Last night Niels ‘Shoe’ Meulman (NSM) opened his show at the Saatchi & Saatchi Gallery in Parnell. This solo exhibition is part of the ‘Upside Down Tour’ travelling Australia and New Zealand and will be open until 1 March.

Niels’ graffiti name ‘Shoe’ comes from early tags in his hometown Amsterdam, where he marked walls with the outline of a shoe.  As the pictograms were illegible he added ‘Shoe’ and his artistic identity was born. Later he became a professional Advertising Designer in Holland, alongside his nocturnal bombings.  His current design company, ‘Unruly’, says a lot about Shoe’s particular angle.  He combines classical script with graffiti, and that’s what we see in the show.

In the brief conversation I had with the artist he stressed that the tension between the ancient, controlled regularity of Gothic Blackletter and the joyous carelessness and spontaneity of graffiti is the core of Calligraffitti. I immediately thought of commercial architecture, which too often suffers from endless repetition of the ever-same cheap, pre-fabricated elements.  Isn’t it invigorating when a surprisingly ‘irrational’ edge finishes an otherwise mundane building?  Art loves to play with layers and paraphrases, ornamental, ironic or just entertaining, and imbue them with powerful new meaning. Bach’s fugues, jazz, or hip-hop wouldn’t exist without bringing fresh ideas and ingredients into the mix. Just as Shoe’s Calligraffitti might not happen without a Heineken in his free hand...

The centrepiece of NSMs exhibition was when he bombed a white wall in the gallery with audacious brushstrokes made with a broom. Knowing that it’s his ‘Upside Down Tour’, I flipped the tag to read:”Unruly”. This was the Meulman, the advertising designer. What I liked about this huge piece is that on closer inspection it reveals dozens more pictures, like images of the quantum world from a particle accelerator.

Check out NSM’s show at Saatchi & Saatchi’s, level 3, 123-125 The Strand, Parnell until 23 March 2012.

Stephenson&Turner will come back to graffiti and calligraphy later when we disclose our design for the Auckland Court Tribunal Centre; stay tuned.

For further information: NSM's website and the movies about him at home in Amsterdam or hitting Australia. Also don't forget to watch the video of his live painting.

- Posted 10 February, 2012

A brief look at the recent architecture of Latin America shows an amazing burst of creativity. A short while ago most of this continent was in a chokehold of authoritarian regimes or drug lords, which put all sorts of restraints on progress.  I believe that the universe continually expands to bigger and greater things, and in the same way mankind’s achievements become more and more outstanding.  Sometimes, however, this momentum is impeded for a time, and pressure builds up much like a natural river blocked by sediment and debris.  When the tension finally blows the dam, its energy is released in an overpowering deluge.

We see this playing out in history.  After their release from the tyranny of Nazism, the creativity of German architects was unleashed, pushing far beyond the orthodoxies of canonical pre-war Modernism.  Stamps issued in 1997 to commemorate great post-war architecture showcase pieces such as the Berlin Philharmonic, where Hans Scharoun assembled the audience around the orchestra; Gottfried Böhm's pilgrimage church in Neviges that took architecture of sacred places to a new level; Berlin’s New National Gallery, which marked Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's accomplishment in fusing Modernism with Classicism, and finally, Frei Otto's German pavilion at the Expo 1967 in Montreal, Canada, which demonstrated his attempt to adapt architectural structures to natural principles, thereby providing a dress-rehearsal for the Olympic roof structure in Munich 1972.

Something similar happened after Portugal and Spain overcame their authoritarian regimes in the mid 1970s. An overwhelming rise of creativity reinvigorated European architecture and urbanism, previously in an advanced state of decay. I remember being enthused by the fresh vigour emanating from buildings of Rafael Moneo, Alvaro Siza, and Alberto Souto de Moura.  For me there were two epiphanies in these countries’ history of architectural development; first, the re-emergence of Barcelona in the 1990s with its multitude of urban renewal projects at all scales, crisply architectural, and secondly the School of Porto.  Both hotspots displayed a locally-based, contemporary rationalism, unspoiled by the failure of Modernism in northern Europe.

And now we see the same liberation in Latin America, which in the process of breaking free from the dictatorships of sinister military governments and the captivity of drug barons. Instead we see adventurous new architecture evolving, inviting people to engage in the rebirth of civic life. We can see the young generation challenging the heavily-compromised status quo, as Chile students are currently demonstrating (more information here).  What I find most impressive is how the public spaces are leading the way to a new concept of society.  We find these zones of public expression either in the context of urban renewal or within educational and recreational complexes.

The city of Medellín, Colombia, once had the world’s highest crime rates.  Since the death of the drug lord Pablo Escobar and the disarmament of urban militias, public life is recovering.  The Hispanic love affair with the communal stroll, formerly expressed by Barcelona’s Las Ramblas in the 19th century, now re-emerges in places such as the Orquidearum of Medellín (JPRCR Arquitectos/plan:b arquitectura)  The Sports Coliseum for the IV South American games in the same city (Mazzanti Arquitectos/Plan:b arquitectura), creates a playful interpretation of the surrounding hilly landscape with its monumental roof trusses.

Carefully crafted volumes made of cheap materials contribute to an attentively scaled, humane social infrastructure even in poorer areas like Las Mercedes School also in Medellín (Juan Manuel Peláez-Friedel). A major aspect of the works seems to be the human scale.  On the occasions when buildings become part of a community identity, they can have monumental shapes, recognisable from afar; we see this in the España Library (Mazzanti Arquitectos) that towers above a shanty town.  These examples remind us that architectural interventions can be powerful tools to evoke civic pride.

