Words: Michael Barrett Images: Simon Devitt

The John Kinder Theological Library in Auckland.

Fraught with disaster is the road of cultural motif woven with building design. If you get it wrong, there’s a definite risk of coming across as patronising and, at worst, insulting. Still, there’s no shortage of architects and designers who are keen to run the risk and use symbolism as the link between edifice, community and place. The John Kinder Theological College is a project, I think, that succeeds with the restrained introduction of motif – almost against all odds, I think, as architect Malcolm Taylor of Xsite Architects begins relaying information about Maori weaving motifs overlaid with tartan. Aue, Jimmy!

South Elevation.

Entrance detail.

East Elevation.

The John Kinder Library is part of the Anglican campus at the St Johns Theological College, in Auckland, and as such it’s the library and archive for the Anglican Church in New Zealand and Polynesia. Its collection includes 90,000 books, DVDs, CDs and some older audio and videotapes, as well as both print and electronic copies of journals. The project undertaken by Xsite Architects was the refurbishment the existing building, which was designed by John Dancey in the late ‘70s.

That building, to my eye, was smartly designed (although Judith Bright, librarian and archivist for the church, does say that design was not “particularly adventurous”). It incorporates a number of interesting features, which remain today, such as a large central light well, impressive rimu beams that form a lattice on the ceiling, further rimu detailing around the light well, windows and doors, and opportunities for cross-ventilation, or in other words, operable windows.

Visitors to the library first experience the redesign work through slight changes to the building’s exterior form and more significant changes to the surrounding landscape. Boffa Miskell, the landscape architects have provided visitors with an easily understandable, intuitive course to the library’s front doors, and stepped lightly around the sacred ground of a nearby graveyard. Grey porcelain tiles lead the way towards the building, past public seating areas, and also continue into the building. The tiles alternate between smooth– and rough-faced, and the textures create a subtle motif.

Eastern side of the building with architect designed furniture and wooden louvres.

Outdoor tile detail.

Exterior.

“The new porcelain tiles reference a theme of weaving, alternating highly textured tiles with smooth surfaced tiles to create a pattern reflective of a Maori motif, Te Hikapuhi,” says Taylor. “This tile pattern features in the landscape design and condenses in the approach to the library, where it dominates the entry foyer before continuing into the main library space. The continuity of materials establishes a stronger relationship between the building and its surroundings.”

Entrance lobby.

New outdoor areas include a small deck connected to the building’s eastern side, allowing views towards Rangitoto Island. The application of fixed timber louvres to this side of the building has the dual effect of protecting the books from sun damage and directing the line of sight from the balcony to the view beyond. Other aesthetic treatments include plastering, and then colour matching,
the brown brick of the existing building to the Oamaru stone of the neighbouring Patterson Building.

Above the tiles through the library’s entranceway is a timber canopy, an arrangement of overlapping battens, which can also be read as a reference to weaving. The primary benefit of the canopy, as I understand it, is that it provides visitors with a sense of compression before they are released into the volume of the library. The arrangements of the overlapping timber battens, which are dual coloured, grey and dark brown, “speak of a traditional Maori thatching construction and strongly resembles a weaving pattern and basket of knowledge.”

That entrance experience is accentuated by the large light well, the sides of which were originally clad in a coated rimu. Taylor says the painters were somewhat aghast when he directed them to apply a clean white finish to the timber, but the rewards at stake were more reflected light and a lighter, less top-heavy atmosphere.

Ceiling light well.

Entrance foyer.

Interior of library.

Carpet detail.

Inside the main space, just past the futuristic electromagnetic security panels (yes, I guess even theology libraries need security systems) the ceramic tiles eventually give way to the carpet tiles that are a key orientation device. This is where Taylor’s tartan Pacific island mash-up comes into play. The design is complicated, pleasant, interesting, and a testament to the precision you can achieve with this style
of carpeting.

“The colours delineate circulation routes,” says Taylor. “They signify movement, and they’re also a symbolic reference to the cross and the colours of the church.

“In the main space we continued the weaving concept by alternating the orientation of the carpet tiles by 90 degrees to achieve the pattern in certain areas. At this stage we introduced another dimension – a European tartan pattern applied as an overlay onto the carpet layout. The tartan has a black base and an accent colour in continuous strips throughout the spaces. It’s a more modern influence and the colour coordination reflects the individual spaces and the different categories of books.”

The opportunity to cross-ventilate the building was an important step, recalls the architect, freeing up capital for use elsewhere. There are numerous other neat techniques throughout the building: the main body of the library isn’t air-conditioned, although the rearranged offices at the building’s perimeter are when needed. Taylor used a T-wall glass partition system to create these office areas, which also has the effect of creating a visual immediacy with staff members. It’s a “median of communication rather than a physical barrier between the student space and the staff space”. Staff actually lost space with the revised surrounds, but better arrangement of work desks provide them with better conditions. Lighting aisles between bookshelves is a problem in any library and Taylor’s solution in this instance was a series of zigzagging luminaries. The diagonal treatment designed to provide greater coverage.

