Located on a former farm on Auckland’s North Shore, Smales Farm is one of New Zealand’s most futuristic, technologically advanced workspaces.
The complex, which first opened in the late 1990s, continues to expand. Its stable of high profile business tenants – including Air New Zealand, Vodafone and Sovereign Insurance – continues to grow, with ASB Bank shifting more than 170 of its employees to the new B:Hive shared working space last August. B:Hive, which spans five floors and cost $75 million,
is reported to be the biggest purpose-built co-working facility in the Southern Hemisphere.
Inspired by Sydney’s Grounds of Alexandria, Smales Farm’s most recent addition is a hospitality precinct, featuring a range of bars, restaurants and cafes. The Goodside opened last November and features high-quality eateries, including new BurgerFuel spinoff Shake Out, private dining areas and an outdoor fireplace. A sushi restaurant and craft beer bar are also among the options.
The brains behind the building are Chris, Bill and Greg Smale, whose vision of the site surpassed the dairy farm that once sprawled out over the grounds. An early development was a six-storey building developed for Clear Communications, which has since been acquired by Vodafone and is undergoing a $44 million revamp.
Other investments also beckon. At the end of last year, Bill Smale put $1 million of seed capital into a startup called Niesh, a smartphone app that offers student discounts.
The Smale dynasty stretches back to the 1870s, when James Smale arrived on the North Shore after emigrating from Cornwall, England. James’ son, Bill, bought the future Smales Park land in 1944 and Bill’s sons, Jim and Geoff, ran the farm on the site.
The family’s plans for the site’s next 20 years are just as forward-thinking and ambitious as the previous 20. An extra $1 billion of investment is hoped for, with another 160,000sq m of development in the works. Given what’s happened so far, who’d bet against it?
2018: $250 million