Giltrap Group Headquarters and Prestige Showroom

Designed by Warren and Mahoney, the building in Grey Lynn, Auckland is a mixed-use development that co-locates the Giltrap head-office team and sets the benchmark for ‘star car’ showrooms around the world.

“Warren and Mahoney has produced a design which perfectly showcases some of the world’s most beautiful cars. At the same time it is the most technologically impressive and environmentally friendly building of its type in the country.”

Echoing the beneath-the-bonnet, high-end specification of these star cars, the building aesthetic may appear simple and streamlined, but it’s the hidden details that count. Warren and Mahoney worked with performance lighting experts Targetti to develop bespoke all-in-one fitting for the lights, power, data and sprinkler systems.

A seamless customer journey is central to the design. Clients drive in to the building off Great North Road, past the showroom and a number-plate recognition device alerts reception to their arrival. The five curved concrete ramps between each floor which are meticulously planned for minimum car clearance, then constructed and installed on site with a laser scanner to ensure millimetre accuracy.

The underground workshop area includes 11 dedicated service bays that are viewable from above so customers can watch the technicians at work. The bays are equipped with wraparound halo lights, hoists that are reticulated from below, as well as in-floor exhaust extractors. There is very little to clutter the visual experience of the vehicles and the raw state of the building’s structure.

Sustainable solutions were also integral to the plan with this the first building of its type on track to achieve a five-star Greenstar rating.