Karangahape Road
Encyclopedia
Karangahape Road is one of the main streets in the central business district (CBD) of Auckland
, New Zealand
. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area - and subsequent flight of residents and retail into the suburbs - turned it from one of Auckland's premier shopping streets into a run-down red light district
from the 1960s onwards. Now considered to be one of the cultural centres of Auckland, since the 1980s-1990s it has been undergoing a slow process of gentrification
, and is now known for cafes and boutique shops.
It runs mostly west–east along a ridge at the southern edge of the Auckland CBD
, perpendicular to Queen Street
, the city's main street. At its intersection with Ponsonby Road
in the west, Karangahape Road becomes Great North Road
, at its eastern end it connects to Grafton Bridge
.
. The original meaning and origin of the word as a street name is uncertain, but there are many interpretations - ranging from "winding ridge of human activity" to "calling on Hape". Hape was the name of a Māori chief of some importance living over on the Manukau Harbour
, thus the name possibly indicates the route that was taken to visit him.
, which was only developed by Europeans in the 1840s. Māori sold the land for Karangahape Road and Pitt Street in 1841. The Karangahape ridge was the formal southern edge of Auckland in the 19th century.
From about 1900 to the early 1960s K' Road was Auckland's busiest shopping street with many clothing shops large and small along with several department store
s. Most retail chain stores had branches here, often in preference to Queen Street. During the interwar period most of Auckland's main shops selling furniture, musical instruments, radios and household appliances were located here. It had the first traffic lights in Auckland (and the first lights to have pedestrian phases), and the first fluorescent street lights.
After 1965 K' Road lost most of its local customer base when construction of the inner-city motorway system resulted in over 50,000 people having to move out of the surrounding areas. The downturn in trade led to many shops closing and the relocating of businesses to other areas of Auckland. This accelerated the decline, and by the early 1970s the low rents meant it had acquired a rather seedy reputation as Auckland's red-light district
. Since the early 1990s there has been a move away from this image due to newly constructed apartment blocks attracting residents back to the area, as well as a general gentrification of close-by areas like Ponsonby
. Nowadays only very few enterprises are connected with the adult industry.
Alongside the few remaining shops and venues catering to the sex trade, K Road currently boasts an eclectic collection of shops, cafés and art galleries. At night its restaurants, bars and nightclubs make it a major part of Auckland's social scene. K Road has become a centre for much of Auckland's bohemian
scene, with many venues for alternative music and fringe art as well as the LGBT
community. It is also known for its trendy op shops.
The street received a major upgrade of its footpaths and street furniture which finished in 2006, at a cost of NZ$3.5 million. As of 2009, approximately 400 businesses are on K Road.
and Boosh.FM) and New Zealand's only television arts channel. It was also the home of now defunct independent television station Alt TV
.
The Moving Image Centre, also known as MIC Toi Rerehiko, is a multidisciplinary cultural institution exhibiting international and New Zealand artists, via "contemporary film, video, digital media, installation, music and live performance". Funded by business and public sponsorship, it has an art gallery at 321 Karangahape Road.
The Auckland office and the reference library of the New Zealand Film Archive
is located in 300 Karangahape Road, where the institute also has exhibition space.
" by New Zealand rock band Elemeno P
, from their album Love & Disrespect
, refers to the cafe/restaurant/bar of the same name at 169 Karangahape Road. The current Verona building dates from 1923 and gets its name from the Victorian house that previously occupied the site, Mrs Bishop's "Verona" Boarding House.
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area - and subsequent flight of residents and retail into the suburbs - turned it from one of Auckland's premier shopping streets into a run-down red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
from the 1960s onwards. Now considered to be one of the cultural centres of Auckland, since the 1980s-1990s it has been undergoing a slow process of gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
, and is now known for cafes and boutique shops.
It runs mostly west–east along a ridge at the southern edge of the Auckland CBD
Auckland CBD
The Auckland CBD is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. Bounded by several major motorways and by the harbour coastline in the north, it is surrounded further out by mostly suburban areas...
, perpendicular to Queen Street
Queen Street, Auckland
Queen Street is the major commercial thoroughfare in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand's main population centre. It starts at Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront, adjacent to the Britomart Transport Centre and the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and runs uphill for almost three kilometres in a...
