Rodd & Gunn's The Lodge Bar on Queenstown's lakefront. Plans for the new Ponsonby store are also by Studio Y which designed this fit out.
Rodd & Gunn's The Lodge Bar on Queenstown's lakefront. Plans for the new Ponsonby store are also by Studio Y which designed this fit out.
Menswear retailer Rodd & Gunn is having a bar, restaurant and outdoor dining terrace built within a new store at a $150 million under-construction Ponsonby Rd development.
Josh Beagley, Melbourne-based hospitality director for the global retailer, said the Lodge Bar & Dining concept would be part of thePompallier on Ponsonby project.
“Rodd & Gunn is set to unveil its New Zealand flagship in Ponsonby, redefining retail and hospitality with a stunning 460sqm space at the corner of Pompallier Tce and Ponsonby Rd,” Beagley said today.
Plans for the $150m Pompallier on Ponsonby where construction began before Christmas.
Melbourne interior specialists Studio Y designed the fit out, having worked on other new outlets including Rodd & Gunn The Lodge Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown.
The retailer, headed by CEO Mike Beagley who is Josh’s father, also has The Lodge at Commercial Bay in downtown Auckland so the Ponsonby store will be its third in New Zealand.
The Lodge Bar & Dining, Rodd & Gunn, Commercial Bay, Auckland. Photo / Alex Burton
Josh Beagley said the store design would maximise views.
“The venue will feature a bar, an elegant and striking dining room and a grand outdoor terrace with elevated views across Ponsonby and out to Cox’s Bay.”
A commercial kitchen with wood-burning ovens and grills would see executive chef Matt Lambert showcase skills using New Zealand produce, he said.
286 Ponsonby Rd: northern end of strip near College Hill Rd. Photo / Google Maps
The retailer’s website shows stores here, in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France, Britain, Ireland, Lebanon, Malta, the United States and South Africa.
Pompallier on Ponsonby is rising in a corner site at 286-304 Ponsonby Rd, with CMP Construction working for Urban Collective and development director Kelly McEwan.
The Herald’sKim Knight reviewed The Lodge at Commercial Bay in 2020, asking: “How does a fashion label worn by environmental scientists and the engineering student offspring of high-country farmers pivot to kale?”
There was, thankfully, a dividing wall between the chinos and the chicken, she noted, finding the venue “absolutely nails its customer service”.
McEwan said today it had been a particularly difficult time to lease space within the $150m project which is near the Jervois Rd/College Hill Rd intersection.
Kelly McEwan of Urban Collective, working on the Ponsonby project.
Fearon Hay designed the project, with Paul Brown Architects. Jeff Fearon said most of the heritage building on the Ponsonby Rd/Cowan St corner would be retained and incorporated into the new construction.
CMP Construction began work on the site just before Christmas. The site has three street frontages: Ponsonby Rd opposite Renall St, Pompallier Tce and Cowan St.
Five levels of mixed-use development, retaining a Ponsonby Rd heritage facade;
Eleven apartments with deposits taken on three so far;
Three shops which are leased, including to Rodd & Gunn;
A two-level basement to be built across the site.
Commercial offices.
Andrew Moore, CMP Construction commercial manager, on a building site on Atkin Ave in Mission Bay in 2021. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Andrew Moore of CMP said he had been working on the project for almost five years.
“It’s great to be able to finally get it started. Like everything else, it takes a lot of effort to get a project live,” he said referring to bank funding, contracts, consents, consultants, costs, and programme.
The first stage was one building but two further buildings are planned on the block, he said.
A Liebherr Hammerhead tower crane with a 60m boom would be erected later next month.
Site in Ponsonby where CMP Construction is building the $150m project. Photo / Andrew Moore, CMP Construction
Three piling rigs, three diggers and a crawler crane were already active there.
Ponsonby was one of the highest points on the Auckland CBD skyline so the project would be prominent, he said.
CMP will drill 236 piles from the current street level.
The historic corner building would be partially retained but extended vertically and horizontally and have a new structure built within half its existing facade, Moore said.
“Due to the tight construction sector, workers have continued through the Christmas break which has given the project a good head start.”
Three banks and funders loaned on the development and sales had been strong, Moore said.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
