Review Shows New Opportunities in Town Hall Redevelopment

The Town Hall Redevelopment Project provides the opportunity to upgrade and modernise the Town Hall and Dunedin Centre complex as well as providing a new public space next to it, according to an independent peer review of the project. 

While the development option approved in February 2008 by the Dunedin City Council provides a basis for the redevelopment, the review recommends further work on the concept design.

In particular it is recommended that both the proposed addition on the Harrop Street side, and the re-configured atrium on Moray Place should be scaled back so they respect and do not challenge the scale and architectural detail of the Town Hall. The Harrop Street extension should be built within the current site designation, which extends to the street edge. More emphasis should be placed on the area between the Town Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral. This should become designated public space, incorporating both an ‘active edge’ from the Town Hall, the heritage aspects of the site, and the careful framing of the view through to First Church.

Report author Dr Diane Brand says the Town Hall is an important part of Dunedin’s and New Zealand’s built heritage. Upgrading it to meet contemporary needs is a way of extending the useful life of a valuable heritage building.

“The challenge (with historic buildings) is to maintain the original use, upgrade functional and technological capability while minimising or mitigating the impact of these interventions. Buildings are living, evolving entities which unlike other artefacts of culture cannot be catalogued and sequestered in museum collections. They require continual use and care to remain relevant in contemporary urban settings,” says Dr Brand in the report.

“Income from commercial events in the Town Hall currently cross-subsidises the use of the facility by many community groups. Any revenue enhancement directly benefits these organisations and their ability to access and use the facility at below market rates.

“The scheme also has the potential to add value by enhancing adjacent heritage elements and public urban space in Moray Place and Harrop Street,” says Dr Brand, who is an architect, urban designer, and associate professor at the University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning.

The report contains 15 recommendations. Other recommendations include:
· Reconsidering the proposal to shift the loading arrangements from Harrop Street to Moray Place, which could result in the retention of the Metro Cinema.
· Ensuring the building additions are designed in a contemporary architectural style.
· Enlarging the scope of heritage considerations to include the integration of heritage facades, archaeological remains and stone walls into a new public space.
· Engaging one of the architects who worked on the University of Otago’s Information Services building (the library) as a design advisor to the project.

The report also recommends further investigation into the option of doing the project within the existing building footprint. However, it acknowledges that this option would be considerably more expensive than the $45 million currently allocated and is likely to involve the loss of the Glenroy Auditorium.

Dunedin City Council General Manager Strategy and Development, Kate Styles, says an independent peer review of concept design for the project was a condition of the Council’s approval of the preferred option for the project in February.

“The peer review was especially important given the considerable public interest in this project.

“Councillors now have the report and will be able to consider it alongside all the other information they have from staff and the public during the Annual Plan process currently underway,” said Ms Styles.

To view the report, go to Peer Review Report