1 Albert Street, previously known as West Plaza, is a high-rise commercial building in Auckland, New Zealand, demonstrating the influence of 20th-century modernism in that country. Completed in 1974, the building was designed by architect Neville Price, and reflects the nautical environment of downtown Auckland.[1]
West Plaza was designed by Neville Price under the Price Adams Dodd Partnership in 1970 and building work was completed in 1974.[2][3] At the time, it greatly contrasted with other buildings in downtown Auckland, such as its neighbouring Victorian-style Customs House.[1][4] It received a mostly positive reception and was viewed as, "a big part of Auckland's architectural evolution from a big town to a more elegant and sophisticated city".[1] However, the building was criticised for too closely resembling Gio Ponti's Pirelli Tower in Milan, with which it shares many design features.[3][5]
Modernism in New Zealand took off in the 1950s and 1960s during the post-WWII economic boom.[6] Neville Price's West Plaza reflected the tenets of the modern movement while also responding to its local, physical environment.[5]
Structurally, the building consists of a podium, which forms the ground floor entrance area.[5] Reinforced concrete columns at the building's perimeter, reinforced concrete beams supporting each floor, and a vertical core located at the rear façade, result in floor plates free of interior columns.[5]
Sitting above the podium, a notable feature of the building are concrete scoops, which collect rain and deflect down draughts.[1] Vertical concrete fins rise above the concrete scoops.[5]
Many design features of West Plaza respond to and interact with its environment. The building's thin, oval form aligns with its narrow corner site.[3] Its sculptural emulation of a vertical foil reflects its maritime surroundings and the vertical slats evoke masts, representing the notion of Auckland as the 'City of Sails'.[1][3]
Renovation
Agile Engineering re-developed West Plaza between 2019 and 2020.[7]
Ignite Architects were approached in 2022 to renovate the building, to meet evolving workplace requirements.[2] The firm worked alongside Neville Price to maintain the original design vision.[8] The renovations saw the main entrance move to Fanshawe Street to attract more foot traffic.[1] The podium was also a main focus, with its open areas that curve out against the street equipped with timber decking and slatted banquettes, recalling the maritime aspects of Price's original design.[1]
Recognition
The building's features earned it the title of the 'Crown Jewel of Auckland'.[8]
In 2005, the building received an Enduring Architecture Award in the New Zealand Institute of Architects national awards.[3][9] In 2023, at the Property Council New Zealand's Property Industry Awards, the renovated building was judged the winner in the commercial office property category.[10] Also in 2023, it received a bronze award in the repurposed spaces / adaptive reuse category of the Designers Institute of New Zealand's Best Awards.[11]
Gallery
View from lower Albert Street
Side profile
Wingfoil shape seen from corner of Customs and Albert Streets
Podiums on view
Wingfoil shape seen from a little further up Albert Street
12345Gatley, Julia, ed. (2009). Long live the modern: New Zealand's new architecture, 1904-1984 (reprinted.). Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN978-1-86940-415-4.
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