Category: New Zealand

The Rock – Wellington Airport

With the help of PictureTalk we recently produced a video for Graphisoft. The video talks about the design process for a new terminal at Wellington Airport dubbed The Rock

The Project – The Rock, Wellington Airport

Winner, Transportation category, Inside World Festival of Interiors 2011

Finalist, Serve & Facilitate category, The Great Indoors Award 2011

Winner, Commercial Architecture Award, NZIA Wellington Architecture Awards 2011

Winner, Gold Award and Purple Pin, Spatial Design category, BEST Awards 2011

Winner, Interior Fitout Award, NZ Wood Timber Design Awards 2011

Winner, RMB Commercial Project of the Year, Registered Master Builders Awards 2011

 

A challenging brief with a double ambition meant that the redevelopment of the Wellington International Airport Passenger Terminal, completed in 2010 in association with Warren and Mahoney Architects, required a unique and innovative design.

The first task was to meet a set of complex technical specifications and optimise the available pocket building site, heavily constrained by aircraft choreography. In conjunction with external apron works, the project involved the expansion of interior open lounge floor area, new retailing, linkages from the new passenger processing area and an increase to eight aerobridge-capable gates.

As the gateway to Wellington for international passengers, the brief also demanded that the building offer a memorable visitor experience through a unique, edgy aesthetic that embodied a strong sense of place.

The oscillating outline of the new building was derived from the curved indentations of aeroplane docks into the confined triangular site. The organic irregularity of this outline dovetailed with the concept of the building as a crusty, enigmatic rock embedded in the runway – a gesture to the land’s geological past, recalling its kinship with the craggy, sea-battered Wellington coast. A radical departure from contemporary airports worldwide, preoccupied with the imagery of lightness and flight, the Rock terminal instead evokes the anchoring qualities of the land that rises to meet planes as they touch down and the coast that recedes away from them as they depart. Its copper finish is a mirror for Wellington’s swift transitions from grey sky to gold sunlight, as well as providing unparalleled durability in a corrosive environment of sea air and aircraft fuel gases.

In contrast to the bland, mall-like interiors that typify most international airports, the interior of the Rock exudes warmth and resounds with personality. Honey-coloured macrocarpa ply softens theatrical strata of dark-stained panels fissured with light. Spaces unfold on varying levels and exploration is welcomed, with journeys through the interior gently modulated by a series of ramps. Travellers are able to enjoy interior areas that are engaging and restful, impressive and intimate.

Client: Wellington International Airport Ltd.

The Company – Studio Pacific Architecture

Studio Pacific undertake a large range of projects, from small individual furniture items to large projects involving entire new towns. The small scale work includes new houses, additions and alterations, and retail work. The larger schemes include large multi-unit residential and commercial buildings as well as masterplans and landscaping.

Studio Pacific was established in Wellington in 1992 by the three directors: Nicholas Barratt-Boyes, B. Arch, ANZIA, RIBA; Stephen McDougall, B.B.Sc, B.Arch, FNZIA; and Evzen Novak, B. Arch (Hons), ANZIA, RIBA. Prior to establishing the Studio, all three directors studied and/or worked together in New Zealand before working for a period in Europe: Evzen studied in Berlin and worked in Switzerland and London, while Nick and Stephen were based in London and worked on projects throughout the U.K. and Europe.

The collective international experience gained by the directors in Europe set the platform and influenced the direction of the practice. From early design competitions and small residential commissions Studio Pacific has evolved into an award-winning substantial and creative practice with diverse projects throughout New Zealand. Particular recognition has been given to the studio for working with the arts, urban regeneration, housing, masterplanning and contemporary workspace planning.

Marcellus Lilley – Associate, Lead Project Architect for The Rock

B.B.Sc, B.Arch, ARB (UK), ANZIA

Marcellus Lilley joined Studio Pacific in 2003 and has been an Associate since 2005. Marcellus has a Bachelor of Building Science and a Bachelor of Architecture from Victoria University of Wellington, and has completed post-graduate study at Westminster University, London en-route to becoming a registered architect in the United Kingdom. He is also a New Zealand registered architect.

Marcellus has broad experience in urban renewal, mixed-use and multi-unit residential projects during five years of working in London, and before that, education and residential projects in the Hawkes Bay. Since joining Studio Pacific, Marcellus has been lead Project Architect on the MOTAT Aviation Display Hall project, the Wellington International Airport Terminal Development Project (Stage 01 and Stage 02) in addition to various smaller commercial and civic projects and competition work such as the Royal Society of New Zealand Campus.

Marcellus also co-ordinates the Studio systems group (SPARK) that monitors and develops the Quality Management System utilised by the Studio.

He has travelled extensively and maintains a keen interest in design and the delivery of projects through the role of Project Architect.

