Land Equity Group

The Watermark residences are now on sale, take a look behind the scenes and meet some of the people involved in the making of The Watermark

The Architect: Studio Pacific Architecture

The Watermark is a singularly Wellington solution to a singularly iconic site on the no less unique Wellington waterfront. It should come as no surprise then that the design came out of Wellington. Studio Pacific Architecture have worked on many projects – and many of them landmark projects – throughout New Zealand but remain, resolutely, a Wellington practice. It is their affinity for the city and their approach to design that drew them to the attention of The Watermark’s developers, Land Equity Group.

As Nick Barratt-Boyes, Principal of Studio Pacific Architecture notes, “We have worked on a number of prominent waterfront projects elsewhere in New Zealand but The Watermark is a very significant project for us. It’s on a prominent island site on the waterfront and it’s in full view of the public gaze. It’s a rare opportunity to craft a solution that exudes personality while stitching itself into the neighbourhood”.

Daryl Calder has spent five years working on The Watermark as Project Architect. The first challenge, he says, was the melding of the old with the new – retaining the integrity of the historic John Chambers building while juxtaposing it with a contemporary building. The result is a uniquely Wellington building with a defined sculptural form that has both subtle nautical references and evokes the Wellington skyline. It knits together a complex array of uses – residences, a boutique hotel, a swimming pool and amenities along with private and public car parking and ground floor retail restaurants and cafes.

Another challenge was the absolute commitment from the developer to create a landmark building not just in design but also in meticulous attention to every last detail. It is evidenced in the materials used: timber panelling, timber and stone flooring, selected quality wallpapers. It is there in the numerous integrated elements such as exterior fireplaces, coffered ceilings, modular kitchens and modular walk-in wardrobes, underfloor heating and home automation. It has been designed specifically for the location and the climate. Many of the residences have an outdoor room – a semi-enclosed terrace – with adjustable screens for privacy, shade and wind shelter with integrated heating sources for the less clement days.

The diversity and degree of choice within the residences that The Watermark offers is rare, as is the extent to which the purchaser can personalise and customise. This commitment to quality in The Watermark, Nick Barratt-Boyes notes, will meet the expectations of the most discriminating purchasers.

The Project Manager: The Building Intelligence Group

The Building Intelligence Group were appointed Project Manager for The Watermark in early 2005. Land Equity’s brief to The Building Intelligence Group was that they wanted to create a residential building that stands apart from the morass of inner-city developments; to build luxury residences of a standard not seen before, in Wellington, or New Zealand. The company’s attitude fits well with The Building Intelligence Group – a group that seeks to impress in all that it does. As Senior Project Manager, Timothy Cope says, “Our project managers are passionate about creating exceptional buildings, so working with a team of people selected because they are the best in their field and are truly committed to the project is a dream scenario”.

To date, The Building Intelligence Group has managed the feasibility and pre-marketing phases, including design and cost management, programming and construction. In addition to the wider project management, The Building Intelligence Group has also acted as Construction Manager in the construction of the $2 million Watermark display suite, ensuring the design intent is translated successfully into the built form through proactive management and attention to detail.

“The keystone to the success of this project is quality. Quality remains the number one focus of the project. Constructing the display suite was an invaluable process and one that would not normally be done on this scale on any typical residential project. It has presented a number of design and construction issues which has given the project team the opportunity to challenge and further develop the design,” says Timothy Cope.

An example of this is the refinement of the unique design feature of the portal window in the master bedroom that visually connects the ensuite with external views when seated in the bath. “It has not been uncommon to turn up for work to find a member of the client team seated in the bath looking at the design and seeing if it can’t be done better,” Timothy says.

In addition to its role as project manager, The Building Intelligence Group has been appointed to develop and implement environmentally sustainable initiatives into the design and construction of The Watermark. Timothy is one of only a few project managers in New Zealand to have achieved Green Star accreditation from the Green Building Council of Australia. “Buildings have a significant impact on the global environment, consuming 32% of the world’s resources and producing 40 of the waste going to landfill,” he says. Implementation of green initiatives in The Watermark will provide a building with increased indoor environment quality, increased energy efficiency, reduced waste during construction with an overall reduced impact on the environment.

