Saturday, August 8, 2009

Transforming Queens Wharf's cool shed into a "Cool Shed"


At the end of Queens Wharf stands what is generally known by Ports of Auckland as "the cool shed".

Inside it contains a purpose built cool room often used to hold bananas and other fruit and vegetables that need to be kept cool to prolong their lives before being onsold to shops for distribution....

So. With all the talk about Queens Wharf, I decided to have a play with it. How could it be reused....?

Here it is with a paint job. Kept the life buoy. And cleaned up those big roller doors. Won't it be great when we can cycle round the edge, and take the dog for a walk....

This is the western edge of the cool shed. The sunny afternoon side. Mostly out of the wind. I thought it would be fun to put some big awnings up. Festive. Adaptable. Adjustable. People appreciate the shade when the sun is high in summer. As they linger to watch the action. Plenty of ferries coming and going. Quite close by too. Recognise people you know as they go past.

There's a few occasional tables here. Not directly associated with specific restaurant. Probably needs to be some public seats too. Maybe against the walls. Lots of scope for that...

This is another perspective. The cruise ship is still moored. People coming and going over there. But a different and separate experience by the cool shed....

And here we see part of the cool shed opened up for business. Can see that the iron trusses are part of the restoration. Popular in there...

This part is a Food Court - much like you can find in a mall. Concessions offered to operators. Low cost take away food - not expensive restaurants. Places to sit and eat outside - under the awnings - on the lee side of the shed away from the wind....

There's room for a few bays like this in the cool shed. One might be for low cost retail. Another might be set aside for a farmer's market. There are options to service these bays from the rear - perhaps service lane/corridors behind the frontages...

And of course you can go through and step out the other side of the cool shed. There's that cruise ship just begging to be looked at...

Or maybe head out the door to the end of Queens Wharf. Check out that view... Find a bit of shelter there. Maybe there's a skate ramp or stage or just a place to sit and eat that takeaway....

Either way, the views are pretty interesting. Another afternoon well spent on Queens Wharf....

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Joel,

As you have been on to the wharf, is there a possibility of providing some lower level action nearer the sea, low level decks that are more intimately associated with the water similar to the old blue boats wharf area and to provide some security to the high wharf feel (for the squeemish)and some vertical interest?

Joel Cayford said...

Anton, Thanks for this. There appears to be a lot of pressure from Ports of Auckland to keep control of access all round the wharf edge. But that's not reasonable - especially for the end. Also, there is pressure from ome in the ARC that there is not justification for lots of spending on structure - like the sorts of things you describe. (Personally I would like steps down to the sea at the end - and at othe places...) In the meantime, a good option is pontoons. Big ones. And gangways running down from the wharf level. You can see how good these are at Hamburg's waterfront in my: www.places4people.org.nz website, look under Eurowaterfronts.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Transforming Queens Wharf's cool shed into a "Cool Shed"


At the end of Queens Wharf stands what is generally known by Ports of Auckland as "the cool shed".

Inside it contains a purpose built cool room often used to hold bananas and other fruit and vegetables that need to be kept cool to prolong their lives before being onsold to shops for distribution....

So. With all the talk about Queens Wharf, I decided to have a play with it. How could it be reused....?

Here it is with a paint job. Kept the life buoy. And cleaned up those big roller doors. Won't it be great when we can cycle round the edge, and take the dog for a walk....

This is the western edge of the cool shed. The sunny afternoon side. Mostly out of the wind. I thought it would be fun to put some big awnings up. Festive. Adaptable. Adjustable. People appreciate the shade when the sun is high in summer. As they linger to watch the action. Plenty of ferries coming and going. Quite close by too. Recognise people you know as they go past.

There's a few occasional tables here. Not directly associated with specific restaurant. Probably needs to be some public seats too. Maybe against the walls. Lots of scope for that...

This is another perspective. The cruise ship is still moored. People coming and going over there. But a different and separate experience by the cool shed....

And here we see part of the cool shed opened up for business. Can see that the iron trusses are part of the restoration. Popular in there...

This part is a Food Court - much like you can find in a mall. Concessions offered to operators. Low cost take away food - not expensive restaurants. Places to sit and eat outside - under the awnings - on the lee side of the shed away from the wind....

There's room for a few bays like this in the cool shed. One might be for low cost retail. Another might be set aside for a farmer's market. There are options to service these bays from the rear - perhaps service lane/corridors behind the frontages...

And of course you can go through and step out the other side of the cool shed. There's that cruise ship just begging to be looked at...

Or maybe head out the door to the end of Queens Wharf. Check out that view... Find a bit of shelter there. Maybe there's a skate ramp or stage or just a place to sit and eat that takeaway....

Either way, the views are pretty interesting. Another afternoon well spent on Queens Wharf....

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Joel,

As you have been on to the wharf, is there a possibility of providing some lower level action nearer the sea, low level decks that are more intimately associated with the water similar to the old blue boats wharf area and to provide some security to the high wharf feel (for the squeemish)and some vertical interest?

Joel Cayford said...

Anton, Thanks for this. There appears to be a lot of pressure from Ports of Auckland to keep control of access all round the wharf edge. But that's not reasonable - especially for the end. Also, there is pressure from ome in the ARC that there is not justification for lots of spending on structure - like the sorts of things you describe. (Personally I would like steps down to the sea at the end - and at othe places...) In the meantime, a good option is pontoons. Big ones. And gangways running down from the wharf level. You can see how good these are at Hamburg's waterfront in my: www.places4people.org.nz website, look under Eurowaterfronts.