New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 33/03C | Page 103

Left:Expressed diagonal beams
running the length of the building
allowed commercial levels above
to have large clear floor plates.
with the inclusion of a public cafe just inside the
main entrance, making the building and enjoyment
of the cars essentially open to anyone.
Jonathan Hewlett, principal at Warren and
Mahoney Architects, says that the challenge in
designing the building was to give it the required
transparency, while accommodating all the func-
tions and facilities it needed to include.
“The car had to be the hero,” says Hewlett. “But
we also had three unique brands in the building,
and each had to have its own identity.”
The solution to these challenges lies in the
design of the building’s structural system.
“The building is braced at the showroom levels
using an expressed diagonal frame, which creates
a line of V-columns running all the way down the
building,” he says.
Setting this bracing line back from the main
facade gave two advantages – the commercial floors
above could have large, clear floor plates, while
the showroom level could protrude out to create a
glazed enclosure for each of the three car brands.
“The effect is like a jewellery box, presenting these
unique cars in a way that’s befitting their status.”
The other major challenge was allowing cars to
move through the building. Customers drive their
vehicles in from the main street frontage through
to the back of the showrooms. From here there are
ramps down to the service floors or up to the first
floor showroom for pre-owned vehicles.
“These cars have very low ground clearance and,
given the site’s length, the ramps had to be quite
steep,” says Hewlett. “Computer-simulated modelling
using specifications across the range of models pro-
duced a sine-wave shape for the ramps that allows
cars to be driven up or down without concern.”
The Giltrap Group building is on track to achieve
a 5 Green Star Design rating, and is the first New
Zealand building of its type to target this. Giltrap
worked closely with the New Zealand Green Building
Council to a develop a custom tool tailored to the
mix of uses within the project, and will also be
rating the building’s as-built performance through
NABERSNZ certification.
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