Auckland Council celebrates success at property awards

The work of Auckland Council has been recognised and rewarded at the recent Property Council Awards.

Five Auckland Council projects, Aotea Square Revelopment, Pah Homestead, New Lynn Station, Papatoetoe Sports Centre and Mangere Arts Centre, were celebrated at New Zealand’s most prestigious commercial property awards.

Richard Cole, manager of major and special projects on Auckland Council’s property team, said the results are great recognition for the both his team and their partners.

“Coming away with both excellence and merit awards when up against the country’s top commercial properties is obviously a great result.

“Judges looked closely at areas such as community benefit for public buildings, efficient use of capital, return on investment, operation and maintenance factors and environmentally sustainable features – under these criteria the Auckland Council projects did well.

“The Aotea Square Redevelopment for example made savings of over $30 million to the original budget and kept all the businesses operational including the Civic Car Park, Aotea Centre and Town Hall, while the roof was reconstructed. The public was also able to use the car park and square above while the building was seismically strengthened and recent events in Christchurch have certainly put the importance of this work into perspective,” said Mr Cole.


Auckland Council chief executive officer, Doug Mckay, said he is very proud of the standard of work being delivered by the property team.

“The great results show that Auckland Council property team is staffed with the best in the industry and they are delivering superb results for Aucklanders,” said Mr McKay.

Auckland Council Results at the 2011 Property Council Awards:

Education and Arts Award
Excellence:
Mangere Arts Centre Nga Tohu o Uenuku
(Auckland Council, Creative Spaces and RDT Pacific)

Merit:
TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre The Pah Homestead
(Auckland Council, Matthews and Matthews Architects Ltd, RDT Pacific, NZ Strong Group Ltd)

Heritage and Adaptive Reuses Property Award
Excellence:
TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre The Pah Homestead
(Auckland Council, Matthews and Matthews Architects Ltd, RDT Pacific, NZ Strong Group Ltd)

Special Purpose Property Award
Excellence:
New Lynn Station
(Beca, Fletcher Construction Company, NZ Strong Construction Ltd, Architectus)
Papatoetoe Sports Centre (MPM Projects Limited)

Merit:
Aotea Square Redevelopment (Auckland Council)