Karl Frost – Senior Technician

Karl graduated with a Bachelor of Building Science degree with Honours from Victoria University in Wellington in 1990. He started in the building industry with Jasmax, working on the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand project in the Auckland office for 2 years and then on-site in Wellington for 2 more years. This was followed by a brief stint overseas before he returned to Wellington in 1999 and joined Studio Pacific Architecture. Since then he has worked on a wide range of urban and commercial projects.

Karl is one of Studio Pacific’s most experienced CAD users, skilled in both modelling and documentation. He has worked as a team member on a number of commercial projects as a CAD leader and technician. His experience is invaluable for coordinating CAD information between Studio Pacific and other consultants.

Developing Better Boards

There has been a lot of discussion over the last while about the need for New Zealand companies to focus on developing better boards. These discussion are as varied as talking about the importance of a formal Board of Directors for SMEs through to creating diversity on the boards of New Zealand’s publicly listed companies.

SpringBoard NZ is an organization that was set up to encourage younger people to take up board positions and to encourage companies to appoint younger directors.

SpringBoard has now led to a new website that is focused on Appointing Better Boards and to keep it really obvious that is what the website url is - http://www.appointbetterboards.co.nz/

On the subject of diversity the NZX have recently released a consultation document. Not overly surprising is the submission being made by SpringBoard is that diversity of age is as important as other forms of diversity.

For those of you interested in governance I strongly recommend looking at both SpringBoard and Appoint Better Boards – if you are interested in roles or have a board opening make sure to sign up.

 

New Zealand Home of the Year 2012 – Finalist

I have written before about the commitment Graphisoft New Zealand makes to Education and also our annual support of the Graphisoft NZIA Student Design Awards.

Another area where we support architectural eduction is with an annual Studio Project run by Dave Strachan from SGA at Unitec.

The project takes students through the design, documentation and construction of an actual building project.

We support the project via way of providing ArchiCAD Software, Training and James from our office provides support during the studio time.

Anyway, to cut to the actual point it was very rewarding to see the 2010 Studio Project named a finalist in the New Zealand Home of the Year 2012 competition. This follows on from an NZIA Local Award.

While the house didn’t win home of the year, this is wonderful recognition for a group of students yet to complete their studies and enter the work force.

Better by Design CEO Summit

Today I was at the first day of the Better by Design CEO Summit.

Better by Design’s sole purpose is to help New Zealand businesses succeed. Our programmes are built on the principle that design strategies and processes can be applied to businesses to improve the bottom line.
Better by Design is a specialist group within New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, New Zealand’s national economic development agency.

I was fortunate to sit next to Lance (Wiggs) and very fortunate that they way he ‘listens and absorbs’ the information is to type it up and blog about it.

This means I (along with all attendees) have a great set of posts to refer back to in addition to any notes we took ourselves.

The day was varied but generally of an extremely high standard and was very thought provoking. At the end of the day we had little group sessions where we shared with the group what we took away from the day, I found this a very good way to solidify about 2 key points that I expect will have an impact on our business in the short-term.

I am looking forward to another great day tomorrow.

Xero Con 2012 – and recent announcements

Last year I attended Xero Con 2011 – New Zealand’s largest accounting conference run by Xero. While spending a day in a room full of accountants may not sound like your cup of tea the presentations last year where great – and not all to do with accounting.

Tomorrow is Xero Con 2012 which this year I’m not attending – instead I attended their Developer Session today to get an update on what is going on behind the scenes and a roadmap for 2012. The room we were in was full with probably 100 developers who connect with Xero. This is an often unseen benefit of the Xero Ecosystem.

In light of the big conference tomorrow Rod and the team have made some big announcements over the last week including a revenue update.

Over the last year or so Xero has certainly polarized the New Zealand investment community after they abandoned the strategy of reaching profit in the short-term and instead decided it was better to focus on growth.

Since then every article published on the NBR has drawn interesting comments – to the point where today, when Xero announced a further $20 million investment, there was even some prodding taking place to get things started.

While I can understand that investors would like to see profit and a return, those who are unhappy with the current strategy can probably make a return by selling their shares which have remained at the top end of their trading range – and increased again today on the back of the announcement. I would also suggest people need to take a wider view and not judge a book by its cover, or by simply what they read.

Listening to the team today there is no doubt they work hard on both developing and executing their strategy. The numbers that Xero are reporting are continuing to grow (rapidly) which indicates they are on the right path.

The other thing that many people may not see from the outside but was on show today was the eco system I mentioned earlier. There are many other New Zealand entrepreneurs that are building web applications that integrate with Xero and are able to take advantage of this partnership. Some like Vend are seeing success even though they are still very much a startup. Others are more grown up like Workflow Max that was acquired by Xero today.

While these other businesses don’t necessarily provide a return to Xero shareholders they are in general very good for the New Zealand economy. Xero is not in this game just for themselves and very much take the approach of wanting to lift all boats. While today was predominantly about Xero development there were aspects of the talks aimed at helping people in the room with their own business. This is a great culture to create in a business.

Another way of Xero – or more specifically Rod – likes to give back is through his Accelerate Conference which I am very much looking forward to.