To clean up the end of the rows of books, fascias of light metal were applied, a neat solution that meant that the expense of introducing a completely new shelving system could be avoided.

There’s plenty to like about this library, it’s a refined space with all the accoutrements required for modern study, including a 24-hour access information commons area and quiet study areas. It’s light, bright and subtly symbolic. There might be meaning there if you dig for it, but it’s not too literal. When it comes to symbolism at this library it’s a ‘take what you will’ experience, not a full-frontal assault.

Selected credits:

Client St Johns Trust
Architect Xsite Architects
Project Manager Davis Langdon
Fit-out contractor Robert Cunningham Construction
Services consultants Structure, Thorne Dwyer; mechanical, Thurston Consulting; electrical, ESC Services; fire, Coupeland Consulting; quantity surveyor, BQH; acoustics, Marshall Day
Landscape architect Boffa Miskell
Window/door joinery Commercial Glass
Architectural hardware Apsect Interiors; Halliday and Bailey
Glass Work and signage Harbour City Signs
Window treatments Ven-lu-ree
Paint Resene
Flooring GBS
Lighting Light Plan and Targetti
Light fittings Light Plan
Tiles and vinyl flooring Jacobsens
T-Wall system Aspect
Furniture Aspect Interiors; Camira; Pyramid; Cite; Xsite Architects (outdoor tables); Office Research; Gregory
Storage Aspect Interiors; Cemac
Textiles James Dunlop; Woven Image
Art Elana Prado; Eve Borley; John Kinder; Charlie McKenzie

Weaving – image sourced from: Raranga Whakairo, Maori Plaiting Patterns by Mick Pendergrast.

Desk detail.

Reception.

The inspiration for the entrance canopy was drawn from traditional and contemporary Maori basket weaving.

Circulation route.

Reading rooms.

Carpet pattern.

Bathroom, with ceiling device.

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Lecture theatre BLT 100 in the Biology Building of the University of Auckland, reworked by Stephenson & Turner.

The lecture theatre upgrade was part of a campus-wide upgrade. The university's biology building was designed by Pennsylvania-born Roy Alstan Lippincott in the early 1930s.

Architect Steve Hindley says that although the building is considered a heritage building, it isn't protected. However, the architecture and engineering firm, along with the university, wanted to restore the theatre in a manner that was sympathetic to the original. Superficially, this required stripping back some of the '80s revisions, such as upholstered seats and carpet. The undulating slatted-ceiling form hides services and draws eyes forward.

Slat seats, full-length kauri tops and cast-iron frames are some of the heritage aspects. A major driver for the project, however, was bringing the theatre up to modern education standards. The most fundamental design requirement was enabling all students to easily hear and see everything presented.

This project received an Award of Commendation in the IESANZ Lighting Awards 2009.

Selected credits

Architecture: Stephenson&Turner
Project manager: Property Services, University of Auckland
Electrical, mechanical and acoustics engineering: Stephenson&Turner
Heritage advice: Salmon Reed Architects
Structural engineer: Structure Design
Audio-visual consultant: Audiovisual Projects
Communication consultant: Division27
Builder: Keith Walker Construction
Seating refurbishment: Architectural Cabinetmakers and Joinery
Seating upholstery: Crest Furniture
Seating brakes: Otahuhu Engineering
Flooring: Crown Flooring
Acoustic ceiling tiles: Asona
Acoustic wall panels: Decortech
Motorised blackout blinds: New Zealand Window Shades

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Good Chemistry

With surgical precision Athfield Architects has created a 
new 'heart' for this medical school 
attached to Wellington Hospital. Words:Tommy Honey. 
Photography: Simon Devitt.

Athfield Architect's addition to the Wellington School of Medicine and Health. Photo © Simon Devitt

The Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences is part of the University of Otago but is attached to Wellington Hospital.  It caters to mostly 4th– and 5th-year students getting their clinical practice experience and has a busy post-graduate section.  For years it has been housed in the end of a block in the hospital and has lacked an identity of its own. Entry was via a zig-zagging external staircase to the second level and the interiors were 1970s hospital dismal.Athfield Architects were engaged to provide new premises for the school in the same location. There were two existing lecture theatres which had to relate to the new premises. The brief called for new undergraduate teaching spaces, student computer and study spaces and a new and extended library.  There was also to be a new student common room space and café and improved IT and staff spaces.  The school was looking for a positive and accessible environment for students, staff and visitors.  Most importantly they were after a legible address with a generous central space that would act as a multi-purpose social nexus or ‘heart’ for the school.

A sophisticated industrial aesthetic permeates the medical school. Concrete floors are polished, there are no suspended ceilings, and in communal areas there is plenty of access to natural light. Image © Simon Devitt

The team at Athfield was lead by John Hardwicke-Smith and included Sophie Vial, Nick Mouat, Monique van Alphen-Fyfe and Paul Cummick.  Together they came up with a new two-storey building that would extend out from the existing high-rise hospital block.  This in effect created three structures which were divided by two expressed axes.  These axes became the organising device for the planning.

