Woods were an integral part of the team of consultants involved in the extension of the Albany Town Centre being undertaken by Cornerstone Group and Symphony Properties.

This project comprises the development of a multi-use medium to high density town centre which when completed will become the North Shore's regional hub. Spread over a 48 hectare site, a mix of commercial and retail space will provide employment for up to 15,000 workers, with a further 6,000 residents accommodated in apartment buildings, specifically designed to meet the demands of 21st century lifestyles.

The original development of Albany was completed by Neil Properties before selling the uncompleted development to our clients in 2004. Woods were then responsible for the reconfiguration of various road alignments and utility installations as well as carrying out detailed water modelling and catchment analysis.

Council standards changed post the development works by Neil Properties and the challenge of achieving stormwater attenuation and treatment to the new Council standards fell to Woods. Retrofitting treatment devices to existing roads is difficult particularly in commercial developments where site coverage and consequently runoff is high. However by utilising a number of different management devices, including rain gardens, filtration swales and wetlands we were able to design a commercially acceptable solution without the need to modify existing infrastructure. Woods worked closely with both local and regional authorities to develop the designs for all devices which met the operational and maintenance objectives of both councils. Subsequent careful management of the construction contract ensured a smooth construction program completed without undue disruption to traffic using the area.

Woods also undertook all the civil project management for the Cornerstone group as well as resource consent planning, civil design, infrastructure and roading for Symphony Properties.

Woods was also responsible for the civil design and administration of the civil works associated with the opening of the town centre's new Mega Mitre 10 store. This required extensive consultation with the building architects and the multi disciplinary team involved in the design of the buildings. Construction of the civil works was required to be undertaken at the same time as the Building works to enable the building to open on time.

All works by Woods were completed on budget and on time in 2006 through to 2009.