Disclaimer:  I am both a shareholder in Xero and one of their original beta customers and now run 10 organisations in Xero. 

 

NZ Start-up Scene

For anyone interested in the state of play in the New Zealand start-up scene, or anyone who likes to read what has worked or not worked when building a business check out Rowan Simpson’s Founder Centric Startups Series.

The series is an amazing piece of work and all credit has to go to Rowan and the contributors for making this happen.

The stories are all good and certainly shows there is no script when it comes to creating / running a startup. What works for one doesn’t necessarily apply to another.

My perspective has always been to read and research material like this and take out what I think may work for my businesses. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we make mistakes, but the most important thing is we review and we learn.

In parallel with this series both Rowan(as an intro to his series) and Lance (Are you an Angel – probably not and Investing with appropriate speed) commented on the structures that support startups – this stirred up a great debate, one that is extremely healthy as New Zealand strives to grow the knowledge economy.

The Air NZ OneSmart Card

Just before Christmas Air New Zealand sent me my new Airpoints Card – The OneSmart Card. They couldn’t have done better with the name as it truely is one smart (and useful) card.

Having spent the last week in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test I was able to test all the functions on the card.

Aside from being my Airpoints Card the OneSmart Card allowed me to:

  • Add money to the card as a MasterCard Debit Card
  • Once the money was added I created an AUD ‘wallet’ and converted some of my NZD to AUD.
  • Once in Australia I withdrew money (though note this was taken from my NZD balance – not sure why but I think this is still better than a standard international ATM withdrawal)
  • The MasterCard is also a PayPass card so once at the MCG I was able to ‘tap and go’ at the bars and food outlets. This is similar to what was available at the Rugby World Cup but I didn’t get a card for that as there were a few funny rules around it.
  • The card is also a chip based card so when PayPass wasn’t available I could still use it like a standard credit/debit card.

All the transactions (except the cash withdrawal) used my AUD balance so no conversion fees.

The card also can be managed via your mobile phone using YAP but I haven’t had the need to try that yet.

Air New Zealand have done extensive work before launching the card and I am most impressed it the simplicity and cleanliness of the website. I am easily able to convert money to multiple currencies and clearly see all the transactions. I was also able to set it up to email me every time a transaction takes place, and many times the email arrived before I’d even had time to pick up my food and leave the checkout.

All and all I have been most impressed with my new card, while I don’t plan to travel as much in 2012 as I have previously, it certainly made things very quick and simple – great work Air New Zealand.

CityViewAR Released

Following an earlier post regarding the capturing of Christchurch Architecture the HitLabNZ has now released CityViewHR for Android powered smart phones.

CityViewAR is a mobile Augmented Reality application that allows people to see how the city was before the earthquakes and building demolitions. Using an Android mobile phone people can walk around the city and see life-sized virtual models of what the buildings looked like on site before they were demolished, and see pictures and written information.

2012 Events to get you Energised

Well 2012 is just around the corner and while many of you will be simply thinking as far as Christmas now is the time to look a little further and sign up for some of the exciting events scheduled for early 2012.

February/March seems to be the time it all happens which is a good thing as it can provide a great foundation for the year ahead.

To date I have signed up for the following:

Better by Design CEO Summit 2012 – Design your future – first time attending but heard good things about this years event

Accelerate 2012 – always stimulating and a great concert to finish

Webstock 2012 – great content and speakers, but also one of the most well organised conferences I’ve been to!

I’ve also signed up for the Xero Developer Conference – quite a bit more technical than the above but always keen to see how the Xero eco-system is expanding!

NZIA Graphisoft Student Design Awards 2011

With the year coming to a close it was once again time for the NZIA Graphisoft Student Design Awards.

During Tuesday and Wednesday the 12 finalists – 4 each from the architecture schools of Auckland University, Victoria University and Unitec – each presented their project for the three judges.

The finalists were:

UNITEC – Department of Architecture

Warren Nicholson

Erxin Shang

Tess Fenwick

Nick Adams

AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY – School of Architecture and Planning

Jessica Mentis

Raukura Turei

Min Tian

Yunwei Xu

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON – Faculty of Architecture and Design

Sophie Hamer

Te Ari Prendergast

Roger Wilson

Ashton Wright

I attended many of the presentations and was most impressed with not only the work on display but the depth of research and thinking behind the projects.

Wednesday evening saw a lecture from Dr Nigel Bertram followed by the official part of the evening. All 12 finalists were recognised before the winner and two highly commended awards were presented.

Winner

Roger Wilson “Transcendent Site: The Resurrection of Denniston”

Highly Commended

Min Tian “Adipaetopia: The Co-Evolution Between the Born and the Made”

Erxin Shang “A Pulpitumic School”

Being involved in New Zealands’ premier Student Design Awards for Architecture is a great privilege and once again I’d like to congratulate all those who made it through to the finals.

Below is a few photos from the top 3: