Corner of the square

I like the idea (announced this morning) of developing the Illott lawn adjacent to Wellington's Civic Sqaure into a music school for Victoria and Massey Universties. A building on that site would effectively 'complete the loop' of buildings around the square, and provide a more enclosed space, and hopefully the bulding will act as a counterpoint to the Michael Fowler Centre - I don`t mean this in a bad way. If music students are anything like architecture/design students in their work/sleep habits, then the activity generated from the music school will add a bit more life into the square in times when its normally quiet. Arguably it will be a safer space with students milling about, too.

I've no doubt the self-proclaimed waterfront watch will be making a fuss, but they really do miss the point sometimes. The Illott lawn, while a pleasant area of grass in the city, was never that well utilised, especially compared to Civic Square. In a busy, sunny weekday lunchhour, the square will be packed full of people enjoying the spectacle and the promenade, basking in the sun, and relishing being that little bit more sheltered from the pervasive breeze. Illott lawn was just a little too exposed to noisy Jervois Quay and a little too removed from the primary pedestrian routes to ever be a comfortable, successful urban green space.
Really, there was never a great deal of a vantage, let alone 'The View' from the lawn anyway, which is what waterfront watch seemed to be most concerned about. If one wants to look north across the habour to the Tararuas, which would have been spectacular on a day like today, then one can easily go up the steps to the City-to-Sea bridge.

The only variable now is: will there be a piece of quality architecture built on the site?