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Porters Avenue Overbridge & Urban Realm Design Consultation A presentation to the Mt Eden Community Liaison Group and local community

27 May 2020

Welcome all to this presentation Presented by the CRLL PTA Presenters: Ben Ryder – Aurecon, Engineer Martin Walton – Jasmax, Architects Robert Inman – Aurecon, Traffic Engineers

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Agenda •

Introduction

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Overview

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Design Conditions and Considerations

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Design Development

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Urban Realm Design

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Traffic Access and Parking

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Q&A

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Providing Feedback

Sonya Leahy - Introduction Ben Ryder – Overview Martin Walton – Design development, design considerations (technical and narrative) and urban realm design Robert Inman – Traffic, access and parking Sonya Leahy – Providing feedback

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The Porters Ave overbridge is located at the western end of the Mt Eden CRL development site. There are in fact several bridges and bridge enhancements required along this section of rail line. The two circles represent the immediate station environs and the notional catchment area of the immediate neighbourhood. Note the terminology used in the labelling of “threshold” for some of these bridges. This forms part of a narrative design story that will be expanded upon later in the presentation. Porters Ave bridge is identified in red on the left of the image. There is an additional bridge to be built between Fenton & Ngahura Sts, for which the Link Alliance is developing a design to bring to the community mid-year. Both bridges have been considered together and have several common elements: • Bridge structure is welded steel • Lifts are glazed and are accessible for mobility scooters and bikes • Stair configurations have cycle ramps integrated Where the two schemes diverge is in landscape treatments, bridge form and balustrade design: • Fenton Street is a paved shared pedestrian and traffic surface whereas Porters Ave retains the familiar footpaths and roads albeit with paving and crossing changes, as will be described later • Because of the orientation of Fenton and Ngahura Streets, that bridge is a curved right angle. • The Fenton Street bridge balustrade does not carry street utilities and addresses CPTED issues caused by the curving form of the bridge as well as neighbouring property privacy issues

The bridges are necessary to span the additional tracks as required by the CRL project. In addition, Porters Ave bridge carries all the public utilities (water supply, gas supply, power phone and data fibre) that used to run under the rail crossing.

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Designation Conditions and Environment Court Ruling Bridge reference design first consulted on as part of the Notice of Requirement to alter CRL Designation 6 (the surface designation for construction in the Mt Eden area), which was lodged by Auckland Transport (AT) with Auckland Council in 2016. In March 2017, a request was made for the application to be directly determined by the Environment Court. The Court granted the alteration with specific conditions relating to the Porters overbridge: • Lift and bridge structure above finished ground level to be no closer than 3.5m from property boundary of 5 Porters Ave • Minimise loss of privacy on adjacent residential sites, including by locating pedestrian/cycle bridge in western half of the avenue • Ensure lifts are through lifts to carry bicycles • Incorporate bicycle push ramps into side of pedestrian stairways. 4

Design Conditions and Considerations: • The Environment Court ruling created several key conditions to the Porters Ave Overbridge, which the current design is designed against. • The following slides summarise the visual design development since the Reference (Preliminary) Design for Porters Ave bridge was presented in 2016. • The reference design was published on the CRLL website and has been subject to Environment Court proceedings in 2017. The findings of which have been incorporated into the CRLL Designation Conditions. • The current design of the Porters Ave bridge is based on those altered Designations Conditions.

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Reference Design vs Current Scheme

Reference Design Scheme – Wynyard Road 5

The reference design incorporated some of the following elements: • Seating elements at the entrance • Banded paving design incorporating basalt strips of setts and pavers • Glazed lift on three sides • Traffic bollards along the kerb line • A combination of vertical balusters to the stairs and mesh to the bridge span • Steel fabricated structure to the stairs and bridge • Exposed concrete piers supporting the bridge span • Concrete wall to the side of the lift shaft facing the building at 5 Porters Ave

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Reference Design vs Current Scheme

Current Design Scheme – Wynyard Road 6

Design Development The current developed scheme incorporates the following changes: • Seating elements at the entrance removed, to be replaced by feature stones as part of the Mana Whenua artists design. Seating was removed to discourage gatherings of people in this location. • Glazed lift on four sides and Mana Whenua artist design incorporated • Traffic bollards removed as deemed unnecessary after a traffic safety audit as the kerb line provides sufficient mitigation and removed the obstructions to pedestrians from the footway • Raised crossing table added for pedestrian safety • Plant spaces added under stairs to include support services for utilities and bridge services, such as lighting and CCTV • Balustrades simplified into one perforated barrier design type rather than the two previously indicated ( artist design) • Stairs supported on posts, concealed by the plant spaces and perforated screening • Enclosed piers supporting the bridge span to conceal utilities and enhance the bridge span design • Concrete wall to the side of the lift shaft facing the building at 5 Porters Ave removed to improve visibility into and through the lift shaft and to improve sunlight penetration onto the adjacent ground and property • Generally the approach has been to consolidate the number of design elements in 3 simple components – glazed lift, steel bridge and perforated screens to improve the design