, the city's main street. At its intersection with Ponsonby Road
Ponsonby, New Zealand
Ponsonby is an inner-city suburb of Auckland City located 2 km west of the Auckland CBD, in the North Island of New Zealand. The suburb is oriented along a ridge running north-south, which is followed by the main street of the suburb, Ponsonby Road....
in the west, Karangahape Road becomes Great North Road
Great North Road (New Zealand)
Great North Road is a major thoroughfare in Auckland, on the North Island of New Zealand. It runs from the fringe of the Auckland CBD to west Auckland. The road is the second longest in Auckland, after its counterpart, Great South Road...
, at its eastern end it connects to Grafton Bridge
Grafton Bridge
Grafton Bridge is a road bridge spanning Grafton Gully in Auckland City, New Zealand. Built of reinforced concrete in 1910, it connects the Auckland CBD with the Grafton suburb...
.
Etymology
The name stems from the Māori languageMaori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
. The original meaning and origin of the word as a street name is uncertain, but there are many interpretations - ranging from "winding ridge of human activity" to "calling on Hape". Hape was the name of a Māori chief of some importance living over on the Manukau Harbour
Manukau Harbour
Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and is an arm of the Tasman Sea.-Geography:...
, thus the name possibly indicates the route that was taken to visit him.
History
As it was a travel route used by the pre-European Māori, Karangahape Road is an older thoroughfare than Queen StreetQueen Street, Auckland
Queen Street is the major commercial thoroughfare in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand's main population centre. It starts at Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront, adjacent to the Britomart Transport Centre and the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and runs uphill for almost three kilometres in a...
, which was only developed by Europeans in the 1840s. Māori sold the land for Karangahape Road and Pitt Street in 1841. The Karangahape ridge was the formal southern edge of Auckland in the 19th century.
From about 1900 to the early 1960s K' Road was Auckland's busiest shopping street with many clothing shops large and small along with several department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s. Most retail chain stores had branches here, often in preference to Queen Street. During the interwar period most of Auckland's main shops selling furniture, musical instruments, radios and household appliances were located here. It had the first traffic lights in Auckland (and the first lights to have pedestrian phases), and the first fluorescent street lights.
After 1965 K' Road lost most of its local customer base when construction of the inner-city motorway system resulted in over 50,000 people having to move out of the surrounding areas. The downturn in trade led to many shops closing and the relocating of businesses to other areas of Auckland. This accelerated the decline, and by the early 1970s the low rents meant it had acquired a rather seedy reputation as Auckland's red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
. Since the early 1990s there has been a move away from this image due to newly constructed apartment blocks attracting residents back to the area, as well as a general gentrification of close-by areas like Ponsonby
Ponsonby, New Zealand
Ponsonby is an inner-city suburb of Auckland City located 2 km west of the Auckland CBD, in the North Island of New Zealand. The suburb is oriented along a ridge running north-south, which is followed by the main street of the suburb, Ponsonby Road....
. Nowadays only very few enterprises are connected with the adult industry.
Alongside the few remaining shops and venues catering to the sex trade, K Road currently boasts an eclectic collection of shops, cafés and art galleries. At night its restaurants, bars and nightclubs make it a major part of Auckland's social scene. K Road has become a centre for much of Auckland's bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
scene, with many venues for alternative music and fringe art as well as the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community. It is also known for its trendy op shops.
The street received a major upgrade of its footpaths and street furniture which finished in 2006, at a cost of NZ$3.5 million. As of 2009, approximately 400 businesses are on K Road.
Heritage
Popular guided heritage walks are conducted on Karangahape Road. Notable buildings and sites include:- Baptist TabernacleAuckland Baptist TabernacleThe Auckland Baptist Tabernacle is a heritage-listed church located near the corner of Queen Street and Karangahape Road, at the edge of Auckland central business district in New Zealand.-History:...
, 1884, Edmund Bell architect. Corner Queen St and K Road. This brick and stucco structure was designed in the Imperial Roman style. Based upon the London Metropolitan Tabernacle located at the Elephant and Castle. - St Kevin's Arcade, 1924, extended 1926, Walter Arthur Cumming architect. A shopping arcade in the 1920s Neo-Greek style. It incorporates the K Road entrance to Myers Park. In the mid-19th century when Auckland was the capital of New Zealand, this was the site of the second Government House in Auckland, while the Old Government HouseOld Government House, AucklandOld Government House is the former residence of the Governor of New Zealand in Auckland, New Zealand. The present Government House in Auckland was previously a private residence....
