By Studio Pacific Architecture
Studio Pacific was the winner of a design competition for the Royal Society of New Zealand Thorndon campus. The brief for this project was to accommodate all staff and facilities, which were previously dispersed among four buildings on the site, in one building.
To achieve this, the existing two-storey office building, Science House, was refurbished and a third level added on. Perpendicular to this, a new annex building or ‘black box’ has been constructed at the front of the site. This houses conference and meeting facilities. At their collision, a glazed linking foyer forms a three floor atrium gallery space.
The existing and new buildings are configured in an L-shape and border a private garden space for Royal Society staff and conference visitors. A public space, Science Plaza, is created on the Murphy St frontage that will act as the platform for science fairs and the promotion of science.
The stripped back aesthetic plays on a narrative of reduction and addition of space; the building has been carved and sculptured, both on the skin and within the body of the building.
Delivered successfully within a tight budget, the design follows a ‘whole building’ environmental engineering approach, integrating architectural and structural elements, and using climate responsive design to achieve a highly efficient green building.
Photography: Patrick Reynolds
Shaping Our Pacific Future – We are a cross-disciplinary architecture, interior, landscape and urban design practice shaping a more sustainable and people-centric built environment across the buildings, neighbourhoods, cities, and landscapes of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Studio Pacific was established in 1992 by friends and colleagues Evžen Novák, Nick Barratt-Boyes, and Stephen McDougall. After working in the UK and Europe, the three architects were drawn back home by a shared desire to form a collaborative and innovative practice in Te Whanganui-a-Tara – Wellington.
They opened an architecture studio ‘of the Pacific’, applying their creativity to projects that engaged with, and elevated, context and culture. Over the years, this has grown into a compelling manifesto to shape our collective Pacific future, where people and the planet are at the heart of our built environment.
Today, we are a team of around 100 – including architects, urban designers, landscape architects, interior designers and business professionals. We bring diversity in thinking and design, and a democratic culture ensures clever ideas come from all corners of the practice, not necessarily from those who have been here the longest.
Open-minded, collaborative and creative, our practice has evolved into a leading and award-winning business, working on a wide range of exciting projects that seek to make Aotearoa New Zealand a better place.