Collaboration of a Project at the Auckland Waterfront wins International Acclaim

 Citygreen was proud to collaborate with Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TLC) and Wraight+Associates who were acknowledged in the 2014 Rosa Barba International Landscape Prize, for the Auckland North Wharf and Silo project. This project showcased the successful utilisation of Citygreen's innovative modular StrataCell system.

The North Wharf on the waterfront in Auckland, New Zealand, may have only been known before as a functional industry hub with no appeal to the human experience, or connection to the landscape. That was all before the Promenade and Silo Park project was designed by Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TLC) with Wraight+Associates and completed in 2011. This winning project was one of eleven finalists within the 8th annual competition, which offered the theme of “A Landscape for YOU”.

Michael van Gessel, Dutch architect and announcing judge, commented on the solidity of the project’s “conceptually strong urban strategy”. It was the firm’s ability to offer a solution that saves unused “industrial artifacts” ingrained with their gritty former lives by incorporating those structures into a newly enriched functionality that won the jury’s winning vote.

Citygreen's StrataCell system allows a quickly installed solution for the growth of trees and other vegetation. Part of its success comes from the structure’s capability to “resist vertical and horizontal vehicular loads while providing large voids for...tree root growth,” says Rob Walsham, director of JAWA Structures Ltd. 

Conventionally, a block wall system with strip foundation would be constructed with a load-bearing slab. With its efficient assembly, and content being of 100% recycled polymers, the StrataCell system allows for not only less freight, materials and waste, but also requires less skilled labor. Thus, being a doubly efficient and effective product for green-focused urban projects under most urban conditions.

Citygreen Managing Director Ben Gooden further describes the structure of the cell systems as “a skeletal matrix”. Once large portions of the system are covered by pavement, this system allows for not only the proper load bearing capacities, but also the voids in which oxygen-rich soil and roots will occupy and take hold. This innovation is opposed to conventional block wall systems, which contain compacted soil, allowing for poor drainage or oxygenation, and restricted opportunity for young roots to properly re-establish themselves. 

The amount of space given to the oxygen rich soil with the StrataCell system allows newly planted vegetation to establish their root systems with ease. These conditions allow the vegetation to grow larger, faster, thus providing the coverage and shade desired, which is exactly what made the product a successful tool for the Auckland North Wharf project to utilize along with their stormwater collection. As the StrataCell system continues to be utilized in large revitalisation projects, the award-winning offerings of Citygreen encourage a well designed world.

Visit: www.citygreen.com for more information on Citygreen

Visit www.tcl.net.au for more information on Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TLC)

Visit www.waal.co.nz for more information on Wraight+Associates