The Hotel Britomart in downtown Auckland has reached a construction milestone, with the final exterior panel being lifted into place and work now commencing on the interior fit-out.
The 10-floor hotel on Galway Street in the waterfront Britomart precinct will contain 99 guest rooms and five suites. Scheduled to open in mid-2020, it will be New Zealand’s first 5 Green Star hotel. 180 precast panels using a total of 150,000 handmade bricks have now been installed.
“We’re delighted with the progress we’ve made in creating this exciting new hotel for the city, and are looking forward to welcoming guests to in the middle of next year,” said Matthew Cockram, chief executive of Cooper and Company, the company responsible for the development of the hotel and the wider Britomart precinct.
“We’re creating this hotel so that our guests can enjoy luxurious accommodation with the benefit of all of Britomart’s leisure and lifestyle amenities just a few steps away.”
Located above Auckland’s busiest public transport hub, the historic Britomart precinct has been the focus of an innovative 15-year renewal process that has shifted the centre of gravity of the city’s downtown towards the harbour edge. At Britomart, refurbished heritage warehouses jostle up to sleek new architecture, and plant-filled pedestrianised streets and laneways host New Zealand’s leading fashion labels and prestigious international brands such as Tiffany & Co and Allbirds. Britomart is also home to some of Auckland’s best restaurants, bars and cafes.
The Hotel Britomart’s five Landing Suites are named after The Landing, the 1,000-acre luxury residential property in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands also owned by Cooper and Company. Three of the suites are located on the top floor of the new Hotel Britomart building, while two more are being constructed in glassy pavilions on the roof of the adjacent heritage Buckland Building. The suites will have hand-crafted furniture in their spacious living and dining areas; three of the suites will have planted roof terraces.
Designed by Cheshire Architects, The Hotel Britomart’s 99 guest rooms have feature timber-lined walls, tiled bathrooms, and hand-made ceramics, as well as air-conditioning and room control technology.
“The Hotel Britomart is so much more than a building and we’re looking forward to bringing it to life when it opens mid next year,” said Clinton Farley, general manager of The Hotel Britomart. “But don’t expect your standard-issue hotel experience. We’re looking to provide our guests with a deep sense of connection to the hotel and our team, to the precinct and to the beautiful city of Auckland, and all delivered with that trademark New Zealand welcome.”
The creation of The Hotel Britomart involves the reactivation of a whole city block, an urbane piece of placemaking that includes the creation of a new laneway. New Zealand fashion brands Karen Walker and Huffer are establishing new ground-floor flagship stores as part of the development.
Cooper and Company have appointed international hoteliers TFE Hotels as operator and manager of The Hotel Britomart under the TFE Collections brand, a portfolio of hotels in Australia and New Zealand which includes Brisbane’s The Calile and Melbourne’s The Savoy Hotel on Little Collins.
The Hotel Britomart is being built by Bracewell Construction and will be managed by TFE Hotels on behalf of Cooper and Company. Cooper and Company is the asset and development manager for the Britomart Group, which holds a contract for the long-term ownership and development of the Britomart Precinct.
