Designing a Marine Parade future for Napier

PIPPA BROWN | Wednesday, August 10, 2011 5:00

AMBITIOUS: Thomas Walker, left, and Kirk Lambert with part of their Marine Pde redevelopment design entry Moremore, which was exhibited along with four other EIT student designs.

Warren Buckland

There was nothing but praise for the Marine Pde EIT concept designs on display at the War Memorial Conference Centre in Napier at the weekend.

The competition was organised by Napier Labour list MP Stuart Nash for senior design EIT students, with a brief to restore the foreshore reserve between the sunken gardens and aquarium to a family-friendly area and put Napier back on to the international stage. The best design will be decided by public vote.

With the Napier City Council 10-year plan about to kick off in a few weeks Napier Mayor Barbara Arnott said the project had been "timely".

"The quality of these designs has taken the focus away from the contentious issue of Marineland and opened up a lot of possibilities for Napier," Mrs Arnott said.

"The [stormwater] pier will happen, although some of the elements and size [in the designs] may be prohibitive - but it is stimulating."

More than 600 people visited the conference centre to view the top four displays.

Ideas ranged from a Kakariki Coast carbon-neutral idea to a Te Marama interactive Pacifika concept, based on light and Matariki.

Another took a reflective look at the future incorporating a pier and ferry ride to connect to Cape Kidnappers. Kakariki Coast transformed Marineland into a multi-level restaurant with sufficient energy harnessed through hydro/solar/wind to power the project and a number of households.

The most ambitious was the "bold and challenging" Moremore.

An iconic structure, "so big so awesome people come here just to see it and have a good time", student designer Kirk Lambert said. The grandiose plan is based on the lines of the Sound Shell and extends 130m outwards to sea, 30m over the ocean and 250m across. The half-circular pier embodies a saltwater swimming pool and marine park and sits 10m above the high tide line.

Although the cost may be prohibitive, engineering-wise it is "entirely feasible", according to architect and EIT spatial design tutor Mazin Bahho, who says the circular shape is inherently strong.

"The size of the columns in a straight pier are larger, but the degree of resistance less," Mr Bahho said.

Napier resident Mark Hutchinson said people like it because it creates a small, but safe beach.

"There has always been something wrong about the Parade - most of these designs are about creating a space, having a coffee and taking in the view."