Britomart has gone from a rough area to a vibrant hotspot over 20 years. Video / Alyse Wright, Jason Dorday
Britomart has been transformed from a dilapidated area into a successful heritage and urban redevelopment with shops, restaurants, and offices.
The redevelopment began after Auckland City Council signed a 150-year lease with Cooper and Company in 2004.
Peter Cooper and his team knew how to make Britomart tick and have plans for the future.
Over the course of 20 years, Britomart has morphed from a rough area into a vibrant hotspot. Senior journalist Bernard Orsman has covered the story of urban regeneration and discovers the secret to its success.
Twenty years ago, Britomart was an uninviting collection of dilapidated heritage buildings devoid of life.
These days, Britomart is New Zealand’s most successful heritage and urban redevelopment, irrefutably cool with new builds, Takutai Square, local and high-end international stores, restaurants, bars and an office block housing Westpac and EY.
It’s a far cry from 2004 when, a year after the underground Britomart station opened, the then Auckland City Council signed a 150-year lease for the Bluewater Consortium (now Cooper and Company) to redevelop the neglected 5.2ha above-ground site of 17 derelict heritage buildings and gravel carpark.
Britomart as it used to be - a rundown part of the city with a multi-storey carpark.
Many people remember the site as a run-down bus depot and multi-storey carpark at the end near the old Oriental Markets. Matthew Cockram, chief executive of Cooper and Company, recalls walking through Britomart in the mid-1990s to see a chiropractor in the Northern Steamship Building and not being impressed.
Architect Nat Cheshire said one day surveyors returned from one building to say they couldn’t provide the finished floor level because they couldn’t find the floor – it was buried under too many rat bodies, mattresses, condoms and other rubbish.
Ngarimu Blair of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei remembers as a 90s teenager having lots of fun at two spacies parlours, albeit a rough-and-tumble place where it paid to be street-wise.
The Hayman Building in Customs St before refurbishment.
Despite its grim state, Britomart’s potential was obvious. That’s largely down to history being a big part of what makes the block special. A Māori pā once stood on Britomart Point, before it was demolished in the 1860s and the fill was used to reclaim the Britomart area.
Since 1885, the reclaimed land has been a train station that moved out, the site of the Chief Post Office, and reverted to a train station.
In the 1980s and 90s Britomart almost fell victim to the era of knocking down heritage buildings. Bill McKay, a senior lecturer at the School of Architecture and Planning, recalls the economic fervour with proposal after proposal to build high to maximise space.
Britmart today – a vibrant hotspot. Photo / Jason Dorday
The plans came to a head in the late 90s with a scheme led by Jihong Lu to knock down the heritage buildings for a high-rise jungle of 11 skyscrapers, underground parking and a bus station.
Christine Fletcher, then an MP, found the scheme unacceptable and was elected Mayor of Auckland City in 1998 on a platform of rethinking Britomart by restoring the beautiful heritage buildings and bringing rail back to the central city.
“In Auckland, we destroyed so much heritage. In the 1980s, the Flash Harrys came to town and built all these mirrored buildings. I’d seen enough cowboys that I wasn’t going to let that happen to something I loved,” she said.
Architect Pip Cheshire credits Fletcher with the delicate, difficult and slow task of undoing the council’s contractual obligations with Jihong Lu and signing off the underground train station before she lost the 2001 mayoralty to John Banks, who lambasted the project as “the temple at the bottom of Queen St”.
To rub salt into the wound, Banks opened the $211 million rail station project in 2003 by sharing a horse-driven carriage with Sir Edmund Hillary from the Auckland Town Hall down Queen St. Fletcher boycotted the opening in protest against the $100,000 bill for the occasion.
Mario Madayag, the Californian architect for Britomart train station. Photo / Greg Bowker
The magnificent new railway station is the work of Californian architect Mario Madayag, who teamed up with Jasmax’s Greg Boyden to win an urban design contest focused on an east-west waterfront axis, Te Ara Tāhuhu.
Enter Mr Britomart, Peter Cooper, the part Ngāti Kuri head boy from Kaitāia College whose career path has featured an open-air shopping and office centre in Texas and The Landing, a 1000ha exclusive development near Waitangi in the Bay of Islands.
A search by the council for a developer to take on the Britomart above-ground wasteland came down to Nigel McKenna’s Melview Developments and the Bluewater Consortium, led by Cooper.
“I came upon Britomart when the train station was still being built. It was just abandoned buildings with seagulls, squatters and no tenants.
“I’d just developed Southlake Town Centre near Dallas, so in Britomart, I saw the most amazing opportunity,” Cooper said.
Peter Cooper, founder and executive chairman of Cooper and Company. Photo / Alyse Wright
Banks said Cooper was easily the smartest of the two finalists, and organised for some councillors to visit Southlake Town Centre.
“The rest became history. They came back overwhelmingly enthusiastic that Peter Cooper should pick up the project. That decision is as right today as they were smart then.”
The early days of regeneration were challenging. Jeremy Priddy, Cooper and Company’s leasing boss, recalls being terrified at starting with zero tenants.
“Nobody was a believer because it was such a s***ty area. At that time Queen St and High St were strong, as was Atrium on Elliott, which had just opened … people would frown at me, saying ‘’What on earth would we move down there for?’
“But we got Santos to open a cafe on Quay St below our offices. And Mac’s Brew Bar opened in the Northern Steamship Building. People liked them, so things started to happen,” he said.
Sarah Hull, who has been managing Britomart’s marketing and sustainability goals for 20 years, focused on creating a safe environment from the get-go, with stadium-style lighting and security, the introduction of potted trees and plants that have become a signature of Britomart, and organised events to draw crowds.