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Reference Design vs Current Scheme

Reference Design Scheme - Porters Avenue 7

Design Development Original reference design view from New North Road-end of Porters Ave â€˘ Trees located along the rail corridor boundary â€˘ Roading surface continues down to rail corridor boundary

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Reference Design vs Current Scheme

Current Design Scheme - Porters Avenue 8

Design Development Updated design showing same view down Porters Ave. Elements include: • Trees relocated to avoid underground services • Space in front of stairs and lift • Roading surface continues down to rail corridor boundary but demarcated from road edge • Loading zone is not inset to improve footpath circulation around the lift • Stairs over rail systems plant space, includes utilities reticulation from bridge to ground • Electrification protection screens added to bridge span

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Technical Design Stairs • Accessible design • Designed for both pedestrians and cyclists • Accessible for pedestrians to one side, cyclists to the other • Stairs concrete with high contrast nosings • Cycle ramp cast concrete in contrast colour • Stainless steel railings • Perforated aluminium balustrades to artist design • Designed in consultation with Auckland Transport’s Capital Projects Accessibility Group (AT CPAG) • Lighting integrated into hand railings to avoid light spill 9

• Designed in consultation with Auckland Transport’s Capital Projects Accessibility Group (AT CPAG) • The AT CPAG works to ensure transport facilities, vehicles, information and services are easy to find out about, to understand, to reach, and to use, for people with accessibility requirements and therefore for everyone, as part of their day-to-day lives.

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Technical Design Lift • • • • • •

One through lift on either end of bridge Fully accessible lift, sized for pedestrians, cyclists and mobility scooters Lift capacity for 26 persons, car internal dimensions 2.3m x 1.8 m Glazed sides to shaft maximises passive surveillance through lift and allows natural light to pass through Glazed doors to see occupants of lift Lift features artistic design on exterior to provide both visual amenity and shading from direct sunlight 10

• Artist’s design is required to provide about 50% transparency/shading to the lift glazing to avoid overheating in the shaft during summer so that mechanical cooling can be avoided. • This is balanced with the need for visual transparency to allow people to feel safe in the knowledge that there are no hiding places and that the lift car can be seen into before entering.

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Stair and Lift Design

Lift approach at ground level

Glazed doors - view through at bridge landing 11

â€˘ Lift entrances showing glazed doors - a requirement for public safety and as a crime prevention measure to ensure visibility of those using or waiting for the lifts.

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Technical Design Balustrade and Handrail Design • • • • • • •

Design driven by electrification requirements Barriers must be 1800 mm high above the rail lines to prevent objects being passed over the barrier meeting the OHLE Barriers must not have an opening greater than 33 mm to prevent objects being pushed through Barrier perforations to artists design Barrier heights taper outside of this to provide privacy to adjacent apartments and openings to views Integrated lighting into stair balustrade at low level to avoid light spill Barriers conceal bridges services and gas main Section through side of bridge barrier 12

• The balustrade incorporates necessary measures to prevent accidental electrocution from contact with the overhead rail electrification lines (OHLE). • It also provides a measure of privacy to adjacent properties and screening from the elements at lift entrances.

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Balustrade and Handrail Design

View along bridge showing tapering rise to mid point of barrier on right and privacy extension to left 13

â€˘ At the stairs the barrier on the right is 1200mm high and on the left its three metres at the lift entrance and incorporated with a canopy roof for shelter.

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Balustrade and Handrail Design

View along bridge showing transparency of perforated barrier incorporating artistâ€™s design 14

â€˘ At the mid-point, the bridge narrows to 2.5m. This was done to reduce the overall bulk of the bridge, which would otherwise have been six metres wide. This in turn gives a dynamic shape to the form, which is an important part of the design expression.

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Public utility services within the bridge The bridge serves an essential role in carrying public utility services across the rail corridor. A key design challenge was to conceal all the utilities within the bridge while minimising the overall bulk of the structure. Design for the following utilities: • Water supply main located in balustrade • Gas supply main located in balustrade • Power supply located in bridge hull • Phone/data supply located in bridge hull

Water Power

Gas

Phone/Data

• As well as being a pedestrian bridge, it serves an essential role in carrying public utility services across the rail tracks. • The utilities have been concealed within the bridge structure while minimising the bulk of the bridge. • These have been incorporated into the hull of the bridge with the exception of the water and gas mains which must remain accessible along the length of the bridge. • The balustrade has removable panels for access.

