Clyde Quay Wharf

Special note was made of the under-wharf basement carpark, a major construction and engineering challenge thought to be the first of its kind in Australasia. Two hundred-and-five piles and 32 concrete slabs, each weighing 90 tonnes, were cast above the high-tide level and lowered into place with hydraulic jacks to form a 200-metre long car park.

Construction began in 2012 with demolition of the Overseas Passenger Terminal and parts of the old wharf built in 1907. For the first year, work took place mainly out of public view under the wharf, battling tides and waves stirred by Wellington’s winds. The job sometimes ran 24 hours a day to take advantage of favourable weather and tides.

Even the Hikitia, a sea-going crane normally moored outside Te Papa, was called into action, an event caught in this TV3 news item ‘Vintage crane used for Clyde Quay Wharf’.

To cope with the corrosive sea air, the apartments’ exterior materials are largely concrete, zinc, aluminium and glass. Heritage materials such as wharf braces, mosaic tiles, plaques, a huge world clock, and timber from the ceilings were re-used to replicate the look of the old terminal, and a central spire was refurbished and re-erected.

In June 2014, tenants moved into 76 premium apartments that feature stunning views, spacious interiors with generous ceiling heights, and flexible layouts with open-plan living and dining areas leading out to sheltered decks that open to one side.

The public can walk around the wharf promenades where the western side is dedicated to commercial tenancies and the eastern side to the private entry lobbies.