The Hub and library upgrade has won an education category award, with the jury also noting that the project was “tightly resolved on many levels, from campus planning to construction detail”.
The project, which began in November 2010, was undertaken in partnership with Architectus and Athfield Architects of Wellington. It was a large scale task, including refurbishment of all seven floors of the Rankine Brown library building and three levels in the central building, including retail and study spaces.
The upgrade took three years to complete and was carried out while the university continued with its regular operations—a challenging feat to pull off. It was the University’s biggest ever building project.
The Hub boasts the largest sliding doors in the southern hemisphere, which respond to the weather and temperature, creating an indoor/outdoor flow in summer.
Importantly, the Hub is student focused, creating 3,400 square metres of extra space for use. The area has been well utilised since its opening in March 2013, and this is reflected in the judge’s comment that the Hub “transforms wasted space into real space”.
The New Zealand Architecture Awards is a programme of the New Zealand Institute of Architects.