The house at no. 7 Symonds Street in Onehunga was built c.1860 and is situated on a large 3176m² property in the company of a number of large scheduled trees.
Internal additions and piece meal adaptations over the years had blocked natural connections between the north (1929 building) and south (1960’s building) leading to a poor visitor experience due to lack of orientation. The Kauri Bowl designed by Noel Lane Architects, completed in 2006, had become partially hidden by later additions including a staircase to first floor offices and partitions forming the special exhibitions gallery. This project reconsiders the use of the South Atrium, links it to the new circulation loop, and makes changes to the south entrance to increase its physical capacity to handle the increased flow of visitors.
Salmond Reed Architects is proud to have been part of this collaborative project, acting as Heritage Consultants to the Museum. We have worked alongside design architects Jasmax since 2015, from the initial design stage to completion of the works on site. Throughout the contract works Salmond Reed acted as close liaison between the Museum, Jasmax, Holmes Structural and Holmes Fire Engineers, Auckland Council Heritage and Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
Salmond Reed’s input has ensured that layers of history have been retained and significant heritage fabric has been refurbished. The result has been a highly successful piecing in of the new and the old creating a further layer in the history of this special building.
