The stations serving K’ Rd were by far my favourite of the three train station openings that I attended over the last three weeks. What made them particularly exciting were the curved walls, for leaning against, that continued to wrap commuters with curved ceilings as one tunnel intersected with the next. These stations were designed through a collaboration between Grimshaw, Jasmax and WSP Architecture working alongside mana whenua, who also provided the indigenous artworks.
The first problem of Mercury Lane being too steep for mobility access to the infamous Karangahape Road was solved by removing the old public convenience from Beresford Square for access landing at the ridge in K’ Rd.
During the construction, K’ Rd was plagued with a problem of the lack of public toilets and those provided were unfit for public use. The public then took to urinating in shop doorways after hours. Now that the station is opening on 13 September, those lavatory problems should be in the past but the inconvenient truth is that the toilet in Mercury Lane, that 250 business owners and managers objected to in a petition to Auckland Transport and Waitemata Local Board, may have to stay.
There was a wee problem on the open day of the K’ Rd stations. The crowds were fewer than are expected when the stations are fully operational and open. “Auckland's City Rail Link (CRL) opens on 13 September, 2026, and is projected to handle up to 54,000 passengers an hour at peak times by 2035. From day one, the underground network will eliminate train reversals at Newmarket, dramatically cutting travel times and doubling overall rail capacity.” One News
But there are only six toilets at the K’ Rd station. One of those is wheelchair accessible. The others are single stall and open to male and female users. So there was a queue to use a loo on the open day. Surely, that will be even bigger during rush hour. “The new Karanga-a-Hape Station on Karangahape Road at peak capacity inside the station is designed to accommodate about 1400 people per hour through its Beresford Square and Mercury Lane entrances.” Auckland’s Council Projects.
The Wellesley Street end of the city station has six single stall toilets open to both sexes and one that is wheelchair accessible and a ‘men’s’. This is missing the ‘urinal’ sign, so that they don’t take up those much needed stalls for women. When will designers learn that more toilets are needed for women with less convenient plumbing?
BUT at the Victoria Street end of the platform, this becomes a huge design flaw by not having any toilets at all.
Someone who did ‘give a crap’ foresaw that as a problem, so for open day provided three prestigious port-a-loos. However, there will need to be a more convenient
solution for train passengers.
