The NZIA Awards honour the best architecture produced in Aotearoa/ New Zealand in a given year.

Designed by Woods Bagot with Peddlethorp in association, 3 Te Kehu Way (3TKW) has been shortlisted for the ‘Commercial Architecture’ category, celebrating commercial buildings and spaces, alongside seven other exceptional local projects.

Located within the Sylvia Park precinct, 3TWK is a highly sustainable mixed-use development, comprising six levels and 5,800 square metres of net-lettable office space.     

3TKW’s precast concrete façade is intended to resemble a crafted ceramic object more so than a pragmatic cladding system, incorporating a pronounced grid geometry made from square and cruciform punched shapes that add intrigue and. The building’s spirited urban expression provides an intriguing counterpoint to the uniform glazing typifying commercial buildings in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s CBD.

Hidden behind the building’s exterior is a state-of-the-art workplace that prioritises the health and wellbeing of people. Driven by a strong ESG mandate to minimise the environmental impacts, 3TKW has become the first building in New Zealand to receive a 6 Green Star Design and As-Built NZ v1.0 certified rating, achieving “global leadership” for green building design.

Woods Bagot Associate Principal Matt Pieterse says the project is the result of successful collaboration between client and stakeholders, culminating in a responsive and highly sustainable building that continues the evolution of Sylvia Park from a retail focused precinct to a true mixed use town center.

“3TKW is a testament to what can be achieved in workplace design with a courageous client committed to a strong placemaking agenda,” says Pieterse. “While the project is anchored by strong sustainability credentials, we ultimately hope the project contributes to uplifting the day-to day human experience. If the project elicits a second glance from passing shoppers, encouraging greater perception, intrigue and even critique of the built environment, then we have succeeded.”

3TKW is part of a broader urban regeneration project, evolving surface parking lots into a dense urban neighbhourhood. The client’s broader strategy is to create a mixed-use town centre that provides balanced opportunities for living, working and shopping, and promotes walkability and human habitation through a high-quality public realm.

Winners for the NZIA Awards must first be awarded at a local branch level before being shortlisted by the national awards jury. Jury tours for local awards will now take place ahead of Local Branch Award celebrations in May–June. Successful projects at local branch level will then progress to the New Zealand Architecture Awards, which will be held in November.

Read the full shortlist here. 

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Isla Sutherland
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