Sentinel (building)

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The building almost finished (2007).

The Sentinel (sometimes The Sentinel or Sentinel Tower) is a luxury residential skyscraper currently (2008) being fitted out and finished in Takapuna, the central business area of North Shore City, New Zealand. The largest and currently only real skyscraper in the city, it will have 30 levels^[1] and will be 150 m tall including spire when completed,^[2] and offer sweeping views over the Waitemata Harbour, the wider Hauraki Gulf as well as over to the Auckland CBD skyline.

The building will contain 117 luxury apartments, with the uppermost two levels forming a masssive 675 m²^[1] penthouse, which has recently (2007) sold for NZ$ 11 million.^[2]^[3] A communal area on level four includes a 25 m x 6 m heated swimming pool and spa, sauna and gym facilities as well as landscaped areas.^[1]

The building contains a number of motifs, from the square (is used extensively in the glass facade proportions and in smaller details), to a woven flax basket (hinted at in the latticework of the facade)^[1] to the spire atop the building which evokes a sail, especially from further away across the Hauraki Gulf.

The Sentinel was built by Multiplex Constructions^[2] and was given a non-notified consent by North Shore City Council because the idea of having a landmark building in Takapuna was considered very favourably when the developer Cornerstone Group first proposed it in 2003. The Sentinel was opened to the first residents in February 2008.^[1]