VUW Living Pā

LT McGuinness are working with Victoria University of Wellington to create one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable buildings.

Once complete, students will be able to wander around the leafy, wooden, three-storey Living Pā complex and watch monitors showing its energy and water consumption – a building “living” in real time.

Panels of glass will connect it to the university’s wharenui, Te Tumu Herenga Waka​, which has stood on Kelburn Parade for the past 35 years.

As part of the Living Building Challenge, it will be judged against the highest sustainability rating in the world. That means it must generate all its own energy, use its own water systems, be entirely carbon-neutral and use non-toxic materials.