Axiom Foundation

Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct

Purpose The City Centre Zone continues to be the primary commercial and employment centre servicing Wellington and the wider region, supported by residential and a diverse mix of other compatible activities that reflect its role and function in the hierarchy of centres.

Accommodating growth The City Centre Zone plays a significant role in accommodating residential, business and supporting community service growth, and has sufficient serviced development capacity and additional infrastructure to meet its short, medium and long term residential and business growth needs, including: A variety of building type, size, affordability and distribution, including forms of high-density housing; Convenient access to active and public transport activity options; Efficient, well integrated and strategic use of available development sites; and Convenient access to a range of open space, including green space, and supporting commercial activity and community facility options.

Urban form and scale The scale and form of development in the City Centre Zone reflects its purpose as Wellington’s primary commercial and employment centre, with the highest and most intensive form of development concentrated in the zone relative to other parts of the city.

Ahi Kā Taranaki Whānui and Ngāti Toa Rangatira are acknowledged as the mana whenua of Te Whanganui ā Tara (Wellington) and their cultural associations, and landowner and development interests are recognised in planning and developing the City Centre Zone.

Amenity and design Development in the City Centre Zone positively contributes to creating a high quality, well-functioning urban environment, including: Reinforcing the City Centre Zone’s distinctive sense of place; Providing a quality and level of public and private amenity in the City Centre Zone that evolves and positively responds to anticipated growth and the diverse and changing needs of residents, businesses and visitors; Maintaining and enhancing the amenity and safety of public space; Contributing to the general amenity of neighbouring residential areas while achieving the planned urban form of the City Centre Zone; Producing a resilient urban environment that effectively adapts and responds to natural hazard risks and the effects of climate change; Protecting current areas of open space, including green space, and providing greater choice of space for residents, workers and visitors to enjoy, recreate and shelter from the weather; and Acknowledging and sensitively responding to adjoining heritage buildings, heritage areas and sites and areas of significance to Māori.

Development near rapid transit Activities and development near existing and planned rapid transit stops: Are located to enable convenient access by local residents, workers and visitors, particularly around transport hubs; Are of sufficient residential scale and intensity to support a frequent and rapid transit network and associated mixed use development; and Provide vibrant, attractive and easily accessible public space.

Managing adverse effects Adverse effects of activities and development in the City Centre Zone are managed effectively both: Within the City Centre Zone; and At interfaces with: Heritage buildings, heritage structures and heritage areas; Scheduled sites and areas of significance to Māori; Identified public spaces; Residential Zoned areas; Open Space and Recreation Zoned areas; and The Waterfront Zone.

Purpose Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct is a vibrant, safe, resilient, connected and inclusive environment supported by a range of activities that complement its primary civic function.

Built form The scale, form and positioning of development within the Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct: Respects and reinforces the distinctive form and scale of existing associated historic heritage buildings, architecture and public space; Integrates mana whenua values into the design; Frames the square; Ensures a high degree of sunlight access is achieved within public spaces in the precinct; Provides multiple connections which enable people to conveniently move between the city centre and the waterfront; Is sustainable and resilient; and Provides for green spaces, where possible.

Integration with the City Centre, Waterfront and wider transport network Safe and accessible pedestrian linkages through the Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct, and to and from other parts of the city centre and waterfront, are maintained and enhanced.

Enabled activities Enable a range and diversity of activities that support the purpose of the City Centre Zone and enhances its vibrancy and amenity, including: Commercial activities; Residential activities, located; Above ground level; or At ground level along any street not subject to active frontage and/or verandah coverage requirements. Community facilities; Educational facilities; Arts, culture and entertainment activities; Emergency service facilities; Marae activities; Community corrections activities; Public transport activities; Visitor accommodation; Repair and maintenance service activities; Recreation activities; Parliamentary activities; Government activities; Civic activities; and Hospital activities and healthcare facilities.

Potentially incompatible activities Only allow activities that are potentially incompatible with the purpose of the City Centre Zone, where they will not have an adverse effect on its vitality, vibrancy, amenity, resilience and accessibility. Potentially incompatible activities include: Industrial activities; Yard-based retail activities; Carparking at ground level; Demolition of buildings that result in the creation of vacant land; and Ground floor residential activities on street edges identified as requiring either an active frontage or verandah.

Heavy industrial activities Avoid heavy industrial activities from locating in the City Centre Zone.

