Coffey Projects expands appeal of Auckland Art Gallery

The Coffey Projects-managed multi-million dollar restoration and expansion of the Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tamaki, is an exciting addition New Zealand’s home of visual arts.

Housing a growing collection of over 15,000 works, and the world’s biggest collection of New Zealand art, the Gallery was being limited by the scale and inflexibility of its space. The extension, project managed by Coffey Projects, enables the Gallery to now accept larger exhibitions and display a larger proportion of its vast collection. The restoration and renovation has doubled the Gallery space.

The development has also revived the Gallery as a vibrant new focal point within the cultural precinct of the city. The successful blending of the modern extension with the original heritage building has been achieved with stunning results.

Coffey Projects was contracted from the outset of the project to advise and assist with the development of the project brief and scope of works, as well as being responsible for the appointment and management of design consultants, management of the construction procurement process and completion of the construction and close-out.

According to Coffey Projects New Zealand Manager, Tony Webb, “The greatest challenge was the complexity of the buildings and merging them into the site in such a way that we preserved the character of the heritage park alongside the Gallery, while ensuring the flow between new and heritage buildings in an unforgettable experience for the public.

“It was important to maintain connectivity to the park, the surrounding area and people. Using seamless glass frontages that generated large areas of natural light for many of the facades of the new buildings enabled us to successfully do this.”

The main gallery, over time, had become six conjoined buildings featuring 17 separate floor plates. This was able to be streamlined down to 6 floor plates. Webb explained, “The many unique spaces and features throughout the building created a complex work front that needed to be knitted together into a coordinated construction timeframe.

“Working with limited space, we were able to double the area of the gallery, while ensuring the overall size of the building envelope only increased modestly. This was achieved by the construction of many of the service and back-of-house areas underground.

“The limited ceiling height of the existing building presented logistical challenges that we had to overcome. A significant design and construction effort was required to install building services within very tight ceiling spaces.

“Overall, we were able to complete what was a very complex project with relatively few issues arising.”

The New Zealand Coffey Projects team was able to draw on its strong track record working with the client, the Auckland Council, on the refurbishment of other public heritage buildings and museums, including the Civic Theatre restoration and Queen Street upgrade. One of the team’s strengths, according to Webb, was that “we were able to bring together a very experienced team of project managers, already familiar with inner-city redevelopment on a congested site that contained heritage buildings, situated next to a heritage park”.

As well as Auckland Council being pleased with the results, the extension has also received very positive public response since the Gallery reopening.