, now part of the University of AucklandUniversity of AucklandThe University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
was being rebuilt after the 1848 fire. - IronbankIronbank (Auckland)Ironbank is a 4,500-m2, six-level mixed-used development on Karangahape Road, Auckland City, New Zealand. The building also provides a mechanical, automated car stacker for 96 cars, which the robotic system racks in a four-level storage wall. Recently in 2010, Olympia Parking Systems expanded the...
, an award-winning modern (2009) mixed-used development lauded and criticised for looking like "rusting containers". - Rendell's Department Store, 1904, extended 1911, William A. Holman architect. Brick and stucco retail building in the late 19th century Italianate style. Holman was a relative of William MorrisWilliam MorrisWilliam Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
. - George Court Department Store, 1924, Clinton Savage architect. Corner K Road and Mercury Lane. Proto-modern building showing the influence of Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
and Otto WagnerOtto WagnerOtto Koloman Wagner was an Austrian architect and urban planner, known for his lasting impact on the appearance of his home town Vienna, to which he contributed many landmarks.-Life:...
. George Court opened his first department store on K Road in 1890. - Mercury TheatreMercury Theatre (Auckland)The Mercury Theatre is a theatre in Auckland, New Zealand, located on Mercury Lane, off Karangahape Road. It was built in 1910, by the architect Edward Bartley and is the oldest surviving theatre in Auckland. Built in the English Baroque style, it was initially known as the Kings Theatre. However,...
, 1910, Edward BartleyEdward BartleyEdward Bartley was an architect from New Zealand. He was born in Saint Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. He arrived in New Zealand 1854...
architect. The oldest surviving theatre in Auckland. This English BaroqueEnglish BaroqueEnglish Baroque is a term sometimes used to refer to the developments in English architecture that were parallel to the evolution of Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London and the Treaty of Utrecht ....
styled building was constructed in 1910 as the Kings Theatre. When it was converted into a cinema in 1926 a new entrance on K Road was built (now the Norman Ng building). Between 1962 and 1990 it was the location of the Mercury Theatre Company. Currently owned by a church, it is occasionally used as a theatre. - Naval & Family Hotel, 1897, Arthur Wilson architect. Corner of Pitt Street. An ornate three-story building with Italianate, English Baroque and Queen Anne influences. A veranda was added in the 1940s, the original building being designed without one, in common with many hotels of the time, to discourage intoxicated men from loitering outside. It has an Historic Places TrustNew Zealand Historic Places TrustThe New Zealand Historic Places Trust is a non-profit trust that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buildings in New Zealand...
B classification, which protects the exterior. A Georgian-style hotel occupied the site from about 1862 until it burnt down in 1894.
- Symonds Street CemeterySymonds Street CemeterySymonds Street Cemetery is a historic cemetery and park in central Auckland, New Zealand. It is in 5.8 hectares of deciduous forest on the western slope of Grafton Gully, by the corner of Symonds Street and Karangahape Road, and is crossed by the Grafton Bridge...
, one of the oldest cemeteries in Auckland and the first official burial ground. Here are located the graves of many of Auckland's early settlers including Captain William HobsonWilliam HobsonCaptain William Hobson RN was the first Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.-Early life:...
, the first Governor of New Zealand who died in 1842. The cemetery was officially closed in 1905 when it was handed over to the Auckland City CouncilAuckland CityAuckland City was the city and local authority covering the Auckland isthmus and most of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, in the North Island of New Zealand. On 1 November 2010 it was amalgamated into the wider Auckland Region under the authority of the new Auckland Council...
as a park. When the motorway system was constructed in the mid 1960s, it required the moving of over 4100 bodies. These were reinterred in two memorial sites within the cemetery. - Langham HotelLangham Hotel, AucklandThe Langham Hotel is a five-star hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. Formerly named the Sheraton Auckland Hotel & Towers, it occupies the historic site of Partington's Windmill, a local landmark until its demolition in 1950.- History :...
