Client: TE HERENGA WAKA-VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON
Project Type: Social education
Project Timeframe: January 2022 - October 2024
Architects: Tennent Brown Architects
Ratings:Not Applicable
The Living Pā is a 3000m2 building designed to meet the Living Building Challenge (LBC), the most rigorous environmental building standard in the world. It aims to be the most sustainable building in the southern hemisphere and to join just 33 others worldwide with LBC certification.
To achieve LBC, the Living Pā must generate all its own energy, use its own water systems, be carbon-neutral and use non-toxic materials.
The Living Pā is the key feature of the Marae redevelopment at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University. It replaces five villas on Kelburn Parade that sat in front of Te Tumu Herenga Waka, the first wharenui on university grounds in Aotearoa. The project vision for the Living Pā sought to draw together mātauranga Māori and sustainability practices.
Its primary function is to facilitate the use of the wharenui and what it represents. Level 1 will be for events, Level 2 provides teaching spaces and a whare for Ngāi Tauira-Māori Students Association, and Level 3 provides offices for the Māori and sustainability faculties.
It is one of the most complicated buildings ever built in New Zealand, which created many challenges. In particular, the complex mass timber, solar panel and wastewater systems and waste diversion targets. The mass timber superstructure pushed the fabrication limits of the suppliers who had to develop new prefabrication strategies, and it was also a first for LT McGuinness. This led to rapid learning curves and a strong focus on collaboration between designers, fabricators and LT McGuinness to successfully deliver it.
These building and design challenges were navigated around a tight programme and budget, and a very public interface with the university. The condensed site was on a busy arterial road and a live university campus with over 22,000 student enrolments. Constant communication between all parties allowed for the programme to be built around other university events and requirements such as exams.
Almost everything on the Living Pā was new to everyone involved, so collaboration was vital to the project and arguably key to its success.
