The Auckland Ferry Terminal, also called the Downtown Ferry Terminal, is the hub of the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

ferry network, which connects the

Auckland CBD The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland, Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson on land gifted ...

with suburbs in North Shore, West Auckland, and

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

, and islands in the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Auckland waterfront The Auckland waterfront (rarely the Auckland harbourfront) is a city-side stretch of the southern Waitematā Harbour coastline in Auckland, New Zealand. Previously mostly dominated by Ports of Auckland uses, from the 2000s on it is becoming i ...

, at the north end of Queen Street, across

Quay Street Quay Street is a street in Manchester city centre in Greater Manchester, England. The street, designated the A34, continues Peter Street westwards towards the River Irwell and Salford. It is the northern boundary of Spinningfields, the cit ...

from the Waitematā railway station, which is the hub for local buses and trains. The ferry terminal is composed of two main elements, a yellow Edwardian Baroque building facing Queen Street and the CBD, and newer wharves and a waiting area building (the actual ferry terminal of today) facing the

Waitematā Harbour The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...

Facilities

Edwardian building

By the early 20th century, the Auckland Harbour Board recognised the need for a dedicated ferry building in Auckland. Original plans were for a five-storey structure, but after public outrage at the height, a design of four storeys and a clock tower was proposed. The plan was similar to that of the

San Francisco Ferry Building The San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal station, terminal for ferry, ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay, a food hall and an office building. It is located on Embarcadero (San Francisco), The Embarcadero in San Francisco, Ca ...

. The building was designed by Alex Wiseman, and erected by Philcox and Sons. It was completed in 1912, of sandstone and brick with a base of Coromandel granite, on

reclaimed land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...

. It cost £67,944, a large sum for the day,The Auckland Ferry Building
(from the 'roadworks.co.nz' Queen Street website. Retrieved 2007-12-05.) equivalent to NZ$10.9 million in 2016. The ferry building was the major departure point for people travelling to the North Shore until 1959, when the

Auckland Harbour Bridge The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins Saint Marys Bay, New Zealand, St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote, Auckland, Northcote on the North Shore, ...

was opened. A new ferry building was built next to it in 1982 and a report released that year said that extensive renovations were needed to bring the Edwardian building up to earthquake and fire code standards. The Harbour Board were divided over whether to keep the building, but following strong public opinion decided to renovate it. It has had a Category I classification with the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage bui ...

(now Heritage New Zealand) since 1982. It was extensively restored from 1986 and reopened by the Governor General on 5 November 1988. It now contains shops and cafes on the lower level, with most ferry operations moved to the new building.

Major remedial work

Between 2009 and 2010,

Auckland Regional Transport Authority The Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) was the central co-ordinating agency for transport (especially but not only public transport) in the Auckland Region of New Zealand from 2004 to 2010. In this role, ARTA provided public transport s ...

carried out major remedial work on the wharf structure, which had not had such work done since construction. The initial works found some parts of the structure in worse shape than expected, as saltwater had slowly infiltrated the reinforced concrete. Initial urgent works were expected to finish in 2009.

Ferry terminal redevelopment

Auckland Transport invested $42 million creating six new ferry berths with charging infrastructure for electric ferries. The more contemporary ferry piers and waiting area were constructed mostly as an open-sided structure with a curved seagull/sail-roof, which together with ornamental "smokestack" turrets is designed to evoke ships berthed behind the original building. It also needed to be of a low profile to retain building views, and was designed by architect

Murray Day Murray Charles Day (25 July 1931 – 18 March 2022) was a New Zealand sports administrator. He served as president of the New Zealand Squash Rackets Association, the Oceania Squash Federation, and the International Squash Rackets Federation ...

to be easily maintainable and expandable.Well connected
(from Commercial Design Trends Volume 2114, 'Trends' magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-05.)

References

External links

Photographs of the Auckland Ferry Terminal
held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections. {{coord, -36.843, 174.767, type:landmark_region:NZ, display=title Buildings and structures in Auckland

Ferry Terminal A passenger terminal is a structure in a port which services passengers boarding and leaving water vessels such as ferry, ferries, cruise ships and ocean liners. Depending on the types of vessels serviced by the terminal, it may be named (for e ...

Public transport in Auckland Transport infrastructure completed in 1912 Ferry terminals 1912 establishments in New Zealand 1910s architecture in New Zealand Transport buildings and structures in the Auckland Region Auckland CBD Auckland waterfront Waitematā Harbour