Housing choice Enable high density, good quality residential development that: Contributes towards accommodating anticipated growth in the city; and Contributes to a range of housing price, type, size and tenure that is accessible to people of all ages, lifestyles, cultures, impairments and abilities.

Urban form and scale Recognise the benefits of intensification by: Enabling greater overall height and scale of development to occur in the City Centre Zone relative to other centres; and Requiring the available development capacity of land within the zone to be efficiently optimised.

Adaptive use Encourage new development and redevelopment in the City Centre Zone that is sustainable, resilient and adaptable to change in use over time, including enabling: Sufficient flexibility for ground floor space to be used and converted for a range of activities; and Residential activities at ground floor level along streets that are not subject to active frontage and/or verandah coverage requirements.

Ahi Kā Recognise and enable Taranaki Whānui and Ngāti Toa Rangatira cultural associations and landowner and development interests in the City Centre Zone by: Providing for the development of papakāinga, kaumātua housing and affordable Māori housing on their landholdings; Managing new development adjoining scheduled sites of significance to Māori; and Collaborating on the design and incorporation of traditional cultural elements into public space within the zone.

Sense of place Provide for good quality new development and supporting public space that reinforces the City Centre’s identity and unique sense of place at a city scale, including its: Surrounding topography and harbour setting; Rich Māori and tauiwi/non-Māori history; Compact, walkable city structure; Diversified and vibrant mix of activities; Visually prominent buildings and variety of architectural styles; and Diversity of accessible, well designed civic and public space.

Quality development outcomes Require new development, and alterations and additions to existing development, at a site scale to positively contribute to the sense of place and distinctive form, quality and amenity of the City Centre Zone by: Fulfilling the intent of the Centres and Mixed Use Design Guide; Recognising the benefits of well-designed, comprehensive development, including the extent to which the development: Reflects the nature and scale of the development enabled within the zone and responds to the evolving, more intensive identity of the neighbourhood; Optimises the development capacity of the land, including sites that are large, narrow, vacant or ground level parking areas; Provides for the increased levels of residential accommodation anticipated; Provides for a range of supporting business, open space and community facilities; and Is accessible for emergency service vehicles; Ensuring that development, where relevant: Responds to the site context, particularly where it is located adjacent to: A scheduled site or area of significance to Māori; A heritage building, heritage structure or heritage area; An identified character precinct; A public space identified in Appendix 9; Residential zones; Open space zones; and The Waterfront Zone; Responds to the pedestrian scale of narrower streets; Responds to any identified significant natural hazard risks and climate change effects, including the strengthening and adaptive reuse of existing buildings; Provides a safe and comfortable pedestrian environment; Enhances the quality of the streetscape and the private/public interface; Integrates with existing and planned active and public transport activity movement networks, including planned rapid transit stops; Allows sufficient flexibility for ground floor space to be converted to a range of activities, including residential; and Positively contributes to the sense of place and distinctive form of the City Centre where the site or proposal will be prominent. Recognising the benefits of well-designed accessible, resilient and sustainable development, including the extent to which the development: Enables universal accessibility within buildings, ease of access for people of all ages and mobility/disability; Incorporates a level of building performance that leads to reduced carbon emissions and increased climate change and earthquake resilience; and Incorporates construction materials that increase the lifespan and resilience of the development and reduce ongoing maintenance costs.

On-site residential amenity Achieve a high standard of amenity for residential activities that reflects and responds to the evolving, higher density scale of development anticipated in the City Centre Zone, including: Providing residents with access to an adequate outlook; Ensuring convenient access to private and/or communal areas of outdoor space; Fulfilling the intent of the Centres and Mixed Use Design Guide; and Providing residents with adequate internal living space.

City development outcomes Recognise the positive outcomes that developments either over the height thresholds or under minimum building heights in the City Centre Zone can make to a well-functioning urban environment, as compensation for adverse effects, through the provision of enduring outcomes that provide public benefit and positively contribute to the sense of place and distinctive form, quality and amenity of the City Centre, including: Positively contributing to public space provision and the amenity of the site and surrounding area, particularly in areas of deficit public space; Positively contributing to public accessibility and connections; Restoring and reusing heritage buildings and structures; Recognising or responding to adjacent sites and area of heritage or sites and areas of significance to Māori; and Incorporating assisted housing into the development; where this is provided, legal instruments are required to ensure that it remains assisted housing for at least 25 years.

