The station, just like it will be in reality - sort of. Photo / Michael Craig
The station, just like it will be in reality - sort of. Photo / Michael Craig
The Wi-Fi transmitters are up, the curved aluminium ceiling battens have been installed, four different sorts of platform paving are laid and even the LED lights have been set at precisely the right angles.
Now, all we need is a train.
But don’t hold your breath because it’s only amock-up station built in a Māngere warehouse for the new $5.49 billion City Rail Link, so construction processes can be checked and streamlined.
Jessica Beagelman, the Link Alliance Karanga-a-Hape Station architectural lead from Grimshaw Architects, and fit-out team site foreman Ryan Britz from Hawkins showed off the model half-station.
A complete single platform has been built to scale with a 3.5-metre internal stud height, 10m long by almost 7m wide and with five different types of flooring to give clear messages about where passengers should be - and when.
Ryan Britz and Jessica Beagelman in the new mock-up station in the south Auckland warehouse. Photo / Michael Craig
New underground stations are being built at Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape and the existing Maungawhau station is being upgraded. So design and build teams faced some big unknowns.
They’re trying to smooth out the processes in advance and the mock-up section enables them to spot problems before installation begins, including how light, tactility, sight and sound might affect a passenger’s experience.
The curved corner in the middle of the platforms gives passengers a coherent, intuitive way in and out, they said.
But one problem was already spotted with the panels in the centre of the mock-up.
Those glass-reinforced concrete panels made by Swanson’s Liquidstone are a natural, porous material that can absorb moisture, being installed in a contract won by Thermosash. The original plan was to seal those panels with anti-graffiti covering on-site in the tunnels.
At the mock-up station, panels were installed during heavy rain and about 90 per cent humidity.
All the curves in just the right places at the station built in the warehouse. Photo / Michael Craig
Suction cups were used to manoeuvre the panels into the mock-up and prevent edge damage. And it was those safety suction cups which also pulled out the moisture, leaving faint yet visible circles.
That wasn’t what the Link Alliance wanted, so systems were changed. The anti-graffiti sealant will now be applied at the manufacturing site, not once those panels are down inside the tunnels.
Beagelman said Link Alliance staff visited the Māngere warehouse at night, when daylight wasn’t entering skylights. That allowed them to check the strength of lighting under complete darkness, the same as it will be around 40m below ground at the new Karanga-a-Hape station.
Britz said all ceiling installation work was done before the flooring went down to ensure it was not damaged during the process. Mobile scaffolds and scissor lifts were used to get workers and equipment up into the ceiling voids.
“All the different sub-trades have been here,” he explained of the process, which has been running for months. “It gives us the chance to work through any snags or roadblocks.”
Ceilings are curved battens with an acoustic layer aligned to the finishes in the station shafts, allowing for access and maintenance to services.
White ceiling battens are aluminium and have a practical application, baffling noise so the PA announcements can be better heard.
Flooring just like it will be at the new stations once they're opened in 2025/26. Photo / Michael Craig
Junctions between platforms and adits are curved to enable smooth pedestrian flows between areas. Lighting is integrated between the ceiling battens and within the signage band.
Platform design and architecture elements are strategically located and aligned to the horizontal datums within the cladding systems.
Consistent datums are used through the platform level to the concourse to provide a logical progression and intuitive path for passengers.
More than 500m of glass-reinforced concrete panels will be installed on platforms and cross passages, starting this month.
All up, the mock-up station cost $130,000 and Britz and Beagelman said it had already paid for itself in terms of systems perfected, changed, streamlined and checked.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
