FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Celebration of cities display in council foyer
June 28, 2004

The North Shore City Council will display over 15 urban design concepts from an international competition in the foyer of its Takapuna head office.

The designs include Auckland architect Craig Craig Moller Ltd's Takapuna beach to busway concept which was praised at the international urban design competition 'Celebration of Cities' in Paris earlier this year.

The International Union of Architects asked the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) to organise entries from New Zealand. The Takapuna beach to busway concept won a national competition allowing it to be entered internationally.

North Shore City's deputy mayor, Dianne Hale, one of five judges from the wider Auckland region, says the competition generated some great ideas.

"The quality of entries was fantastic and the competition produced some award-winning ideas," she says.

The competition was open to architects and students studying architecture from across the globe. Competition entries had to create urban designs that would produce significant points of interest in towns and cities.

Five architects worked on a brief, which was prepared by the North Shore City Council, to create a Takapuna beach to busway as an interesting and practical way of getting around and to considerably improve areas of open space. Craig Craig Moller's entry was selected from the five to go forward to the international competition in Paris along with other design concepts which were chosen from across New Zealand.

Councillor Hale says the Takapuna designs shared some common themes.

"These included creating better links between Hurstmere Rd and the beach, redesigning Hurstmere Green, improving links and open space through the central car park and integrating Barrys Point Rd with Takapuna."

She says while the designs were conceptual and the council did not have plans to implement them, some of the themes could contribute to future initiatives for the area.

North Shore City's senior urban designer, John Stenberg, says the council was approached by the NZIA last year.

"They asked if we could help identify suitable locations that would inspire creative designs to complement lifestyle choices," he says.

"We submitted a number of ideas to the NZIA who chose the Takapuna beach to busway for the competition brief which was given to interested parties as the basis for their urban design."

All five Takapuna beach to busway urban designs will be displayed along with competition entries for other New Zealand cities in the ground level foyer of the council building at 1 The Strand, Takapuna between June 30 to July 13.

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