Chow:Hill were design team leaders for the new Landcare Research Building, located on the Tamaki Campus of the University of Auckland.

The client has a strong environmental focus and required the building to become a leading example of sustainable design to house its research, national specimen collection, laboratory and technical administation facilities.

Consequently, the site planning, shell, fitout and servicing were designed to meet the long term social, economic, environmental and cultural requirements of Landcare Research and MAF, which also utilises part of the facility.

Maximum use is made of natural daylighting and ventilation and there is a highly insulated external shell. Combined with effective building servicing, including solar water heating, this has resulted in an extremely energy efficient solution.  In addition, the building minimises the use of water through the use of composting toilets and the harvesting of rainwater from roofs for glasshouse irrigation.

In general, renewable materials and those with low-embodied energy have been utilised. The National Australian Buildings Environmental Rating System (NABERS) was used to monitor sustainable performance throughout the design process. The projected rating of the final design is amongst the highest of all buildings evaluated within Australasia under the system.

For more information on this Chow:Hill project,
Email: maurice@chowhill.co.nz