Waterview Connection

The $1.4 billion Waterview Connection project will complete Auckland’s Western Ring Route. The project involves almost five kilometres of new motorway including two parallel tunnels, 2.4 kilometres in length, and interchanges to connect to the Southwestern Motorway at Mt Roskill and to the Northwestern Motorway at Great North Road. It will be the largest, most expensive and most complex roading project ever undertaken in New Zealand.

The Western Ring Route will provide a 48-kilometre alternative to State Highway 1 and the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Construction will start in November with the project expected to be completed by the end of 2016.

Part of the Well-Connected Alliance Team (Comprising NZTA, Fletcher Construction, McConnell Dowell Constructors, Parsons Brinkerhoff NZ, Beca Infrastructure, Tonkin and Taylor, Boffa Miskell and Obayashi Corporation), Warren and Mahoney is responsible for the architectural components of the project including the ventilation stacks, egress structures, vehicular and pedestrian bridges and associated tunnel buildings.

Tender Design Concept

Inspired by the aesthetic forms of Obsidian (volcanic glass) the original design for the tunnel's ventilation stack has focussed on creating a slender form of elegance and beauty. Its full sculptural appearance is appreciated on approach from the motorway as the stake’s slanted form extends down to the motorway serving as the portal’s dividing wall. 

The notion of extruded boxes shifting in and out of the tunnel express traffic movement through the tunnel, its glazed ends revealing and celebrating the tunnel’s mechanical and servicing operations. Glazed patterning to offer detail features internally fixed aluminium louvres creating depth and detail to the glazed edges.