Mānawa Bay Premium Outlet Centre

Mānawa Bay Premium Outlet Centre was developed embracing Auckland Airport's desire for meaningful sustainability.

The dynamic retail and food destination is Aotearoa’s first 5 Green Star Design rated shopping centre.

Essentials

Name: Mānawa Bay

What: A stand-alone fashion-led outlet shopping centre comprising 117 retail tenancies of which 15 are food and beverage tenancies

Details: 35,000m² building; 24,000m² of retail space; 1400 car parks; north east of airport precinct; greenfield site; $200 million + project

Definition: Mānawa is one of the Te Reo words for mangroves – a coastal species featured in local waterways

Daily workforce occupancy: up to 500 staff

Address: 4 Jimmy Ward Crescent, Auckland Airport, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Four-minute drive from Auckland Airport terminals

Project Snapshot

Owner: Auckland International Airport Limited

Architect: TRCB Architects (Perth) with local subconsultant Eclipse Architecture.

Project GSAP: Manoj Kumar & Cameron Spence of RDT Pacific 

Project manager: RDT Pacific

Main contractor: Savory Construction

Project timeline: Earthworks March 2022; construction September 2022; completion, occupancy, opening September 2024

Project certification: 5 Green Star Design & As Built NZv1.0 design review rating (July 2024)

Mānawa Bay has pushed the boundaries for aesthetics and authenticity exhibiting features not usually present at generic big box retail offerings.

Referencing the airport and the Manukau Harbour shoreline as an early site for Māori settlement – the shopping centre’s design and structures speak of arrival, flight and movement.

Design elements include a figure-eight internal retail layout, indoor unobstructed views, multiple skylights, a textured façade with prominent and inviting entry points, a dining terrace merging interior and exterior environments, a palette of warm textures and integrated pause pods for shoppers.

Raymond Chung of Eclipse Architecture, says the project aimed to connect the built form with its surroundings, “blending visually and physically with the park-like grounds and coastal shoreline landscape.”

He says key sustainability considerations for the project were:

• Onsite power generation – one of the largest rooftop solar arrays in the country set to produce 2.3 mega watts per annum.

• Implementing rainwater harvesting to reduce water demand

• Developing an intensive planting scheme with over 90,000 planted trees, grasses and shrubs during the project. Replacing weeds, invasive species and plants removed through construction.

• integrating sustainable transport solutions including end of trip facilities, e-bike storage and recharge stations

Placing sustainability at the forefront of decision making of Mānawa Bay has been paramount for Auckland Airport.

AIAL project delivery manager, Ben Woodward, says the company “has been partnering with Green Star for a number of years with our portfolio targeting Green Star ratings as a well-known industry benchmark.”

He says the 5 Green Star design rating for Mānawa Bay speaks volumes.

 “It shows everyone that the design and build of this project was held to strict sustainability criteria and principles. We wanted to create a new benchmark for developments like this in New Zealand, with sustainability at its core.”

Green Star in action at Mānawa Bay:

• provided the design team with a raft of well-recognised principles for inclusion and application

• delivered an LCA calculation for the concept design – highlighting areas of the build where carbon could be reduced – encouraging the use of solar power, driving product selection and steering the project to adopt a zero gas policy in the eateries – making this the first shopping centre food court in NZ to run on electricity only

• tenants were made aware of sustainability targets during leasing – many mirrored their own targets

• a number of tenants preferred developments with sustainable principles as they felt this was becoming more important to the consumers.

• the term ‘meaningful sustainability’ was coined during the project – it helped direct the team on what points to chase and how decisions were made.

• Over 90% of waste produced during the project was diverted from landfill by sorting on site and partnering with waste management companies.

Ben believes Mānawa Bay will help elevate sustainable retail offerings in Aotearoa’s retail sector.

“The market is becoming more aware of sustainability and the need for better quality indoor environments. People prefer retail centres which offer a more desirable shopping experience and this mirrors sustainable initiatives.”

His advice for other developers considering Green Star is:

• engage a specialist early

• identify what sustainability means to you and your business to help you target desirable outcomes

• embed sustainability into your project from the get-go

• make all decisions with sustainability and Green Star in mind

Project GSAP, Manoj Kumar, says Mānawa Bay’s carbon reductions across its lifecycle places is at the forefront of sustainable retail design.

“By creating a space which balances environmental responsibility with functionality and comfort, it prioritises the well-being of its occupants and the planet and sets a new benchmark for the retail and food industry in Aotearoa.”

He says Mānawa Bay’s zero gas policy is forward-thinking.

“It’s an impactful approach to sustainability and sets a powerful precedent for future commercial projects.”

The food court’s fully electric design is expected to provide up to 37% energy savings compared to a traditional food and beverage precinct, operating with gas. This paired with power generation from the roof reduces the demand for power on the network.

The NZGBC is part of the Global Cooksafe Coalition – pushing for safe, affordable, fossil fuel-free cooking.

Savory Construction project director, Craig Taylor, says ensuring the team and subcontractors understood the targets embedded in Green Star was vital to delivering an exceptional result.

“The positive impacts really kicked in when everyone understood they were contributing to the environment by managing processes on site.”

“Construction is a messy business with a poor track record when it comes to disrupting the environment. Constructors need to be more focused on product selection, methodology and waste. To build with the environment in mind and tread lightly – Mānawa Bay shows us how.”

Green features include:

• a substantial solar array(2.3MW rooftop PV ) across entire rooftop; energy consumption predicted to be 48 percent lower than a standard building

• fully electric development – zero gas policy

• 95 percent improvement in GHG emissions compared to a standard building

• rainwater harvesting; efficient fixtures; large 17,000 square metre roof catchment area; 240kL storage; predicted to meet 73 percent of water demand; predicted to reduce internal water use by 81 percent compared to a standard building

• low carbon material selection; use of low carbon concrete; lower embodied carbon footprint for project

• drought-tolerant landscaping; minimising the need for irrigation

• sustainable transport solutions; EOT facilities, e-bike storage; recharge stations for customers to be completed; near by public transport connectivity (about a 10 minute walk), new EV Mānawa Bay bus Shuttle to and from the airport terminals.