Above: Andrius Gedgaudas, Architect, Shanghai China.

 Den Aitken, Pete Griffiths and Hamish Foote, Field Landscape Architecture, Auckland.

David Gibbs and Aaron Sills, Construkt / SVB, Auckland.

Design number 195 - John Coop, Tasman Studio, Auckland.

Design number 216 - Simon Williams, Williams Architects Ltd, Auckland.

The five individual finalists for the Queens Wharf redesign have been named from the 237 designs received with four of the final designs coming from Auckland architects and only one set to blow the allocated budget.

Jasmax/Architectus, Water-shed and Tasman Studios were finalists in the team entries category but images have not yet been released.

They were selected by a panel including Auckland City Mayor John Banks, Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee, ministers Gerry Brownlee and Murray McCully.

The bold design submitted by Auckland’s Tasman Studio is striking. Playing on the 100% Pure New Zealand advertising campaign, its proposal is headed “100% Public”.

Retaining Shed 11 as the base for an events centre, it also keeps the existing cool store and hopes to include public artworks at the site in the form of permanent sculptures and art events at the site.

The entry to Queen’s Wharf from Quay St would be a paved public space Tasman Studio refers to in the proposal as an ‘urban lawn’.

“The proposal demonstrates how redevelopment of the wharf might positively inter-relate existing and new buildings,” the panel said. “Building forms are bold and simple, and respond well to the scale and drama of the wharf and its setting.”

Shanghai-based architect Andrius Gedgaudas’s plan is the only one originating from outside Auckland. It details a large promenade deck with a lookout at the end offering public space to enjoy a view of the harbour.

The design includes 1,400sq m dedicated to a restaurant/café area, an 8,000sq m terminal area with multipurpose floor area, a driveway with parking for taxis and buses and a pedestrian walkway.

“The design offers a simple and strong public realm experience, with the potential for activities and uses beneath the inclined platform to be well related to adjacent public open spaces,” Government feedback on the design said.

“Despite the stark simplicity of the proposal, the design would offers significant scope for the addition of other elements as patterns of use on Queens Wharf evolve over time.”

The “highly schematic” design from Field Landscape Architecture with “considerable potential” shows a plan based on the historic pattern of the wharf.

It retains Shed 10 and Shed 11, with a central promenade with moveable sliding doors and canopies that can be adjusted for events and will establish a link between the two sheds.

“However, the proposal would need to be carefully developed and tested in response to the Stage 2 design brief and the issues identified in section 3 above,” the panel assessing the designs said.

“The basis for the proposed undulations within the promenade would need to be reviewed and clarified in the Stage 2 submission.”

Construkt / SVB architects David Gibbs and Aaron Sills of Auckland presented a proposal which is the only one of the five finalists that seeks to remove Shed 11 and constructing a new building on the eastern edge of Queen’s Wharf.

It proposes to redevelop Shed 10 as a cruise ship terminal and build a pedestrian plaza between that and Quay St. The design includes a large public area with an urban beach, which the panel advised would be so expensive it would exceed the existing budget targets.

The proposal by Williams Architects details a new cruise ship terminal at the Shed 10 site with a public access terrace down to the water. Shed 11 opens up to a plaza with wide steps down to the water.

It has a covered walkway extending along the wharf’s length and an upper level walkway to Customs St, which the panel questions the merits of.

“The panel commended the use of simple sculptural forms for the terminal and the way in which the space at the northern end of the wharf connected to the water and engaged with the harbor setting.”

The panel were advised by Auckland City Council creative sector marketing and communications Jillian de Beer, Victoria University senior architecture lecturer Graeme McIndoe, urban designer Rebecca Skidmore, architect Ian Athfield and University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning Professor John Hunt.

The five final designs will now need to be developed further by 23 October, with the winning design will be selected and announced in November. The wharf is due to be redeveloped in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.