Botany Town Centre Garden Lane

In our Garden Lane project at Botany Town Centre, we enclosed an existing outdoor precinct with a stunning ETFE, steel and glulam roof, extending the shopfronts below on either side.

Garden Lane’s key feature, the expansive translucent canopy, is an ETFE ‘skin’ inflated over a diagrid metal structure, supported by massive glulam arches. In addition to being visually striking, ETFE was chosen for its practical and sustainability benefits. Compared to glass, ETFE transmits more light, insulates more effectively, weighs less, and is a more flexible construction material. Its outer surface is self-cleaned by the rain, while the inner surface only needs cleaning once every 5 to 10 years. It is also completely recyclable, easy to repair, and uses using less than 1 percent of the embodied energy of glass to manufacture.

Bringing the ETFE, glulam arches and complex structural steel diagrid together was quite a feat. New technology combined with good old-fashion communication as we encouraged the consultants, suppliers and trade teams to work together on this unique, highly collaborative project. This was particularly evident in the active engagement of every worker in planning the roof installation, with detailed lifting plans, heavy-duty debris netting and trafficable safety nets used to keep everyone safe.

As the roof progressed, we had numerous teams working on the laneway below, extending the shop fronts and reconfiguring the paving, services and drainage. This was all achieved while observing strict noise and dust constraints in the live mall.

The result is a light-filled, airy walkway that offers protection from the Auckland weather all year round without compromising its al fresco feel.