Building history
The now-Parnell Station is the former Newmarket Station building: a wooden shed, built in 1908 for New Zealand Railways by the Ministry of Public Works and is currently owned by the New Zealand Railways Corpration. Sir George Troup (1863–1941) is the building’s architect; it is the largest 'Troup Period' station in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The building was moved into storage when Newmarket Station became a transit hub in 2008–10. The building's exterior was restored, and then rehomed on the Parnell Station platform in 2016–17. Read the full history of the building here.
Parnell Station: a ‘meanwhile’ space?
There is a long history in cities around the world of artists making studio spaces in buildings that would otherwise be unoccupied. With the Parnell Station building rehomed but not in use, the site presented an opportunity for use as a ‘meanwhile’ space for artists.
Auckland Transport (AT) has been investigating opportunities for adaptive reuse of historic railway buildings, including Parnell Station, which are not required operationally by the New Zealand Railways Corporation. Commercial use of Parnell Station is not currently feasible but this will be an option when station area is further developed and receives more foot traffic. As an underutilised building within Auckland’s passenger rail network, the site presented a compelling case for adaptive reuse. Te Tuhi proposed a positive place-making initiative, supporting land use and transport integration, public transport patronage and increasing AT’s public profile.
Auckland Transport has supported this project, and funded the fit out costs to enable the building to be re-purposed as artist studios and a gallery space while protecting the heritage of the building for future restoration. CAF has a licence from AT to occupy the premises. The artist studio project is managed by Te Tuhi Contemporary Art Trust, on behalf of CAF, which is a Council Controlled Organisation with the remit to promote, encourage and support the arts within Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland for the benefit and enjoyment of the local community and the public at large. Fit out costs were kept as low as possible, and recovered from the Contemporary Art Foundation (CAF) over the initial three year licence period. CAF passed the cost on to studio artists – the business model was net zero for CAF and AT. Following the repayment of the fit-out costs, AT reduced the rent, a reduction which CAF has passed on to the studio artists. CAF maintains the operation of the studios on a net zero business model.