Entry is along the East-West axis with the new building emerging on the right. This is a simple curving structure clad in curtain wall glazing. It is one of two ‘clip-ons’ with the other being at the end of this axis. The entry is generous with an open reception to the right, which is clad in part with embossed ecopanel, bringing textural relief to a busy area. At ground level this new building houses the staff areas, offices and IT area. Straight ahead is an open staircase leading up. The sides of the staircase are made of perforated metal which is actually an artwork by Simon Morris. At this ground level, the existing interior was gutted to create a much more open space without suspended ceilings, effectively exposing the building’s skeleton free of its tired and sagging flesh.  The design aesthetic is sophisticated industrial with perforated skins that play with light. The lifts are sheathed in galvanised metal and the concrete floor is polished.
At the eastern end of this axis is a student area with an outside deck.
The north-south axis forms the spine of the interior.  Columns like vertebrae march through here and on closer inspection it is revealed that this was once the separation of two buildings. The architects have surgically repaired this juncture, uncovering and redirecting services like ligaments and doing so with a specialist’s steady hand.  There is another stair here, also leading up.  There is also another Simon Morris commission with an artwork derived from the first, applied to the double-height wall.  Above the stair a new skylight floods the area with natural light.
On the left are new glass-walled study areas for student and staff use. On the other side of the corridor are more teaching rooms designed for small classes, fitted out with the latest technology for teaching. Some of the concrete exposed by the demolition has been polished with the remaining interior design being finished with a mix of plywood and ecopanel.
Upstairs are the new entries to the lecture theatres which have been upgraded inside and are now much more accessible than previously. There are more small teaching areas, break-out areas for students and a café. The North-South axis here is generous and a far cry from the claustrophobic corridors they replaced. The balustrade by the stairs is of vertical timber battens introducing a subtle rhythm to the promenade. Around the corner on the east-west axis, the battens are horizontal and hang in the ceiling space, floating above the stair.
The new library occupies much of this second floor and forms the upper part of the new building. The library interior is carefully and quietly composed with a mix of stacks, computers and quiet sitting areas which soften the space. The ceilings at the perimeter and some of the walls are made of eco-panel to soften the sound.  At the western end of the building are three cutback areas with full glazing with views over Newtown and small seating areas. The roof over the central part of the library is a ribbed laminated-beam structure with anthropomorphic imagery that is hard to avoid and yet is strangely comforting.

Body imagery abounds throughout this interior from the perforated skins of metal to the structure that has been stripped to the bone.  In less competent hands this could have been overdone and appeared trite, even offensive.  But here Athfields have known when to express the structure and when to leave it alone.  The anthropomorphism displayed is subtle, almost playful at times, and it has not served as a rigid design recipe.  The strength of the interior lies not in the stripping back but in the careful introduction of new layers: the perforated screens, the ecopanel (sometimes flat and grey; sometimes black and embossed like giant Braille). The colour panel is muted and grey, yet it is not cold or clinical. Simon Morris’s artworks reference the rest of the interior and are an excellent example of art that works with, not against, architecture and, by doing so, extends it. There is also a playful work called Land Buoy by a local artist Duncan Sargent that reminds us not to take art – or architecture – too seriously.
The Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences finally has a new home and one they should be proud of. Athfield Architects have sensitively integrated a rich interior into an awkward and hidden part of the hospital.

One of two existing lecture theatres that had to relate aesthetically to the new structure. Photo © Simon Devitt.

A vertical timber balustrade introduces a subtle rhythym mirrored by the horizontal battens in a segment of glass floor. Photo © Simon Devitt.

Three cutbacks in the western facade allow views over Newtown. Photo © Simon Devitt.

View over a smalll exterior deck. Photo © Simon Devitt.

Plan courtesy Athfield Architects.

Credits:

Client University of Otago
Architect Athfield Architects
Project manager Octa Associates
Building owner University of Otago, School of Medicine and Health Science
Fit-out contractor Naylor Love Construction
Services consultant Sinclair Knight Mertz
Graphic design visuals Moxie Design Group
Window joinery Altherm
Door joinery BDS Doors
Architectural hardware Sopers
Glass work Metro Glass; Ultra Glass
Window treatments Windoware
Paint Resene, Altex Coatings and Sikkens
Flooring Ontera; James Halstead Flooring NZ Ltd.
Workstation desks, chairs, cabinetry Kada; Hydestor; Redleaf Furniture and Kitchens
Waiting furniture UFL
Other furniture Thonet; Nu Image; Maxwood Manufacturing
Storage Hydestor
Textiles Woven Image; Vivid Textiles; Textile Mania
Signage Deneefe Signage
Specialist wall linings Woven Image Echo Panel
Feature art Simon Morris