| 77 ARCHITECTURE T T Virginia Wright Design projects in multiple sectors Walker Group Architects specialises in a wide range of sectors, including commercial, retail, hospitality, community, interiors, urban design and landscape, cinema, entertainment, and residential architecture. Above, Government of Samoa building. Walker Group Architects “We work in a collaborative studio environment, with teams designed for project mentorship and the sort of open communication that fosters innovation while maintaining quality control.” One of the oldest architecture firms in New Zealand, Walker Group Architects Ltd, has seen New Zealand through decades of changing building styles and preferences as the country’s population has grown and urban dwelling has increased. The firm was established in Auckland in 1932 by Lewis Walker, and over the years has received more than 160 local and international awards. Today, it comprises a dedicated, multidisciplinary team of registered and architectural graduates, technicians, and designers, specialising in a wide range of sectors, including commercial, retail, hospitality, community, interiors, urban design and landscape, cinema, entertainment, and residential architecture. Sixty years ago, the practice designed New Zealand’s first indoor shopping centre, Lynn Mall, in Auckland’s New Lynn, and has since been involved in many more. Architect Mark Gascoigne’s background in hospitality and retail design has also included major indoor shopping centres, such as Newmarket’s 277. It was part of a natural synergy that led to Mark merging his company, Studio Gascoigne, with Walker Group Architects five years ago, and more recently to become its sole shareholder and managing director. An architect for nearly 40 years, over his career Mark has seen the transition from hand-drawn plans at the start of his architecture degree, to working on computers by the end of it, to the fully digital world architecture is today. He is making a point of bringing in younger staff to balance the older registered architects (himself included), “Our principal, Katie Simmonds, who’s helping me run the company, is in her 30s, so we’ve got a succession plan and we’re actively bringing in architectural graduates and younger technicians,” Mark says. “We work in a collaborative studio environment, with teams designed for project mentorship and the sort of open communication that fosters innovation while maintaining quality control,” he says. Walker Group Architects has long-standing relationships with several clients, such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which go back 45 years, involving buildings across the Pacific, and they recently built their impressive Temple in Manukau, Auckland. In 2008, they designed the Sentinel Apartment Tower in Takapuna. Still the tallest occupied apartment building in New Zealand, it offers 30 storeys of luxury apartments, complete with a gym and a swimming pool, along with sweeping views over the Hauraki Gulf. Along with luxury apartments in Suva, a bank in American Samoa, and the world’s largest cinema screen, Walker Group Architects has recently begun working with developers on smaller entry-level and build-to-rent apartments as well as multiresidential blocks, all being developed to meet the housing needs of Auckland’s growing population with well-designed, cost-effective comfort. “Compared to Germany, which has been doing it for years, New Zealand has been quite slow, but we’re now working with developers to design accommodation specifically built to rent, as well as a couple of large subdivisions, including one with 1000 apartments,” says Mark. www.cjmconsultants.co.nz 027 27 27 703 | chris@cjmconsultants.co.nz INDEPENDENT QUANTITY SURVEYING With over 30 years’ experience, CJM Consultants delivers expert cost management across commercial and residential projects — from small builds to developments exceeding $100M. Walker Group Architects Ltd is currently involved in the design and construction of 1800 apartments, typically sited near transport hubs and cycleways. Around 1500 of them are studio and one-bedroom apartments being built to rent for around $450 per week. They are specifically targeted at people who can’t afford and don’t need two bedrooms, and want their own front door, rather than sharing a house with others, and who will have the security of knowing their home can’t be sold out from under them. Whether it’s working out the complex technicalities of ensuring a luxury skyscraper’s rooftop pool will hold its water in a cyclone, or the clear thinking and precise measurements involved in making every bit of available space count in a small apartment, the team at Walker Group Architects enjoy the challenge. After all, given the firm’s close to 100 years of experience, there’s every chance it’s a challenge it has met and resolved before.
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