Crafted catalyst.
Porirua Kiosk.

This new kiosk brings fresh energy and identity to the Porirua city centre; it’s a symbol of the transformative change that the city is investing in, the first phase of an ambitious project to revitalise the urban realm.

Right Privacy screens to the bathrooms form a woven diagonal pattern to the back of kiosk invoking the pasifika theme that is carried throughout the design.

Successful city centres are places where people work, shop, socialise and live. Porirua City is in the process of overcoming its challenges and moving forward to become an attractive, inviting and successful urban centre.

Right As a stand alone object within the wider Isthmus designed landscape, the kiosk repeats the themes and colours of the landscape design. The large sliding doors that open to reveal the food outlets are clad with clear finished timber battens and are carefully detailed to enhance the rich and highly articulated textures of the kiosk.

“We know that revitalising the city centre is about more than just shopping it’s about value creation, city heart, social mix, our sense of place; it’s about business, a better range of jobs and people living in the centre to give it 24/7 activity.”

— Nick Leggett, Mayor (2010-2016)

This small architectural project, located at the junction of key axes in the wider regeneration project, is a catalyst and benchmark for better quality development in the area and a sign of things to come. The kiosk accommodates two small food and beverage outlets as well as public bathrooms – amenities that are not typically closely coupled. However, through clever planning and screening this finely crafted urban ‘object’ easily handles its dual role.

Left The diagonals of the glazed canopy cast shadows over the timber slats of the sliding doors creating an ever changing pattern that conjures an imagery of weaving.

The kiosk, a timber-clad volume with a floating steel and glass canopy overhead, is designed to be robust yet welcoming. On the south side, a stainless steel projection contains four individual public toilets, each given privacy by the timber screen incorporated into the canopy’s folded steel ribs.

Below The vertical timber slats of the sliding doors ensure that the rich material palette is on display whether they are open or closed.
The external seating carries the themes and colours of the kiosk out into the wider landscape. This establishes a holistic fusion between the architecture of the kiosk and the architecture of the landscape that it inhabits.

The timber rain-screen has vertical battens over panels painted to match the colours selected for the new surrounding landscape. The deployment of simple patterns – highlighted and abstracted when shadows from the glass canopy fall across the structure’s timber skin – and bright colours evokes a subtle Pasifika theme appropriate to the cultural identity of Porirua.

Collaborators
Calibre
Dunning Thornton
S&T

Contractor
Hawkins

Client
Porirua City Council

Awards
2017 NZILA Award of Excellence – Urban Spaces
2017 Commercial Projects Award
2017 NZIA Wellington Architecture Award
2016 Best Award Public and Institutional Spaces (gold pin)
2016 Resene Total Colour – Colour Maestro Award