To comply with Auckland Council planning regulations preventing buildings casting shadows onto the adjacent Aotea Square, parts of the top 10 levels of the apartments portion of the 21-storey mixed-use building were chiselled away, giving the building its distinctive wedged shape.

The apartments are part of the $600-million Symphony Centre, designed by Woods Bagot for developer Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB) in partnership with Eke Panuku Development Auckland. Built above the City Rail Link’s Te Waihorotiu Station, the project, managed by Auckland-based consultancy RCP, is described as New Zealand’s first true transit-oriented development, due for completion in mid-2029. 

The building combines apartments with nine levels of commercial space, providing 18,000 square metres of offices below the 10 levels of residences. Ground-level and lobby areas include a mix of hospitality and retail tenancies across 1000 square metres.

Pricing for the apartments starts at $1.1 million for a one-bedroom residence, $2.16 million for a two-bedroom and $2.99 million for a three-bedroom. The penthouse apartment is priced at $11.6 million. Shared facilities include a movie theatre, a gym and outdoor terrace dining areas. The Symphony Residences has secured an exemption to sell up to 60 per cent of its apartments to foreign buyers.

The project also involves a makeover of the adjacent post-war modernist Bledisloe House, built in 1959, which includes removal of the sun-shading louvre panels added to the building in the 1980s and a refurbished façade. The ground floor will feature food and beverage and retail, and the back of the building will be opened to a new 12-metre-wide laneway alongside the Symphony Centre. The Centre’s façade is made from glass-reinforced concrete in hues that reference Waitematā sandstone, with a poutama pattern by Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) embossed onto vertical fins.