SITUATED AT TE UPOKO-O-TE-IKA-A-MĀUI, the city of Wellington is literally the eye in the head of that great fish. Wellington’s curved pedestrian promenade around the edge of the harbour has long been the envy of other cities, making walking or cycling the quickest route from A to B. Laid out in a croissant shape, with Te Papa at the junction between city and Te Aro, Tākina will now take its place next to the national museum as another sparkling dollop of jam on that tasty lunchtime pathway.
Tākina has had a long and protracted genesis. Ever since Te Papa arrived at its present location, it has effectively been cut off by an urban motorway. The site opposite the museum offered the chance of linking back to the party zone of the city. Numerous architecture student projects were sited there over the years, all to no avail. Real life intervened. One developer was keen to create a hotel on the site, although looking out onto the backside of
