Karakia and blessing for new SeaLink Terminal
This week, the client and project team for the new SeaLink Terminal gathered on a misty winter morning for a dawn karakia service and blessing led by members of local iwi Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.
Design of the new terminal for SeaLink Ferry Services began in 2021. Following a site blessing in April 2023 and an efficient construction period, the terminal is nearly operational.
SeaLink runs a vehicle, passenger and freight ferry service on Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf and has played an important part in the maritime story for Wynyard Quarter. They are an integral connection between Auckland City and the surrounding Gulf Islands, including Waiheke and Great Barrier Island.
In preparation for the 36th America’s Cup, SeaLink relocated from Wynyard Wharf to the Hamer Street site on the western edge of Wynyard Point, repurposing a disused boatyard.
The project embodies contextual maritime references and Māori narratives. The terminal’s textured concrete facade on the ground floor resembles a concrete block sea wall. The upper floors are shrouded in a folded metal screen inspired by seawall sheet piling. A pattern imbues the contextually informed design; Maaka Potini, Artist, Ngāti Tamaoho explains: “The pattern itself is called Unaunahi, scales of the fish, within this design it represents the tides. In images the design is the incoming tides, while the untouched screen is that of the outgoing tides.”
