Destranded: An Urban Model towards Regenerating Whenua

Matthew Pritchard.  

Tutors: Dorita Hannah.  

Tāmaki Makaurau’s Strand Station, sited on land that was once a bay for waka to anchor in and a trading route for Māori, has gradually transitioned into an isolated space of dilapidation. After land reclamation in the early 1900s, the area became a logistics hub for the Auckland Railway Station and Port, through a busy railway network. This has since led the site to become stranded, its whenua depleted. Destranded serves as a regeneration of the Strand Station through a reconnection to whenua, beginning with the growth of wetlands and intervention of water.

The design restores abandoned platforms and train lines to create a multifunctional public space that reconnects with community through adaptable shipping containers enabling artist residencies, small businesses and workshops to come and go from the site. The containers’ inherent mobility allows artists to travel to other stations across the motu as part of a potentially national regeneration project.