Silo 6 Concrete fun

Ongoing

Wynyard Quarter
In Progress
Urban regeneration
Sustainability

Located in the Wynyard Quarter at the western end of Jellicoe Street, next to Silo Marina

Silo 6 is an unconventional, but much-loved, events venue.

While the structure, atmosphere and the events it hosts would make Silo 6 a worthwhile destination anywhere - its position in the heart of the Wynyard Quarter, a precinct with so many attractions, greatly boosts its appeal.

Origin

The name Silo 6 comes from the six tightly packed, 35 metre tall, concrete silos that form its structure. These were built by structural engineers A.G Price in 1961 as storage for cement. See here for more history. Cement was off-loaded from ships and stored in the silos until it was transported away by train to build many of the structures we can still see around Tamaki Makaurau today.

Conversion

Work on the first stage of Silo Park was initiated and overseen by Waterfront Auckland and completed in 2011 as part of a 20-year Wynyard Quarter regeneration plan. This sparked life into 500 metres of new public space along the water’s edge from Karanga Plaza to Silo Park. In 2012, the Auckland waterfront redevelopment won the inaugural World Architecture News - Urban Regeneration Award.

In developing today’s Wynyard Quarter, Waterfront Auckland and Eke Panuku, were true to the theme of retaining features of the precinct’s maritime and industrial history. Once scheduled for demolition, Waterfront Auckland saw the silos’ potential to become a people space that retained elements of “industrial chic” and strongly echoed the precinct’s history.

Instead of erasing the heritage that gave the area its character, Eke Panuku retained key examples of it, including Silo 6, and integrated them into the day to day function of this show-case destination.

The Silos today

Eke Panuku Development Auckland continued to develop the surrounding area to include more people-friendly features, including seating, bike racks, more greenery and native plants, interactive features on the heritage tanks, and the ‘Playline’ bespoke interactive play equipment.

The silos are now a popular exhibition and event space, unique in Aotearoa. They host music, art, community and cultural events.

Look here to see what's on.

Silo 6 is complemented by its neighbour Silo 7, onto which movies are projected for evening outdoor viewing over the summer months.

In 2022, eighty eight year old Ross Johnson, the engineer that oversaw the construction of the silos in 1961, visited them with his family to see their repurposed use. Ross had this to say...

“It’s good for Auckland. It’s good to see people down here playing in the park and enjoying the area… it really is good to see it. The area is providing a lot of service for a lot of people. We came down here to one of the summer events that was on, and it was so good to see the park and this whole area buzzing with life.”

See more about Ross' visit to the silos here.

Bookings enquiries for events at Silo Park can be made through info@audo.co.nz .