Project

Auckland Airport is an iconic part of Aotearoa’s urban landscape. This airport, which has stood proud in South Auckland since 1966, was revamped last year with a new Transport Hub – and the Freedom Works team had the pleasure of working on the project.

An airport upgrade isn’t just about adding parking spots. It’s about supporting infrastructural development and encouraging travel into and out of Auckland. It’s about shaping people’s first impressions of our country.

Auckland Airport’s new Transport Hub needed specialist care to make it safe, functional, and beautiful.

In short, it needed the Freedom Works touch.

Our team had previously collaborated with Peddlethorp, a design and architecture studio, on commercial projects such as Bledisloe House and 3 Te Kahu Way. When Peddlethorp was tasked with working on the new Transport Hub, they reached out to us for our expertise in providing code-compliant safety features.

As of early 2025, the Transport Hub’s new carpark is estimated to be the largest in New Zealand. In a space so heavy with movement and pedestrian traffic, there can be no compromise on safety detailing. The Freedom Works team implemented a range of traffic management solutions to protect people as they move through the carpark.

Our team’s first task was to control vehicle speed within the Transport Hub. Standard speed bumps were not suitable in this setting as they created excessive vibrations in the carpark floor. Freedom Works countered this issue by collaborating with project architects and suppliers to build a custom speed cushion. This modified speed bump stretched across the entire width of the vehicle path, ensuring that motorcycles and other small vehicles could not evade it and would have to slow down.

Next, using our expert knowledge of New Zealand building regulations, we got other aspects of the carpark up to code, adding rumble strips, bollards, corner protection, and over 2,500 wheel stops to the space.

We then tackled pedestrian safety by placing brass stair inserts along the exterior landscape decking stairs, while opting for an aluminium based stair nosing with black carborundum strips for other carpark stairs. Stairs were also upgraded with brass handrail buttons. These nosings, inserts, and buttons work together to minimise slip risks and enable visually impaired users to travel through the carpark with ease.

We also installed stainless steel tactile indicators and yellow concrete tactile pavers at key pedestrian traffic points, while opting for brass tactile indicators with black carborundum centres to suit the design themes of external spaces. Like the stair nosings and inserts, these tactile indicators increase slip resistance while also providing navigational aids for communities with unique mobility needs.

Not only did these refined touches make the carpark safer and more accessible, but the materials and design were specially selected to enhance the visual composition of the environment, helping to create a strong and positive first impression for visitors to our country.

Finally, we installed over 180 metres of black entrance matting in the lobby area of the international carpark, an element that was simultaneously decorative and useful for keeping dirt and grime from being tracked around the Transport Hub. Freedom Works was not initially specified for entrance matting, but we secured the work by offering unparallelled value for cost.

Over the next few years, millions of people are expected to travel through Auckland Airport. From entrances to staircases to walkways to traffic, the full Freedom Works repertoire has been harnessed to protect these crowds.