4 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT University of Otago / Southbase Construction : Te Rangihiroa College T T Russell Fredric Residential college nears completion The college’s design will showcase Māori artwork inside and out, with the 3-D exteriors facade panels featuring a striking dimensional kaokao pattern. HUGH MADDEN Ltd Bricklaying | Plastering | Tiling Proudly Supporting University of Otago Southbase Construction office@hughmadden.co.nz Una Madden ph 0273 543 842 Anticipation is building as one of the University of Otago’s most exciting developments in the past half-century draws closer to completion. University director of campus and collegiate life services, James Lindsay, says there is a lot of excitement about Te Rangihīroa College, a new seven level, 450 bed residential facility currently under construction. “Staff and students alike are very excited to watch the new college progress and take justifiable pride in the first purpose-built residential college at the University of Otago in 50 years.” Te Rangihīroa will be a 14,000 square metre K-shaped complex which aims to achieve fivestar Green Star rating with the New Zealand Green Building Council, a first for a residential college in New Zealand. It will include 125 bedrooms with ensuites, a dining hall and kitchen, multi-functional communal spaces, offices, a reception area, and college staff accommodation. Construction is being led by Southbase Construction which has a track record of completing a wide variety of projects in various sectors throughout New Zealand. The college’s design will showcase Māori artwork inside and out with input from Te Rangihīroa’s Ngāti Mutunga iwi, local iwi Kāi Tahu, Dunedin design consultancy Aukaha and the university’s Office of Māori Development. This includes 3-D facade panels featuring a striking dimensional kaokao pattern, a ceiling pattern that creates a central heartline flowing from the entry to the wharekai (dining hall), curated taonga throughout the building, whakataukī embedded in the bluestone wall and Te Rangihīroa cursive script as well as te reo Māori incorporated into signage. The significance of the embedded cultural values through design are important to not only the university, but also to mana whenua and Ngati Mutunga, adding to the bi-cultural living experience for students whilst at the same time telling the story of Te Rangihīroa within the walls and grounds of the new building. Significantly, the college is named after Otago’s illustrious first Māori medical graduate, Te Rangihīroa (Sir Peter Buck). Descendants of Te Rangihīroa from the Taranaki region’s Ngāti Mutunga gifted the use of his name for the existing college on Castle Street in Dunedin which opened in 2014 and this name is being transferred to the new college. “It is important that we respect the taonga gifted to the University by creating a facility that can proudly bear the name of Te Rangihīroa,” campus development director Tanya Syddall says. The development of Te Rangihīroa College is a significant investment in both Dunedin and the lower South Island, with wider economic benefits in not only enabling more students to live in the region, but also for the contractors who are involved in the development of the project. The balance of incorporating thoughtful cultural design elements together with meeting top-quality standards in the areas of energy efficiency, innovation and sustainability means that Te Rangihīroa College will be a special facility on a campus which is already internationally regarded as one of the world’s most beautiful. “It is important that we respect the taonga gifted to the University by creating a facility that can proudly bear the name of Te Rangihīroa.” University chief operating officer Stephen Willis says developing Te Rangihīroa will future- proof the university as it seeks to match capacity with forecast increases in New Zealand school leaver numbers and international interest. In addition, in the short-term, the extra capacity will also allow other residential colleges to be upgraded. The scale of the project reflects the university’s continuing commitment to investing in its own residential colleges, he says. “Otago recognises the value of operating its own residential colleges and running them to the highest possible standards of safety, academic support and pastoral care.” It is planned for the college to be open for the first semester of 2024.
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