Sunlight bouncing off the new PwC Tower. Photo / supplid
Sunlight bouncing off the new PwC Tower. Photo / supplid
London has its 'fry-scraper' office towers which startle residents, motorists and pedestrians so is Auckland now also home to a blinder?
Glare from the newly-roofed $1 billion PwC Tower at Commercial Bay startled North Shore residents but owners say the tower meets Auckland Council reflectivity standards.
The Shore people saidlight coming from the curved sail-like foil, topping the waterfront tower opening next month, is "blinding" at a certain time in late mornings.
Scott Pritchard, chief executive of Precinct Properties which developed and owns the tower, said the block complied with regulations.
A few years ago, Londoners complained about their tall office towers having a sinister effect at ground level, giving off "deathrays" said to melt aspects of cars, and enable locals to fry eggs in the output.
Pritchard said nothing was wrong with the new PwC.
"The façade meets all the stringent requirements under the Auckland Unitary Plan, which details reflectivity controls to a much higher degree than many cities globally," he said.
But one Herald reader said the light had bounced off the tower's top and towards the Shore suburb in such a way that it was startling.
"I'm up on Forrest Hill and it was around 11.30 am," the reader said of a dazzling light bouncing from the 40-level tower's top across to the suburb.
Having seen such a strong light beaming from the top, the reader wondered if others had noticed this too: "For a short period of time, when the sun is at the right angle, it beams so bright, it's blinding and hard to look in that vicinity."
And a Northcote resident said glare from the roof startled her as she left Onewa Rd for the motorway late in the morning driving into the city.
Bill McKay, a senior lecturer at Auckland University's School of Architecture and Planning, said angled glass picked up more sun than flat surfaces, just like mirrors being angled towards the sun.
"It is a thing," McKay said of glare from reflective glass towers. New Yorkers acknowledge the weird or uncanny light bounced or transmitted from Manhattan skyscrapers around pedestrian level, he said. Although he has not noticed the new Auckland tower's glare, he understands people having a reaction to it.
But Pritchard said light would be bounced off various parts of the building daily, depending on how strong the sun was and tall buildings did reflect light.
How dazzling is this? Top of new PwC Tower. Photo / supplied
"It is common for any largely glazed building to generate a range of reflections to different locations throughout the day. Solar reflectivity from high-rise buildings is commonplace in Auckland and cities around the world," he said.
Auckland Council has regulations on glare from buildings and the new PwC Tower met these requirements, he said.
"The glazing specifications of the PwC Tower are compliant with the maximum reflectivity control of 20 per cent. Additionally, a ceramic frit has been applied to the glass to further reduce the reflectivity of the base glass," Pritchard said.
Precinct had worked closely with our architects on the design of this modern landmark building for Auckland. The glass façade is a key design feature and we are confident in the design features used.
The tower was designed by architects from the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
"Following a series of workshops and presentations NH Architecture from Melbourne was appointed as the retail architect and Woods Bagot based out of San Francisco was appointed as the commercial architect. To ensure we created a design that was international in its quality while also retaining local relevance and character local New Zealand architecture firm Warren and Mahoney will ensure the integration of these schemes and are now the lead architects on the project," Precinct said of the block's design.
The tower's shops are due to start opening next month. Photo / Precinct Properties
Thermosash was appointed as the facade contractor, saying it had provided the glass for the podium and tower.
The Unitary Plan says Auckland buildings must be designed and built so that the reflectivity of all external surfaces does not exceed 20 per cent of white light.
"This means that glass and other materials with reflectivity values that exceed 20 per cent may only be used provided they are covered or screened in such a way that the external surfaces will still meet this standard," the plan says.
It demands "non-reflective materials are used on buildings to avoid, remedy and mitigate the adverse effects of glare on pedestrians and motorists".
Around 3200 office tenants will begin moving into the tower from April, including around 900 from PwC which bought the naming right and are leaving the existing building at 188 Quay St.
