Residences in the Woods Bagot-designed Symphony Centre have officially been released to market, with sales launching for the seventy-eight exclusive residences in the heart of the Auckland city centre.

The future residences will capture sweeping views of Auckland’s cityscape and harbour within a unique vertical village tenancy, situated within Auckland’s arts precinct.

As cities continue to evolve in a post-pandemic landscape, their livelihood and vibrancy relies on the richness and generous civic gestures of every new project. Symphony contributes to this aspiration, shifting away from a single-use building to a truly mixed-use development at the epicentre of the city, seamlessly integrating living, working and leisure.

Future residents will benefit from a vibrant and dynamic atmosphere that extends beyond business hours, with day-to-night activation and civic programming that will enliven Auckland’s entertainment quarter.

The 21-storey over-station development will include ground-floor retail, activated ground plane, commercial work floors, and onsite amenities, from gymnasium to movie theatre, positioned above the new City Rail Link station on the corner of Wellesly Street and Mayoral Drive.

The Symphony residences offer a unique opportunity to live above the Te Waihorotiu Station, in what will be the first vertical transport-oriented development in New Zealand. Tipped to be the busiest station in the new City Rail Link network, this over-station location will provide unprecedented access to culture, transport, and lifestyle, setting a new benchmark for Auckland high-density living.

The design intent for the Symphony Centre blends architecture and interiors for a cohesive built form, with each tenancy poised to benefit from its own unique views overlooking the city, Maungawhau / Mt Eden, the Waitakere Ranges, and Waitemata Harbour. Apartment layouts include one-, two-, and three-bedroom options, alongside limited sub-penthouse and penthouse suites, all tailored towards the owner-occupier.

Inside, residences features natural timber flooring and joinery, imbuing a sense of warmth and tactility, alongside natural stone benchtops, textured walls and ceramic tiles. Powder-coated metal accents and bespoke feature lighting add a contemporary inflection to the interior spaces, while the soft, tonal palette is designed to complement the natural exterior views.

An expansive communal outdoor terrace captures panoramic views of the skyline, providing opportunity for connection, socialisation and community. The open-air terrace features outdoor dining and barbecue spaces, and serves to delineate between the workspace and the eleven residential floors above.

Woods Bagot Director Bruno Mendes says connection to the outdoors forms an important part of the design brief, creating biophilic connections within a high-density architectural model.     

“The architecture is characterised by openness and fluidity, bringing the outside in where possible, anchoring the building within its urban context while forging a connection with the natural elements,” says Mendes.

Residences are further connected with a central atrium connecting the Level 10 Wellness Garden to the sky above. The void ascends through the building’s residential levels, creating a luminous channel drawing the sky inside, and bathing the residences in natural light.

The building’s articulation and massing are defined by its location and context, maximising sunlight access into Aotea Square. The wedge-shaped building’s sweeping roofline gesture creates unique commercial tenancies, with southern views to Maungawhau / Mount Eden and western vistas towards the Waitakere Ranges.

“The building has been carved by light,” adds Mendes. “Its distinctive form is designed to create maximum breathing space for Aotea Square, the built mass capitulating to permit sunlight into the heart of the public plaza.”

The façade is made from glass-reinforced concrete in hues that reference Waitematā sandstone, with a Poutama pattern by Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) embossed onto vertical fins.

The Symphony Centre offers programmatic diversity, urban connectivity, and local context, and blurs traditional distinctions of civic, commercial and residential architecture to create a vibrant mixed-use space contributing to the evolution of Aotea Quarter.

For more information visit the Symphony Centre website.

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Isla Sutherland
Content and Communications Specialist (Australia & New Zealand)