Five-star luxury hotel opens on Auckland’s revamped waterfront

The InterContinental Auckland has opened in New Zealand’s biggest city, putting a flourish on the reinvention of Auckland’s waterfront.

The opening of the five-star in the area is a true watershed. It was little more than 25 years ago that the entire area was industrial and closed off to the public, meaning little access to the stunning Waitemata Harbour from the city.

Under the auspices of Eke Panuku Development Auckland, the major landowner, plans to develop the coastal asset in an environmentally sustainable and design-led way began in the west with the Viaduct Harbour mixed-use urban area, with facilities for the 2000 and 2003 America’s Cup challenges. The still evolving Wynyard Quarter precincts went next, in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, while in the east, Britomart rose, regenerating into a fashion and cultural hub with three fabulous hotels of its own, the So Auckland, Movenpick Auckland and The Hotel Britomart.

In 2020 the Commercial Bay retail and hospitality area opened, connecting the east and west – almost.

It took the recent completion of One Queen Street by Precinct Properties to provide an uninterrupted connection along the Auckland waterfront.

And One Queen Street’s crowning glory is the InterContinental Auckland.

Trans-Tasman NZ-based architectural practice Warren & Mahoney (founded by Sir Miles Warren) designed the overall Commercial Bay concept and created the hotel. Interiors were designed in collaboration with New York-based design firm AvroKO.