These have included the Red Bull City Scramble – a huge dirt-bike spectacular – and the inaugural Laneway Festival.
Britomart hosted the inaugural Laneway Festival. Photo / Steven McNicholl
Says Cooper: “I envisaged that women could always feel safe no matter what time of night or day, they could walk around or go to the carpark without threat or intimidation. It sounds simple, but many things need to be created and fall into place to achieve that.”
Early on, inspired by Italian town squares – “my philosophical idea of how people lived” – Cooper doubled the size of Takutai Square, with its lawn and bean bags. Te Rau Kai, a water fountain by Ngāti Whātua artists, was included as a mark of friendship with mana whenua, who have blessed buildings, named laneways and contributed to the development of Brirtomart and the wider city, says Cockram.
The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 was a nerve-wracking experience that saw “our backsides over the fire”, said Cockram, as Cooper and Company struggled with finance to build the East Building, and the key tenant Westpac came under pressure from Australia to pull out of the deal.
With the banks going out of business and everything upside down, Cooper said he had to find more equity to keep them in play and approached a close friend, Gabriel, who stumped up $15m, with Cooper eventually paying him back.
Former Westpac chief executive David McLean said with the building half-built, he went through a tense period convincing Australia that Britomart would work.
Takutai Square at Britomart, which Peter Cooper doubled in size.
“We relied on the credibility of Peter and Matthew and put our credibility on the line in Australia,” said the banker.
Days after then Prime Minister John Key opened the East Building – featuring a nine-storey atrium – in 2011, Cooper told the Herald Britomart had reached a “tipping point”, with the focus turning to attracting high-quality retailers and restaurants. English perfume company Jo Malone opened in the atrium, followed by Ted Baker and a flagship Nike store.
It was around this time that many of New Zealand’s top fashion brands, based in and around High St, including WORLD and Zambesi, made the move to Britomart.
The Nathan buildings after their refurbishment.
Cafe Hanoi owner Krishna Botica said she was warned off Britomart but after opening with a view of the gravel carpark, she encountered a three-hour waitlist. Nick McCaw opened the Britomart Country Club on the site now occupied by the Britomart Hotel, which was busy from the day it started to the day it closed.
There came a point in time, said McCaw, when Britomart matured and in talks with Cooper “he just wanted things to be a bit nicer … rather than just rough-and-ready and textured places”.
The low-rise Pavilions were created in the centre of the precinct, adding small-scale retail and restaurant spaces surrounded by gardens and the artwork Pou Tu Te Rangi, sculpted by Chris Bailey. Smaller footprints were also created on corner sites for flagship stores like Karen Walker.
Architect Nat Cheshire.
The fashion designer said not just not anybody got to walk in and open a store in Britomart – “you had to present your credentials and that’s why the standard is so good”, and as most of New Zealand’s major fashion labels opened flagship stores, the precinct launched the Britomart Fashion Series, where people could turn up and watch the catwalk shows.
Pre-Covid, Britomart was booming. Jon Pearson, co-owner of the Spanish-themed restaurant Alma, remembers sitting and writing the menus for the opening night of Amano with chef Andy Hason and saying “Mate, this has to work.
“Our opening roster had 12 full-time chefs, and I think there’s 35 now. I’m still really proud of it – it’s just a great restaurant for people,” Pearson said.
The retail and hospitality openings continued. One of the most ambitious heritage refurbishments was the two Australis Nathan buildings, built in the early 1900s. Architects Peddlethorp turned the buildings’ main entrances towards Takutai Square instead of Quay St. They’re now the home of Tiffany & Co, Chanel and Miann.
The exterior of The Hotel Britomart. Photo / Sam Hartnett
Another newish kid on the block is the Hotel Britomart, a 10-storey hotel with 99 rooms, five penthouse suites and featuring handmade bricks. Its rough surface is punctuated with glazed windows designed by Cheshire Architects, whose directors are the father and son team of Pip and Nat, and DJ Tai, all of who have been intimately involved with Britomart.
When Covid closed New Zealand’s borders in March 220, the hotel was three months away from completion, and when it opened seven months later the once-anticipated flood of visitors was a trickle.
It was surreal opening the doors amid the border closures and the first couple of years were tough, said the hotel’s general manager Clinton Farley.
“When the orders finally opened, it felt like a huge relief. Suddenly we had a real purpose in New Zealand’s visitor economy. It felt amazing,” he said.
Britomart is more than a well-curated slice of Auckland, the concepts and qualities Peter Cooper introduced have rippled through the city – the revitalisation of Quay St, Commercial Bay, Ponsonby Central and Smales Farm.
The artwork Pou Tu Te Rangi, sculpted by Chris Bailey. Photo / Jason Dorday
Karen Walker likens it to Manhattan – “it can’t go out, so it’s just got to look inwards”. New Zealand Green Council chief executive Andrew Eagles said Britomart is absolutely tremendous because not only are there heritage buildings, but also a vibrancy and a caring for the land.
Christine Fletcher, whose bravery and determination opened the path for Peter Cooper and his team, said Auckland values its past, acts in the present and creates the future.
“Now, nearly 25 years later, I believe we have more than achieved this ambitious goal. Britomart became a catalyst and symbol for believing in ourselves as Aucklanders and becoming one of the best cities in the world to live in,” she said.
The last word goes to Peter Cooper: “Britomart is pretty much what I thought it would be – maybe even better based on what we’re planning to do. Truthfully, I’m not done. There are now projects getting under way. Cities change, so you’ve got to change with them.”
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