Station R Shapes A New Reality For Auckland’s Future

Designed in-house at Ockham by architect Martin King, Station R responds to the textural and structural qualities of the rail tracks and passing trains to the north of the site. Shuttered cast concrete with a rough-sawn timber finish provides a texture found in the industrial heritage of the site. These wall panels echo the movements of passing trains and the building form follows the curve of the street and train tracks.

The rear of the building faces the historical residential bungalows of Mt Eden in their leafy green streets. Martin has encompassed these features by incorporating living green walls, timber panelling and bamboo decking, which provide quiet, sheltered spaces for the residents. The result is a mixture of diffused light and scattered shadows, reflecting the mature trees of the neighbourhood.

In keeping with Ockham’s cornerstone philosophies, Station R consists of materials that are durable, low maintenance and have a distinctly residential appearance. The incorporation of timber panelling, honed concrete and living green walls reflect the diversity of the local built environment while ensuring the building responds in a personal manner to its residents.

R is an open source language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. R has become the most popular language for data science and an essential tool for finance and analytics-driven companies such as Google, Facebook and LinkedIn. R consists of an integrated suite of software facilities for data manipulation, calculation and graphical display.

And you’ll be chuffed to know that R was initially written by Robert Gentleman and Ross Ihaka - also known as ‘R & R’ of the Statistics Department of the University of Auckland in 1997. Station R is so named to celebrate the little known international success story of Robert and Ross’ intellectual creativity that is still unfolding just a few stops down the track.