Volvo Event in Auckland's Waterfront without Fuss

This montage of pictures was taken at lunchtime on 1st March 2018. It shows the way the round-the-world Volvo yacht race is being hosted in Auckland's waterfront over period of about 4 weeks using pop-up buildings and facilities - all of which contribute to this being a very visual, exciting and attractive event.



Here is what you see on the way from Quay Street. Lots of hospitality, including an elegant two-storied structure - The Peroni restaurant...



Then from the bridge you can see all of the Volvo boats lifted out of the water and stored along the side of the Marine Event Centre...



But it's what's happening on the Halsey Wharf extension (which - remember - was built to host some of the syndicates for the 2003 America's Cup event) that's most interesting. First of all is this grand Volvo Exhibition Centre. This is about 3 stories high. Substantial. This contains a number of rooms with all sorts of interactive displays and significant promotion of Volvo innovation and manufacturing...



And each syndicate has a building and exhibition space along the North edge of Halsey Wharf. These are about two stories high. One of the images shows the construction methodology for these. They are compositions of containers and similar inter-locking shapes.



Back along the edge of the Marine Event Centre, we can see the Event Centre (Boatyard) itself is part of the event. Lots to see, lots to do, and all only there for about a month - about equal to the duration of the America's Cup regatta itself (excluding the Louis Vuitton regatta - and not including all of the practice and buildup activities.)



The Volvo event is a great showcase for Auckland's waterfront, and a case study of the kind of structures that can be put up temporarily for a yachting event of scale and significance. 



It did make me wonder about the wisdom of having more of a workshop setting for the syndicates in the buildup and testing stages of the event prior to the actual finale (America's Cup regatta period), with a popup stage closer to city centre - like Volvo has done - which would only be in place for a short time. Too much duplication maybe?

But the learning point is a demonstration of what can be built for a single event, using temporarily the legacy event space that already exists at the end of Halsey Wharf, without permanently changing the existing legacy of the whole Auckland waterfront.