Jul 262010
Jul 252010
Another view of the Foster’s Ship’s Chandlery on Customs Street, Auckland City, showing new construction to the left of the image.
Jul 022010
Jul 022010
Newman Hall, Waterloo Crescent, Auckland City.
A couple of people relax on a piece of grass that lies between older buildings to the left, and new construction to the right, near Tyler Street. This whole area, that once contained a character-filled art deco bus terminal and surrounding curio shops, is being brutally torn to pieces in an attempt to “modernise” the city. Nearby, a 26 level tower has just been proposed by developers behind the historic Rose and Crown Tavern. A large sign on the front of the small building near the centre of the picture encourages prospective purchasers/developers to build a high rise building that will dwarf those on either side of it.
Fosters Ships Chandlery
Architecture, Black and White
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Jan 262010
A sunset casts an early evening shadow over the front of Fosters Ships Chandlery. Fosters has been in this building since the early 1900′s, when Alex Foster began the business. Before that, it occupied a small office on Fanshawe Street, facing the waterfront, until land reclamation allowed buildings to be built further towards what we now know as the Downtown Shopping Centre and Viaduct.
Jan 252010
The surrounding buildings are dwarfed by The Metropolis, with The Sky Tower receding into the background. Conceived and commissioned by one of Auckland’s most prolific developers, Andrew Krukziener, and built on the site of the old Courthouse, Metropolis was part of his dream to create iconic landmarks in the city that would be more than just the allegedly functional housing towers that are now a blight on the cityscape.
Inspired by early 20th Century American design, amongst other things, Krukziener oversaw every minute detail of the tower that, while perhaps fulfilling his artistic ideals, would become looked upon as something of an economic disaster.
Despite its uneven past, and reports of some less than genteel tenants, the building is a testament to his stubborn determination to add something of value to the skyline.
Jan 172010
Stretching from the bottom of Parnell Rise at The Strand, continuing up the hill to Newmarket and hugging the coast to the Railway lines, Parnell is one of Auckland City’s oldest established suburbs. With a closer proximity to the inner city than Remuera, and a longer history as a gentrified suburb than Ponsonby or Grey Lynn, Parnell is home to classic architecture that covers everything from the 19th Century Villa, to English style brick and tile semi-detached, to Spanish bungalow – all at a premium price tag. This Spanish style villa sits on St. Stephens Avenue.