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Mana Whenua Engagement Collaboration with the CRLL Mana Whenua Forum with regards to the design development of the Porters Ave bridge has been on-going since mid-2019 with regular hui and workshops to develop artist’s brief and selection and then work with the chosen artist. Mana Whenua gifted a cultural narrative to the design team Artist Tessa Harris selected by Mana Whenua to work alongside the design team on the expression of narrative

• CRL’s Mana Whenua forum is representative of eight different iwi who registered an interest in the CRL project. • This engagement has occurred since the inception of the project in 2012 and is a critical part of the success of the CRL • The purpose is to establish a thematic narrative that ties this specific part of the project (Porters Ave) with the wider narratives being developed across the CRLL project. • The focus is not solely based on creative expression but considers Te Aranga principles, which includes ecology, social and cultural values. • The specific Te Aranga Principles for the CRL stations has been: o Mana/Rangatiratanga – Authority o Whakapapa – Names and naming o Taiao – The natural environment o Mauri Tu - Environmental Health o Mahi Toi – Creative expression Principles for information: • Rangatiratanga: The right to exercise authority and self-determination within ones own iwi / hapū realm. • Kaitiakitanga: managing and conserving the environment as part of a reciprocal relationship, based on the Māori world view that we as humans are part of the natural world. • Manaakitanga: the ethic of holistic hospitality whereby mana whenua have inherited obligations to be the best hosts they can be. • Wairuatanga: the immutable spiritual connection between people and their environments. • Kotahitanga: unity, cohesion and collaboration.

• Whanaungatanga: a relationship through shared experiences and working together which provides people with a sense of belonging. • Mātauranga: Māori / mana whenua knowledge and understanding. • Mana Atua, Mana Tangata, Mana Whenua: acknowledging the relative authority and realms of the atua, humankind and whenua.

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The Mana Whenua Narrative •

Focuses on the local context and rich history of Maungawhau (Mt Eden)

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The 4 new CRL rail bridges, radiating from either side of the new station, are conceived of as thresholds/tomokanga moving towards or away from it, marking the journey towards Matāoho – the deity associated with the many volcanic features of Auckland & who resided in the crater of Maungawhau (Mt Eden)

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Bridges conceived as being a part of the whanau/family of Maungawhau Station and will all relate back to the parent narrative of Matāoho.

Matāoho

The bridge narrative is based on the volcanic atua/deity Matāoho, associated with many of the volcanic features of Tāmaki Makaurau and who resided in the crater of Maungwhau (Mt Eden). The main crater of Maungawhau is Te Ipu a Matāoho – ‘Matāoho's cup’. The entire volcanic field is sometimes known as Nga Tapuwae a Matāoho, or the sacred footprints of Matāoho. Porters Ave, as the first threshold from the west, considers the solid state form of lava in its design narrative and expression.

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Design Narrative Conceptually, the Porters Ave bridge is likened to a sculpted and honed basalt â€˜tokiâ€™ - a new tool of the maunga/mountain that would have been used to carve out the extensive earth works on Maungawhau and dig, plant and harvest kumara pits. Solid, carved with careful honing and chamfering that angles on its underside and up around the balustrade.

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Narrative Expression

The design concept is expressed in the sculpted form of the bridge span across the rail tracks 19

â€˘ The bridge has faceted structural steel design features that lends itself to the idea of the toki in form. â€˘ Dark painted steel further enhances this reading.

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Pou ararewa - transparent lift shafts as beacons / markers

Perforated Balustrade Screen. Pattern crafted by Mana Whenua engaged artist Tessa Harris

Lift Decal Pattern crafted by Mana Whenua engaged artist Tessa Harris

• The transluscent lift shafts act as pou (posts) that illuminate the arawhata (bridge), as a threshold. The bridge remains pure in form, and a dark charcoal-black colour. The piers hold the precious object/toki in the air. • The lift design tells the story of karā (basalt), Matāoho (the deity) and Maungawhau (Mt Eden). • Mana Whenua artist Tessa Harris has explored the idea of lashing/cross binding for the frit patterns to the glazing for the lift shafts conceptually binding the toki (tool) to the whenua (land). The colour of the patterning is proposed as a combination of black and white. • Also within the landscaping around the bridge at the entrances, basalt boulders have been discussed with Tessa, which could act as markers to give the bridge further connection to the whenua. These could be simply polished or sand blasted and could act as informal seating opportunities. There are boulders, used previously in Britomart Station but no longer required there, which could be re-used here.

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Public Impact :

Dwelling Privacy

F D A

E C

• To help you envisage the bridge in situ, we’ve created a series of design renders that illustrate views from the bridge and out to neighbouring properties. • These are taken primarily from the pause spots on the bridge - typically at the tops of stairs or at waiting areas in front of the lifts – and are designed to show how much of the neighbouring properties are visible to people on the bridge. • The perforated screens are carefully designed to maintain sufficient privacy for neighbours, while also keeping bridge users visible for safety and security reasons.

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