St Paul Street Tactical Urbanism Initiative (TUI)

Tactical Urbanism is a people-centred approach to improving our city, achieving change on the street quickly, cost-effectively and creatively. 

Looking down St Paul street in downtown Auckland, there are cylindrical concrete planters with native plants like Renga Renga and pōkākā, alongside large wooden planters with Pohutukawa on new pavement where the road used to be. The AUT visual arts building is in the background.

Looking up St Paul street at the various planter boxes.

Project Background

Phase 1 (2018)

AUT approached Auckland Council concerned with traffic volumes, speeds and student safety on the street. Council’s Auckland Design Office responded with a tactical urbanism solution, removing a strip of parking and creating a ‘parklet’ – populating it with seating, plants, bike racks and trees. This effectively reclaimed a part of the street for people. 

To slow traffic and improve pedestrian movement and connections, polka dots were added at the Governor Fitzroy Place intersection and at an informal crossing point further east. These have been used effectively in a few projects in the city centre as a non-conventional, traffic-calming mechanism. They have the added benefit of introducing an element of playfulness and colour to the street.  

This trial phase was quick to install, using low-cost, robust materials.  

 

Phase 2 (2024)

The second phase of the project seeks to further improve the street, making it better and safer for the people using it.

This recently completed phase is the result of a design collaboration between Auckland Council (Tāmaki Makaurau Design Ope) and AUT. As part of their coursework, three students from the Masters of Spatial Design course spent six weeks producing a concept design to replace Phase 1 which had come to the end of its lifespan. 

Students took the learnings from the earlier trial phase, built on them through a detailed site analysis and combined them with higher quality materials to provide a longer-term solution. Their concept was inspired by land features around the site, namely the Rangipuke ridgeline and the Waihorotiu stream, and had an emphasis on concrete which was the focus material of their course.

Concrete benches rise and fall along the length of the site in wave-like forms with a depiction of the Rangipuke ridgeline on their vertical face. A playful pipeline wanders through the site inspired by the flow and pooling of waters of the Waihorotiu.

Since the beginning of Phase 1 AUT has maintained all the planting on-site.

A diverse group of five people sit on the concrete seating amongst the planter boxes and bike racks at St Paul street in downtown Auckland. The trees are hemmed by native climbing plants.

People enjoy the new public space in the Tactical Urbanism Initiative (TUI) on St Paul street.

Looking close up at the wooden slats inset in a concrete bench at Paul street in downtown Auckland. The background is a blurry streetscape.

Different textures and materials for seating for the Tactical Urbanism Initiative (TUI) on St Paul street.

"Working on a live, quick-response project in collaboration with Auckland Council was a great way to ground our research students' practice-based inquiries,"
Dr Carl Douglas, Head of Department at AUT University.

“Taking part in the St Paul Street project has been an invaluable experience for me. The project provided opportunities to collaborate with various real-life professionals, and as one of the main users of St Paul Street, I enjoyed contributing to the street’s vision to become a more pedestrian-friendly place,”
AUT student Emma Choi

Project / Urban Design Lead | Claire Davis (TMDO)

Project Manager | Ravi Chandrappa (Parks & Community Facilities)

Project Funding & Placemaking Support | City Centre Experience Team 

Project Partners | Leah van Wyk, Emma Choi & Jessica Juno, Master of Spatial Design Students, AUT. Dr Sue Gallagher, Director of Post Graduate, School of Art & Design, AUT. Dr Carl Douglas, Head of Dept, Spatial, Fashion & Industrial Design, AUT. Auckland Transport (AT)

Contractor | JFC Ltd

Suppliers | Jagas Paving & Precast / Streetscape / Metalcraft Engineering

Read more about it on OurAuckland