Lunaris Posse - Lunar power : where the Waitemata meets the Manukau Harbour

Abstract

The project is based on the assumption that a proposal to connect Auckland’s Waitemata and Manukau Harbour at the narrowest strip of New Zealand by means of a canal and tidal electricity station has been accepted. The developed design of a Precinct goes beyond issues of economics and engineering and addresses spatial-visual issues normally encountered in architecture and urban design. The brief has been expanded beyond the generation and distribution of electricity to include public, green and recreational spaces, tourist destination, education and national water freight from Whangarei to Hamilton with the reintroduction of the scow. The site plan strategy is based on siting several waterwheels along the canal centering the Precinct on the only pairing of waterwheels. Four architectural interventions ground this pair and are a celebration of the heroic scale and functional nature of urban infrastructure. Along with a great deal of transparency these interventions enable a firsthand experience of the electricity generation. This demonstrates that architecturalisation of electricity generation projects in the city is both possible and desirable.