The Westfield Newmarket retail and lifestyle centre in Auckland, New Zealand, has been redeveloped and refurbished to provide a world-class retail experience for visitors.
The multi-phase redevelopment project involved an investment of NZ$790m ($570m), of which Scentre Group, the developer, contributed NZ$400m ($288m).
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GIC, an investment fund based in Singapore, acquired a 49% interest in the shopping centre under a joint venture (JV) agreement with Scentre in 2014.
The refurbishment works began in February 2018 and the shopping mall was completed and opened in November 2019. New luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Moncler, Balenciaga, Golden Goose and Mulberry pened stores at the mall in 2021.
The redeveloped and extended mall is one of the biggest retail malls in Newmarket, with a gross leasable area of 86,866m² (93,5018ft²). It serves a population of 500,000 residents.
Westfield Newmarket location
The Westfield Newmarket shopping mall is spread across two sites at 277 and 309 Broadway, covering a total area of 4.5 hectares (ha), at Broadway in the Newmarket town of Auckland.
Neighbouring areas include Mortimer Pass, Broadway, Clovernook, Gillies and Morrow Street.
The site is located approximately 4km from the Auckland Central Business District, a major retail area.
Westfield Newmarket shopping centre design details
The existing shopping mall at the 277 Broadway site has been transformed to accommodate a new mall. Another shopping block was built at the 309 Broadway site. The two buildings are connected by a 12m-high, two-level glass airbridge built on Mortimer Pass.
The main building consists of five floors, each level with a floor area of 11,500m² (123,785ft²). The first three levels are dedicated to shops while the fourth floor features a cinema complex, a gymnasium and a car park.
The structure of the building consists of steel frame with lightweight concrete floors supported on steel beams and columns.
The foundation of the buildings is made up of reinforced concrete piles inserted into the rock strata. The roof is made up of lightweight steel.
The shopping mall has a seven-level multi-storey car park building, with 3,110 parking spaces along Gillies Avenue/Mortimer Pass and Gillies Avenue/Morrow Street. The car park building has two facades featuring 9,320 diamond-shaped aluminium panels, supported by 105t of steel.
The shopping centre also has an underground car park.
Retail and entertainment facilities at Westfield Newmarket
Westfield Newmarket houses 220 new speciality stores across five levels. The retail stores include local and international designers, along with the latest and well-known brands from New Zealand and Australia.
Auckland’s first David Jones department store occupies 7,000m² (75,347.37ft²) at 277 Broadway across the ground and first levels, with several brands, interactive trial rooms, a beauty room, two personal shopping suites and a designer accessories area.
The Farmers Trading department store covers 10,000m² (107,639ft²) at 309 Broadway across two levels. New Zealand’s first Coco Republic Auckland boutique, featuring a L’Americano espresso bar, occupies 1,000m² (10,763.91ft²).
Other retailers include Countdown supermarket, Rebel Sport, Torpedo 7, Kathmandu and Noel Leeming. The Countdown Supermarket comprises speciality stores such as fresh produce, cafes and gift shops.
The mall features a dining and entertainment precinct on the rooftop called “Rooftop on Broadway”, which houses New Zealand’s best food and beverage facilities including White+Wong’s, Sardine Cocktail Bar, Something & Social, Bird On A Wire and Tai Ping.
The rooftop precinct also integrates Westfield Newmarket’s event cinemas complex with V-max and gold-class options for cinema-goers.
Sustainable features
Rainwater harvesting was initiated at Westfield Newmarket in November 2022 by installing five 15,000l rainwater harvesting tanks that can collect up to 75,000l of rainwater.
The collected water is used to maintain the sky pool, rooftop gardens and green walls sustainably while minimising the environmental impact. Some of the harvested rainwater is also planned to be used as flushing water in the amenity blocks.
Contractors involved
Contract Landscapes, a specialised civil contractor, was contracted for the enabling works. Gleeson & Cox, a civil construction company, was employed as the main civil contractor for the shopping centre.
Grouting Services, a grouting services specialist, undertook geotechnical works. DHC Consulting, a design consultancy, was contracted for consultation services.
Chillex Group, a heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) services provider, delivered mechanical works for the HVAC systems of the building. The office fit-outs were carried out by construction company Total Property Worx, and the carpentry and interior works were assigned to Ever Construction.
The contract for underground services was awarded to Underground Service Locators, a specialist service locating business. JJS FloorSpec, a commercial flooring specialist, carried out the floor works and Armourguard was responsible for providing security services for the mall.
Clearwater Construction, a design and structural solutions provider based in New Zealand, acted as the structural contractor for the project. It provided the construction and supervision of all foundations, structural steel frames and floors.
Forté Civil, a civil construction company, was selected for the installation of critical infrastructure on three water networks including stormwater, wastewater and water mains.
JFC, an infrastructure and civil construction company, was responsible for civil works, earthworks and streetscaping works surrounding the shopping mall site.
BVT Consulting, an engineering consultancy based in New Zealand, provided coordinated seismic design for the entire mall. The contractual scope included design and construction monitoring for ceilings, shopfronts, partitions, and suspended equipment, as well as wayfinding signs.
Fabritecture, a specialist tensile fabric structures contractor, was responsible for the design and build of two architectural facades for the multistorey car park.
Sculptform, an Australian supplier of modular wall and ceiling systems, supplied wood finish aluminium and click-on battens for the project.
JPRO, a New Zealand-based professional audio and video solutions provider, received a contract to supply the design and equipment for a multi-zone audio system for the project.
Oceanic Communications, a communications systems and equipment provider, was engaged to install the audio system.
Cosentino, a Spanish supplier of surfaces, was selected to provide the Dekton Danae slabs for the ventilated facade of the redeveloped mall. The facade systems were installed by Eurotherm Facades NZ.
Asphaltech Waterproofing, a waterproofing solutions company, provided the waterproofing solution for the podium.
Street Furniture NZ, an indoor and outdoor furniture provider, supplied the street furniture including bench seats, bins, balustrade panels and cycle racks for the shopping mall.
Boffa Miskell, an environmental planning and design consultancy, was contracted to provide landscape architecture and design a rooftop play area for children.
Prima, a decorating and painting services provider, Ombrae Studios, a design firm, Metal Concepts, a specialist metal design and fabrication company, and Nola Electrical, an electrical contracting company, are some of the other contractors involved in the project.
