70 | Shand Shelton ARCHITECTURE T T Richard Loader Upgrade a winner The upgrade of the Sir Howard Morrison centre transformed the building from a single auditorium and stage house to a fit-for-purpose Performing Arts Centre for Rotorua, complete with multiple performance spaces within the building. Photo: Matt Hunt Shand Shelton’s joint entry with First Light Studio in the Public Architecture category for their work on the Sir Howard Morrison Centre upgrade project has earned success at NZIA’s 2023 Waikato & Bay of Plenty Architectural Awards. In many ways it was a project revisited for Wellington based Shand Shelton, which specialises in the design, documentation and construction of live performance creative spaces throughout New Zealand and in Australia. The building originally started life as a “picture house” with a performance stage, central courtyard, surrounded by Council offices and Concert Chamber. In the ‘90s the building complex was converted to function as a boutique convention centre, and in 2009 the Shand Shelton team was engaged by the Rotorua Lakes District Council to design a replacement stage house. Roger Shand says this latest project was to upgrade the rest of the building from a single auditorium and stage house to a fit-for-purpose Performing Arts Centre for Rotorua, complete with multiple performance spaces within the building. “The region is vulnerable to earthquakes, so seismically strengthening the building was a driver of the brief. We worked with the structural engineers, Dunning Thornton, to strengthen the building so that the superstructure could absorb earthquake forces, rather than putting a lot of money and effort into transferring load into new expensive below ground piling and foundations. This allowed the existing spaces within the building, to continue to be used without structural intervention.” Internally, seating in the main theatre was increased by close to an extra third, bringing its capacity up to 940 plus seats. The concert chamber was converted to a black box theatre with retractable seating, giving it multi-purpose flexibility. “We took the original foyer that was vulnerable to seismic failure and created a new roof between the two heritage wings, unveiling them once more to the exterior, after being substantially covered in the 1990s alteration. The Foyer is also used as a performance space. The design was about “less is more” — providing a really clever structural solution and plan to deliver a flexible building with multiple performance spaces.” P 07 847 9428 E lyndon.jones@xtra.co.nz www. l yndonjoneselect r i cal . co.nz Lyndon Jones Electrical are proud to be associated with Shand Shelton and the new refurbishment of the Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre hawkins.co.nz Awarded Gold in the 2023 New Zealand Commercial Project Awards. Heritage and Restoration Project category. Sir Howard Morrison Centre, Rotorua. Panton Consulting Design and Project Engineers • Mechanical, Electrical and Building Services We are pleased to have worked alongside Shand Shelton and other Project Team members in providing Design & Project Monitoring Services for Heating, Ventilating & Air-Conditioning and Hydraulics Systems to the SIR HOWARD MORRISON CENTRE REDEVELOPMENT 103 Puketapu Road, Taradale, Napier New Zealand 4112 O ice 06 845 2406 Mobile 0274 740 969 Email admin@pantonconsulting.co.nz Roger acknowledges the support of Tangata Whenua- Ngāti Whakaue who provided a kaupapa kōrero for the building, and what it meant to them. “The land on which the building was built was given by local iwi to the local administration, and this was honouring a commitment to biculturalism and providing iwi with input into the overall design. That was an integral part of the brief that we were given for the project.” Roger also acknowledges the significant contribution made by First Light Studio, a young Wellington architectural practice and a key part of the design team.
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