Horowhenua District Council installed the Foxton Beach Pump Track which had been identified in the Holben Reserve Masterplan completed by Boffa Miskell in 2010. The council requested Boffa Miskell’s help to mitigate the visual impact and tie the track into its natural and built context.
Client
Location
Project team
Worked with
Southstar Trails
Horowhenua Recreational Services
Caldow Builders
Horowhenua District Council
Project date
2018
Awards
Active Park of the Year | Recreation Aotearoa New Zealand Parks Awards
Holben Reserve sits within the coastal community of Foxton Beach. The project team was guided by the Master Plan regarding character, connections, plantings and water sensitive design; and took cues from the surrounding ecologies and planting to connect the existing carpark, skatepark, and facilities to the pump track and wider pathways through extensive planting and minor hardscaping to create a cohesive precinct.
The site had a system of several depressions and open drains linking to a pond, and also high points created by the formation of the Foxton Beach Pump Track. Together this formed the idea to nestle the pump track into a coastal wet and dry landscape.
A material palette that reflected these conditions included granular textures, and timber furniture, surrounded by plants that thrive in sandy soils, wet depressions and salt-laden winds.
The team used existing infrastructure such as bridges, paths, street crossings, vehicular access, stage and skate park and designed a pathway around the pump track which linked those elements together, giving it a sense of cohesion and connecting it to the wider Reserve.
Before-and-after visualisations helped the Council and community engage with the proposed improvements. With broad support for the changes proposed, the Council contractors were able to implement the design.
