Highbrook Business Park started life as the former Ra Ora Horse Stud on the Waiouru Peninsula in East Tamaki.

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The vision of the owner of the stud farm (the late Sir Woolf Fisher, co-founder of Fisher & Paykel) was to create one of Australasia’s most premium business parks. McConnell Property was retained as Development Manager by his estate to commence the planning for the project. 

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Over the following six years, we led a process to master plan and manage the approvals and consents for a 110ha business park, 60ha of public reserve, and 15 kms of trails and cycleways. The master plan was truly ambitious and included the creation of a new interchange on Auckland’s southern motorway, a new four-lane arterial road through Highbrook, and undergrounding a section of New Zealand’s national power grid that passed over the greater site.

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Notable USA based landscape designer Peter Walker created a design that encompassed an impressive 550,000sqm of floor space. This included Highbrook Crossing — a town centre based around service, convenience retail, health and accommodation. The master plan also included the extinct Pukekiwiriki volcanic crater which now forms part of Highbrook’s publically accessible parkland.

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In recognition of the foresight, analysis and planning that went into this project, The American Society of Landscape Architects acknowledged McConnell Property in 2003 for the development. It benchmarked Highbrook against other internationally acclaimed modern business campuses.