Context-sensitive design.

Can a major highway be expanded - and yet still enhance its surrounding context?

Victoria Park is one of Auckland’s oldest parks and is flanked by historic buildings and beautiful trees. It is also located at a key crossroads between State Highway 1, downtown Auckland and the Harbour Bridge. By 2005 traffic had become deadlocked and existing highway flyover was over capacity. The initial idea was to double the flyover, which would have destroyed the amenity of the park and damaged its historic and natural values.

Boffa Miskell Principal Doug Leighton was retained to develop an Urban Design Framework for the project. This evolved into a 450m tunnel for northbound traffic, reconfiguring the existing flyover, and carefully widening the motorway to reduce visual, noise and lighting effects.

The resulting ‘VPT Tunnel Project’ protected landscape and heritage values and restored three important historic structures - the Rob Roy Hotel, Campbell Free Kindergarten and Jacobs Ladder staircase.

The project was winner of the NZ Roading Excellence Award in 2012 and a Best Practice award for environmental sustainability.