Construction meets theatre for Fringe Festival’s ‘The Builders’ Fringe’
City-makers Willis Bond and LT McGuinness have teamed up with Maverick Productions and the Wellington Fringe Festival to turn a major CBD construction site into an interactive event space for The Builders’ Fringe.
Kicking off at the Victoria Lane Apartments site on March 8, The Builders’ Fringe turns construction action into a fun, free and fully commentated sporting event for members of the public.
Jason Muir, the mind behind Maverick Productions, is spearheading the event and says the work happening behind construction site hoardings is “pretty epic.”
“Construction sites are the epicentre of our city’s constant evolution – places where people work together to create new, transformational spaces. However, what actually happens on site remains a bit of mystery to most people,” says Jason.
An act of central city activation as much as street theatre, The Builders’ Fringe gives Wellingtonians the opportunity to see light-heartedly what’s happening onsite and find out about the work that goes into building on a city-scale.
“I do a lot of work with Urban Dream Brokerage which puts innovative projects into under-utilised spaces to assist with urban revitalisation. Willis Bond and LT McGuinness do this on a bigger scale, creating buildings and spaces that add to the rich tapestry of our city,” says Jason.
David McGuinness, Willis Bond Director, says the partnership with Urban Dream Brokerage is a natural alignment.
“Culture and vibrance are vital to thriving city centres. We’re passionate about rejuvenating city spaces and bringing communities together through our developments, so it makes sense for us to open our construction site and share it with Wellingtonians.”
A grandstand will be at the west end of the Te Auaha building on Dixon Street where the public can drop in and watch the action unfold. Jason will conduct running commentary and interviews with members of the construction and project teams from a neighbouring commentary box.
“I’ll also be joined by a team of fantastic co-commentators who will get into the action with the team onsite and interview a range of people involved on how base-isolation works, the building’s design and how you go about constructing it,” says Jason.
“It’s free, it’s fun and it should be highly entertaining. We’d love to see you if you’ve got some spare time – just pop on down, take seat and watch the action unfold!”
The event is taking place at the Victoria Lane Apartments site on the corner of Victoria and Dixon Streets. Constructed by LT McGuinness and designed by Athfield Architects, the project is part of the wider Cuba Precinct development which has regenerated a major city block into viable, seismically safe retail and commercial spaces. This includes the state-of-the-art Te Auaha campus and Greater Wellington Regional Council’s new offices at 100 Cuba Street.
Event Details:
What: The Builders’ Fringe
When: 11:30am – 2:30pm on 8 – 12 March
Where: Victoria Lane Apartments construction site (Dixon Street entrance)
Event type: Drop-in, free, open to all