Managing adverse effects Recognise the evolving, higher density development context enabled in the City Centre Zone, while managing any associated adverse effects including: The impacts of building dominance and the height and scale relationship; Building mass effects, including the amount of light and outlook around buildings; and The impacts on sunlight access to identified public space; and The impacts of related construction activity on the transport network and pedestrian linkages.

Retirement villages Provide for retirement villages where it can be demonstrated that the development: Fulfils the intent of the Centres and Mixed Use Design Guide; Includes outdoor space that is sufficient to cater for the needs of village residents; Provides an adequate and appropriately located area on site for the management, storage and collection of all of the solid waste, recycling and organic waste potentially generated by the development; Is able to be adequately serviced by three waters infrastructure or can address any constraints on the site; and Is of an intensity, scale and design that is consistent with the amenity values anticipated in the Zone.

Activities Enable a range of activities and temporary events that support the civic purpose and ongoing vibrancy and amenity of Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct, including: Civic functions; Arts, culture and entertainment activities; Recreation activities; Community facilities; Commercial activities; and Residential activities above ground level to encourage activation of the precinct both day and night.

Use and development of the Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct Provide for the staged redevelopment of the Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct, and its connections with the transport network, wider City Centre Zone and Waterfront Zone, including: Enhancing the public function, pedestrian network and public spaces within the precinct; Maintaining its special character by managing the form, scale and intensity of development; Ensuring land use activities and development are planned and designed in a co-ordinated, site-responsive, comprehensive and integrated manner; and Enabling new development and a range of activities that are integrated and compatible with existing buildings and land uses in the precinct.

Access, connections and open space Require that the use and development of the Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct: Provides attractive, safe, efficient, and convenient connections to existing and planned transport networks; Promotes existing and planned pedestrian access and connections between the precinct, the waterfront and the city centre; and Provides well-designed, safe and accessible public and green open space, within the precinct.

Amenity and design Require development within the Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct to contribute positively to its visual quality, amenity, interest and public safety by: Fulfilling the intent of the Centres and Mixed Use Design Guide; Requiring buildings and public spaces to incorporate high-quality visual and architectural design based on factors such as the bulk, form, scale, portion, location and detailing of the building/structure or building additions/alterations; Ensuring building design respects the form, scale and style of heritage buildings and wider architectural elements within the precinct, including interface treatment with the Town Hall; Responding to any identified significant natural hazard risks and climate change effects, including the strengthening and adaptive reuse of existing buildings and requiring new buildings to be resiliently designed; Recognising mana whenua cultural values in the design of public spaces; Ensuring new development will result in overall improvements to the function, access and safety of the precinct, including enabling universal access and opportunities for formal and informal surveillance; Providing an active edge along a portion of each building that addresses both the internal precinct area and externally towards adjoining streets; Providing a comfortable micro-climate for precinct users; Positioning new development and managing building height and form to ensure a high degree of sunlight access is achieved within the square; Retaining and enhancing strong visual and physical connections between the square, the waterfront, the city centre and streets surrounding the precinct; and Incorporating public amenities, public artwork and means to assist wayfinding, including provision of interpretation and references to the area’s cultural and historic heritage associations.

Commercial activities

Community facilities

Educational facilities

Recreation activities

Arts, culture, and entertainment activities

Emergency service facilities

Marae activities

Community corrections activities

Public transport activities

Visitor accommodation activities

Repair and maintenance service activities

Parliamentary activities

Government activities

Civic activities

Hospital activities and healthcare facilities

Retirement Villages

Residential activities

Industrial activities, excluding repair and maintenance service activities

Carparking activities

Yard-based retailing activities

All other land use activities

Civic activities

Arts, culture, and entertainment activities

Community activities

Commercial facilities

Recreation activities

Residential activities

Educational facilities

Government activities

All other land use activities

Maintenance and repair of buildings and structures

Demolition or removal of buildings and structures

Alterations and additions to buildings and structures

Construction of buildings and structures

Conversion of buildings, or parts of buildings, for residential activities

Outdoor storage areas

Construction of buildings and structures, additions and alterations to buildings and structures

Height Threshold

Old St Paul’s Church – Adjoining site specific building height

Character precincts and Residentially Zoned heritage areas – Adjoining site specific building and structure height

Minimum building height

Minimum ground floor height

Minimum sunlight access – public space

Verandah control

Active frontage control

Minimum residential – unit size

Residential – outdoor living space

Minimum building separation distance for residential activities

Maximum building depth for residential activities

Outlook space

Fences and standalone walls

Boundary setback from a rail corridor

Sites adjoining residential zones

Height Threshold

Urban Design Panel