the industrial legacy of the waterfront through a vertically stratified massing approach.
This is conceived in three layers: a highly articulated, textural brick base with ‘punched’ openings; a terrace datum above – which provides an inhabited ‘negative’ between upper and lower masses; and a more highly-glazed upper-level façade. This approach is effective in reducing the scale of the project as experienced from the adjacent lanes, providing a 1-2 storey spatial datum that enables activation and connection with the terraces. The overhanging upper-level facades on the North and South elevations incorporate sliding doors that enable visual connections while also delivering mixed-mode ventilation.
12 Madden adopts an industrial materiality (brick, steel, timber, glass) and presents highly textural, active edges to all public laneways – a ‘raw’ rather than ‘refined’ expression. Exposed structural systems enhance and contribute to the innovation character and aspirations of the precinct. At a city-wide level, the building adopts a highly-modelled roofscape echoing the familiar ‘sawtooth’ form of industry.
In the transformation from ‘industry’ to ‘innovation’, the precinct seeks to reconnect the story of Auckland’s waterfront with innovation, regeneration and entrepreneurship.
Consistent with Panuku’s objectives, 12 Madden Street is designed to be in line with the Wynyard Quarter Sustainability Framework and has successfully achieved a 5 Star Green Star As-Built rating.
To contribute towards a sustainable outcome, 12 Madden proactively incorporates several design features not seen in a standard Green Star office while also exceeding minimum code requirements: insulation, fresh air supply, and end-of-trip facilities.
Wherever practical, natural finishes of materials have been retained or maximized including exposed structures and concrete floors. Environmentally certified concrete, insulation, low VOC materials and plasterboard selections are used throughout. Furthermore, suspended ceilings in areas have been reduced to promote de-materialization.
12 Madden incorporates numerous passive design features such as mixed-mode ventilation, high performance glazing and a balanced window-to-wall ratio to optimize daylight and thermal performance. Additionally, water-efficient sanitary fixtures and fittings have been adopted and are supplemented by a rainwater harvesting system.
Building services are actively monitored and controlled by a central Building Management System which has confirmed that energy and water usage is well below Wynyard Quarter sustainability targets.
Post-occupancy surveys have been conducted and are able to demonstrate that these initiatives have positively impacted productivity, reduced overall absenteeism and increased user satisfaction.
In 2019, this project was the recipient of the New Zealand Institute of Architects Sir Miles Warren Award for Commercial Architecture.
“12 Madden is an exemplary early manifestation of the intent of a masterplan that envisages a lively precinct of mixed-use buildings, both new and old, arranged around laneways providing connectivity and urban grain”, the judges said.
“As befits a building in an area quickly and self-consciously transitioning from industrial backwater to innovation hub, 12 Madden alludes to the past in its rugged materiality and looks to the future with its flexible and dynamic plan. The building makes a statement and sets a high architectural bar, with its highly articulated exterior, featuring thrusting cantilevers and generous terraces. Sophisticated form-making breaks render a big building compatible with its neighbourhood.”
