Karanga Plaza

Karanga (meaning welcome) Plaza was conceived as a place of arrival, orientation and first impressions for the Wynyard Quarter.

The northern edge of the plaza celebrates east / west movement and the re-established connectivity of the waterfront axis. It provides a landing point for the Wynyard Crossing Bridge and delivers people into the plaza and beyond towards North Wharf.

The main plaza offers a flexible and programmable 'urban beach' which supports a varied programme of recreational activation and event activities. A suite of purposefully overscaled timber platforms - able to be adapted to day beds - can be moved ontracks to provide dispersed, clustered or larger platforms for events and performance.

The changing choreography or the platform recalls the sites former use as a hardstand and the memory of boats being moved between land and sea.

The Karanga Kiosk activates the space. The adjacent Halsey Wharf transforms a functional working wharf into a new waterfront promenade. The broader and sheltered city edge provides flexible and programmable space for events. The more robust western edge invites Aucklanders to engage with the operation and spectacle of the precints working fishing fleet and industrial waterfront.