, at the corner of Karangahape Road and Symonds Street. It was a Sheraton Hotel before becoming part of the Langham chain. Partington's windmill stood on the site from 1850 to 1950. The windmill's demolition was controversial and led to laws for heritage protection and the formation of the New Zealand Historic Places TrustNew Zealand Historic Places TrustThe New Zealand Historic Places Trust is a non-profit trust that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buildings in New Zealand...
. - Grafton BridgeGrafton BridgeGrafton Bridge is a road bridge spanning Grafton Gully in Auckland City, New Zealand. Built of reinforced concrete in 1910, it connects the Auckland CBD with the Grafton suburb...
, 1910. At the eastern end of Karangahape Road, a large concrete structure spanning Grafton GullyGrafton GullyGrafton Gully is a deep and very wide gully cutting northwards through the volcanic hills of the Auckland Volcanic Field in Auckland, New Zealand. It divides the CBD of the city from the suburbs of Grafton and Parnell in the east.Grafton Gully is crossed by Grafton Bridge near its south end...
. When it was completed in 1910 it was the largest concrete single-span bridge in the world. - Myers Park. On the slope of the Karangahape ridge facing north towards the Waitemata HarbourWaitemata HarbourThe quite famous Waitemata Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is only one of two harbours surrounding the city, and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The Waitemata forms the north...
is a natural gully now the site of Myers Park. This is, or rather was, the start of the Waihorotiu StreamWaihorotiu StreamThe Waihorutiu Stream , also called the 'Queen Street River', is a former stream in the downtown region of Auckland City, New Zealand, which has long since been covered over and made to disappear by the increasing urbanisation of the area.-History:Originally, it was an open stream starting out in a...
also known as the "Queen Street River".
Media connections
K Road has gathered some appreciation as a film and audio visual precinct. It has six independent film-makers, three screening venues, two radio stations (K FM RadioK FM Radio
K FM Radio is a radio station broadcasting from Karangahape Road in Auckland, New Zealand. It broadcasts on the frequency 106.9 to most of the Auckland central business district and some of the inner-city suburbs....
and Boosh.FM) and New Zealand's only television arts channel. It was also the home of now defunct independent television station Alt TV
Alt TV
ALT TV was a New Zealand broadcast, privately owned and operated 24 hour live-to-air music TV, which aired from 2006 to 2009 and was seen on SKY Digital channel 065...
.
The Moving Image Centre, also known as MIC Toi Rerehiko, is a multidisciplinary cultural institution exhibiting international and New Zealand artists, via "contemporary film, video, digital media, installation, music and live performance". Funded by business and public sponsorship, it has an art gallery at 321 Karangahape Road.
The Auckland office and the reference library of the New Zealand Film Archive
New Zealand Film Archive
The New Zealand Film Archive is a charitable trust dedicated to the collection, preservation and viewing of mainly New Zealand films and videos made between 1895 to the present day.- Background :...
is located in 300 Karangahape Road, where the institute also has exhibition space.
In popular culture
The song "VeronaVerona (Elemeno P)
"Verona" is a single by Elemeno P released in 2002 and re-released in 2005. The song is about a café / bar on Karangahape Road, Auckland, New Zealand.-Track listing:#Verona #Burn#Death And The Maiden#Trouble In Paradise...
" by New Zealand rock band Elemeno P
Elemeno P
Elemeno P is a New Zealand rock band. The band's first album, Love & Disrespect was released on 4 July 2003, and reached number one on the RIANZ albums chart. Their second album, Trouble in Paradise was released on 24 November 2005 and includes the singles 11:57, Burn, One Left Standing and You Are...
, from their album Love & Disrespect
Love & Disrespect
Love & Disrespect is the debut album of New Zealand band, Elemeno P. It was released 4 July, 2003 through Universal Records. Love & Disrespect debuted at #1 on the New Zealand Album charts....
, refers to the cafe/restaurant/bar of the same name at 169 Karangahape Road. The current Verona building dates from 1923 and gets its name from the Victorian house that previously occupied the site, Mrs Bishop's "Verona" Boarding House.
External links
- K'Road (official K'Road business association website, includes good heritage section)
- Karangahape Road Online (mainly a business listings website, includes timeline, virtual tour - streetscroll)