The Consulting Engineers: Silvester Clark

Ask Scott Miller of Silvester Clark Consulting Engineers what makes The Watermark unusual in the New Zealand marketplace and he thinks a moment before answering. “We have very few clients that place such an importance on quality,” he says. “With this emphasis on quality, there is an increase in the traditional design requirements, and with that comes an increase in cost. The client has never shied away from this.”

Silvester Clark are the Consulting Engineers on The Watermark project. They have the challenge of finding the best way of retaining the John Chambers building while bringing its design and building standards into the 21st century. They have to find a way of dealing with the high water table so that when the two-level underground car park and facilities are developed, just a stone’s throw from the harbour, they are underground but not underwater.

The biggest challenge, and one Silvester Clark relishes, is to make The Watermark one of the first buildings of its size to be designed to the latest, more stringent, seismic standard. It is a significant achievement for what is an already significant building.

The Lawyers: Greenwood Roche Chisnall

Greenwood Roche Chisnall was established in 2005 as a boutique commercial property law firm, based in Wellington. Its lawyers are leading commercial property specialists with many years’ experience in top tier national law firms. As Project Lawyers for The Watermark, their task is to create an enduring legal structure for The Watermark preserving the lifestyle and ownership structure into the future and ensuring that the owners’ interests are preserved.

The firm is a key member of the project delivery team with input at every stage; not just creating documents.

One of the things that makes The Watermark unique is the significant mixture of uses within the same building – the residences, the boutique hotel, ground floor retail, and car parking. To ensure a fair allocation of costs across these different areas, Greenwood Roche Chisnall have created an enduring ‘cost sharing’ legal structure that applies across each area and ensures that all interests are properly represented and looked after.

Another unique legal feature is that the title to each residence will include ownership of part of the areas to be used for public car parking. This means that car parking income can be applied against body corporate costs; the savings to each owner will be significant.

Their work goes down to the micro-management of details to protect the owners’ interests. For example, they realised that the detailed construction work involved in deadening the sound between apartments could be undone as simply and as unwittingly as an owner installing speakers or lighting in inter-tenancy walls. So they have written special Body Corporate rules to control this.

The Quantity Surveyors: Rider Hunt

Rider Hunt is New Zealand’s largest and most experienced firm of Quantity Surveyors with considerable experience in controlling costs on apartment buildings in New Zealand. But as Vaughan Plant, from Rider Hunt, Wellington, says, “Not one of these buildings has been designed to the same level of specification as The Watermark. The materials specified and quality of design detailing proposed for The Watermark are of the highest standard. The construction costs are assessed to be 20% to 30% more than other residential buildings under construction in the city and The Watermark will without doubt generate the most expensive build costs of any large-scale Wellington residential building. It will be of unsurpassed quality and will have few peers, even throughout the country”.

He’s quick to point out that the added expenditure is on much more than surface design. The Watermark has been designed from the ground up to be a building that provides a superior living experience for its residents. A notable ‘hidden’ aspect is the sound insulation. The sound ratings between residences – often a bone of contention in many apartments – have been designed in The Watermark to greatly exceed New Zealand Building Code requirements. The measure of its quality is that it will not be noticeable to the residents. It’s only if the money were not spent, that it would be very noticeable indeed.

Custom European joinery: Poliform

Poliform is an Italian-based joinery company that produces handcrafted, exquisitely designed and detailed kitchen and bedroom furnishing and hardware. The use of such quality branded Italian joinery is an unusual inclusion in New Zealand apartments and, in The Watermark, is certainly a first in the Wellington market.

Poliform was specified by the developer and designers but the company only agreed to becoming involved when it saw that the developer was totally committed to providing a new level of excellence and to creating a landmark building.

The Poliform collection includes kitchens, wardrobes and loose furniture. The furniture packs can be tailored to each client’s individual requirements and can include pieces in finishes similar to their apartment joinery. The quality and detailing is extraordinarily high. The kitchen units offer a quality most manufacturers could not emulate. In the bedroom, the Poliform wardrobe units lift storage to a fine and rarefied art with customised accessories including tie racks, shoe racks, felt-lined and glass fronted drawers.