64 | ARCHITECTURE ASC Architects: Haydn & Rollett Innovation at core of technology hub Virginia Wright The 9000sqm purpose-built technology hub in the heart of Manukau caters for MIT’s combined trades and engineering schools. Proud Supplier of Air Conditioning & Ventilation Systems for ASC Architects & Haydn & Rollett 35F Constellation Drive, Rosedale, Auckland PHONE: +64 09 476 9474 admin@airmark.co.nz www.airmarkgroup.co.nz As one of their winners describes them, the New Zealand Commercial Projects Awards are very much about the team behind the project, the project in this instance being the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) TechPark which was completed in 2020. When Eke Panuku Development Auckland, the property development arm of the Auckland City Council, offered MIT a greenfields site they had earmarked for a tertiary education facility, MIT then approached a handful of companies including design and construction company Haydn & Rollett, who in their turn contacted ASC Architects. “MIT initiated a very limited design competition for the opportunities that the site presented for what they were after, and that’s when Haydn & Rollett partnered with us because of our extensive experience in educational design,” explains Matt Every, one of the Principals of ASC Architects. One of New Zealand’s largest architectural practices, ASC Architects is part of a wider group of architectural firms spread throughout New Zealand under the umbrella name of “Design Group”. Matt was the project architect working alongside one of the directors, John Sofo, who specializes in education. Their years of experience designing such facilities paid off and their design entry was successful. As part of the deal with MIT Haydn & Rollett bought the land and developed the building with MIT as the anchor tenant. The combined expertise and collaboration from the beginning, between the architects and the building company, opened the door for some innovative thinking in a design that had to meet some specific criteria. “MIT had a whole lot of trade schools spread around different locations in South Auckland, and they were wanting to amalgamate them into just one facility. The challenge was to bring a whole bunch of assets from other sites into one building, and as well as the base building that we were already doing through Haydn & Rollett, MIT engaged us separately to do the fit-out for them,” explains Matt. The resulting 9000sqm purpose-built technology hub in the heart of Manukau had to cater for MIT’s combined trades and engineering schools used by more than 1200 students. Handy to both the bus interchange and the train station, not far from Manukau City Shopping Centre, it’s a high visibility site in an ideal location for a tertiary facility. Despite the size of the building, space was at a premium with so many different schools having to be brought together under one roof. “I suspect the reason that we won the competition was because we came up with solutions that helped them to maximise the space through the architecture but also through the way the building works,” says Matt. “The way it works is that it has some designated specialist areas but it also has a lot of flexible spaces that can be timetabled. “By doing that they are able to have a much smaller space than they had if you add up all the areas they had scattered through South Auckland, and to use the space very efficiently,” says Matt. The building interior resembles a really large warehouse big enough to make use of four forklifts and a team of people working to meet the timetabling needs of the different trades. Care was taken to lift the aesthetic of the exterior, especially the main entrance, with pacifica motifs sand-blasted onto the extensive glazing. “ So it’s got a lovely street presence that fits in well with its community,” says Matt. “We see it as being quite an innovative use of the space from a learning point of view, and cutting edge from an educational design point of view. We’re not aware of any other facilities that have used that approach to get that efficiency out of the space,” says Matt. The judges for the New Zealand Commercial Projects clearly agreed, as they awarded them multiple golds for the MIT TechPark building, and so did many other awards judges domestically and internationally.
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