A quiet side street off Cambridge Terrace will get a new lease on life as a new laneway goes in, connecting Courtenay Place with Alpha Street.

The laneway is being constructed as part of the Hyde Lane Apartments, developed by Thames Pacific, on lower Courtenay Place.

One of the architects involved in the design, Emma Macann of Designgroup Stapleton Elliott, says the laneway is important for the overall vision.

“The laneway is pivotal for us.

“We were inspired by the laneway aesthetic of Wellington but also of Melbourne.”

Three shops are planned for, and the laneway itself will be paved, planted and will feature bespoke lighting as well as a glass canopy roof letting in light.

For security reasons, it will have gates that are operational either side that will only close at night.

The three commercial premises will bring pedestrian traffic to the laneway, and to Alpha Street.

“I’m hoping that the uptake is quite small boutique, like a little coffee shop, bakery, arts and crafts or fashion.”

Macann believes the shops will be an attractive proposition.

“If you have 150 apartments, you could have upwards of 300 people living here, it’s a pretty smart business decision.”

The laneway has come about due to the construction of Hyde Lane Apartments, a 13-storey development, at the base of Courtenay Place.

The apartments, which are mostly already sold, include a mix of one, two and two and a half bedroom offerings, including penthouses with internal ‘winter gardens’.

Amenities for residents include a pool, sauna, gym, and bike storage.  Most of the apartments enjoy spectacular views, including of Mount Victoria and the Wellington harbour.

Macann says the size of the building is likely to be common going forward, due to changes to the District Plan permitting much higher buildings in the CBD.

“At the time of resource consent, it was definitely considered quite a tall building but in the space between then and now, the rules have completely changed, and now this is your standard building height for the CBD.”

She says higher building make more commercial sense for developers.

“As soon as you go above two or three stories, you’ve sunk so much cost in ground that you need to go taller, from a developer’s perspective.

“So that’s going to drive a lot of the height.  And then of course now there’s the planning rules that say you can’t go below 22m high in the CBD.”

Hyde Lane is due for completion in October.