SH1 Northern Gateway · Case study (1)
Hillcrest Road “Pukeko” Bridge
One of the studio’s most recognised bridge commissions: a compact structure on the Orewa–Puhoi motorway corridor that collected a rare sweep of NZIA honours — regional, national, and a dedicated award for colour — and a jury citation that calls it unequivocally a signature piece.
- NZIA Auckland Architecture Award
- NZIA New Zealand Architecture Award
- NZIA Colour Award
Brief and idea
The bridge forms part of the Northern Gateway works on State Highway 1. Structurally it began as an in situ concrete box beam on sacrificial bored piles, later resolved with permanent steel inclined piers — a legible piece of engineering adapted as the permanent architecture emerged. The nickname references the saturated red of those inclined supports: a landscape bird everyone in Aotearoa knows, and a readable hook for what might otherwise read only as “infrastructure.”
The deck carries a deliberate relationship to the ground that was there before the road cut through: the line holds a gentle curve that remembers the former landform, so the crossing reads as continuity as much as connection.
Recognition
“This project demonstrates the benefits of a close, collaborative relationship between architect and engineer. Full advantage has been taken of the topography and the memory of the original ground line is cleverly preserved in the bridge’s gentle curve. Its form is lyrical, elegant and memorable. It is, quite simply, a signature structure.”
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Regional
NZIA Auckland Architecture Award
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National
NZIA New Zealand Architecture Award
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Colour
NZIA Colour Award