Architects Jasmax designed an eleven-storey landmark building to service growing demands of the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Business Faculty.
The building features:
- Level 1 café, reception and offices
- Levels 2 to 7 teaching floors including classrooms, lecture theatres and seminar rooms
- Levels 8 to 10 offices floors (with level 8 also providing a means of future teaching expansion)
- Level 11 roof level plant.
The AUT wanted a landmark building, both in engineering and architectural terms.
NDY responded to this in a number of ways within each of the service areas. In the electrical design, NDY was cognisant of the amended Lighting Guide 3 from CIBSE (2001), and a number of specific articles on educational institutions. NDY chose a luminaire, which provides a far more even illumination of desks, walls and ceilings than a traditional low-brightness luminaire. The response of both staff and students has confirmed that a unique atmosphere has been created, which has had an enormously positive impact.
Another prime concern of the client was to avoid installing plant capacity (electrical or mechanical) in excess of actual peak demands for similar buildings. To this end, NDY spent considerable time comparing design predictions with measured peaks, and achieved very economical installed plant capacities by incorporating practical diversities into all calculations.
The building has also been a success for our Acoustics division. The requirement for classrooms with full glass walls provided a challenge, which was satisfactorily resolved. The circulation spaces with honed concrete floors have also been very successfully treated with slatted eucalyptus timber panelling. This created a completely quiet space. NDY invested substantial time and effort comparing design predictions and calculations with measured peaks, so that an economical plant capacity (mechanical and electrical) was installed, which did not exceed peak demands as typically experienced on similar buildings at the university.
