I can't wait to use this terminal. It's not like I'm in a shortage of good reasons to fly to Wellington, but these images have me especially eager.  I've been spending my fair share of time in airport terminals recently, and this one makes all others look like the malls they usually aspire to be.  Although the rest are financially (and architecturally) modeled as over-inflated commercial conveyor belts, the cavernous interior of the Wellington Rocks looks like an enviable space for geographically and temporally displaced occupants. 

Photographer Patrick Reynolds (who I surmise is responsible for the press shots which are mixed with our own snaps below) has said: "As I was photographing The Rock I was reminded of the great images by Ezra Stoller of Eero Saarinen's 1962 TWA Terminal at JFK.  Of course the buildings are different in form and scale... but the ambition of the two buildings is clear.  They both set out to provide a theatrical space to give glamour and comfort to what can be a tiresome and even stressful process... In both cases the buildings suggest they have a life of their own: they often appear animal-like..."

Each of the features that were carefully explained two years ago, when The Rock received a mix of public excitement and excrement, are looking stunning.  Little corners to rest privately, structural negatives carefully sliced into the building, a ceiling which swoops and folds to the floor, and finally a warm airport interior.

The Rock was designed by Studio Pacific Architecture in association with Warren and Mahoney, and constructed by Mainzeal Property and Construction. Kudos to you all.

As mentioned, the amazing photographs below are by Patrick Reynolds, or taken by Productspec at this morning's opening. 





Tarmac view from the guy who holds glowsticks, waving you in.

Seriously cool, and a bit scary.

Tarmac bling.

Scaley-copper-foldy goodness.


View from the guy speeding your luggage across the tarmac.


Not a bad descent.


A series of caves, looking pretty comfortable


The high and long view.


Architects talk. Comfy.


Detail! Sharp, negative, perforated, geometric, crisp.


Detail! Interfloor structural slice, negative floor detail: awesome.


Not a bad spot to do some sitting.


Outs and ins and out again.


A new space in Wellington, o hello Mojo.


If the Batcave had an International Passenger Lounge.


A postmodern pre-post-earthquake conceptual structural intervention.


Can't wait to lounge there.