I have rarely seen such respect for the landscape than shown in the recent architecture of Latin America.  The Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez Graduate Centre (Jose Cruz Ovalle) in Peñalolén, Chile, breaks the bulk of the building up into almost fluidly wound, superimposed ‘streams’, recalling the eroded Andes around it.  The Museum of Fine Arts in Cordoba, Argentina, (GGMPU Architects) displays a refined ‘dance’ with the trees and open spaces of an urban park.  On a small scale the Cururo house (Teresa Moller Asociados/FG Arquitectos) in Huentelauquén, Chile, is a perfect example of how to incorporate a spacious house into a pristine landscape.  In this case the collaboration of Landscape Architect (Moller) and FG Architects paid off in a building that is as archaic as it is contemporary; an intrinsic part of the land. The house was made to disappear, buried into a windswept plateau facing the Pacific coast.  If only this sensitivity to nature was the prevailing approach here in our own beautiful country!

In Mexico, the influence of the pre-Columbian legacy is apparent, for example in the Museum of Contemporary Art (Teodoro González de Leon) and Alberto Kalach’s Jose Vasconcelos Library (both buildings in Mexico City), with reference to bold  geometric shapes of ancient simplicity.  The School of Plastic Arts in Oaxaca (Rocha, Carrillo, Facio, Carrillo) has walls made of solid concrete cubes sourced from local aggregate, producing texture and colour that echo its setting.

Brazilian architecture is indebted to the legacy of Modernism and the hegemony of the old masters Paulo Mendes de Rocha and Oscar Niemeyer; the latter dominated the country's architecture since the 1930s. However, the evolving young talents build on the legacy by incorporating ecological aspects into their buildings.  Layered facades blur the boundaries between buildings and environment. The use of natural materials – often recycled – enrich the tactility of the buildings.

Interestingly the adventurous freshness of South American creativity has made an impression online as well. The blogs 'plataforma urbana' and 'plataforma arquitectura', founded by the Chilean architects David Basulto and David Assael, broke the mould by replacing well-established curators with engaged architectural geeks.  It became the most popular architecture website in the Spanish speaking world within two years. They repeated their success with New York based blog ‘ArchDaily’ on a global scale. These examples emphasise the potential in handing tools to young people instead of forcing them into obsolete approaches.

I'm fascinated by the new life in Latin America. I can see a powerful stream of creativity breaking free from meaningless concepts of bygone times.  The culture has been given new life, expression, and expansion.  This is a picture of hope; that even the grim, stifling power of dictatorships are doomed to finally surrender to man’s inherent, unstoppable creativity.

For further reading: Harvard Design Magazine 34 'Architectures of Latin America 2011'

Images taken from: Harvard Design Magazine 34; AV Monografias 138 ‘Latin America 2010’; AV Proyectos 001 2004; Martorell, Bohigas, Mackey, Puigdomenech, Barcelona 1992 The Olympic Village, Gustavo Gili, Barcelona 1991; Stamps from Deutsche Bundespost 1997

Over the past six months we've been dabbling in some in-house video production. We're working up a bit of a collection. Visit our Vimeo site to see them!

Topics include:

• "What drives us?" - Principal Bernd Gundermann discusses about our core strengths as a firm including BIM Cloud Technology (3 videos)

• S&T Lighting - Principal Glen Wright talks about what's new in the world of lighting technology and how we use it to create inspirational environments. 

• Sea Level Rise - the challenges facing every coastal community over the next 100 years will be significant - see some Auckland University masters students' solutions for Auckland

• Our award-winning opening ceremony speeches from some prominent guests 

• Michael Warwick describes his trip to the US Solar Decathlon and about the First Light team (for which S&T were sponsors)

• Our work on the Paihia Waterfront Master Plan was a hugely successful, collaborative project

Arch Daily, the world's most visited architecture website, has recently featured two S&T projects. Click on the links below to see the articles

Harbour View

Biosciences Centre Extension at the University of Auckland

- Posted on Feb. 2, 2012

AECCafe.com, the number one web portal for the architectural, engineering and construction market, has just featured a story on S&T's Wellington Design Studio.

Check it out here.

- Posted on Jan. 27, 2012

About 200 years ago Rossini’s comic opera “The Barber of Seville” entered the stage.  It looks like the city is now producing its own urban drama, centring around the controversial design of a skyscraper.

Seville is a classic Spanish city with a labyrinthine urban tissue made up of castle-like houses with cosy patios, plazas and numerous churches.  The whole is dominated by the cathedral, which had been a mosque before the 13th century when Andalusia was Christianised.  A look at the city council’s website makes it clear that they are comfortable with embracing contemporary architecture alongside the historical legacy; for example Jürgen Mayer H’s amazing Metropol Parasol (see the post on ArchDaily here). 30 years ago Pritzker laureate Rafael Moneo sensitively, subtly integrated an office building into the historic context.  Clearly Seville can achieve bold, yet well-resolved architectural statements in harmony with the city.   However, Cesar Pelli’s latest creation manifests what happens when an urban gem like Seville allows the financial industry to dominate its appearance, artfully crafted over centuries, by a banal monstrosity.

Commissioned by Cajasol (a savings bank), Pelli is building a high rise office tower of 180.5 m height, twice as tall as the apex of the city’s historic landmark Giralda, the gothic cathedral. The architect won a competition in 2006 to construct the tower, which at the moment is half way up. The trouble is that the central part of the old town district of Seville is protected as World Heritage by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) and they have warned that the city will lose its status of World Heritage, if they allow the Pelli tower to continue to plan. The report, prepared by the Icomos group (International Council on Monuments and Sites) and presented last Thursday (19 Jan 2012), states that the skyscraper  "certainly has a excessive negative impact" in the "buffer" of 187 acres surrounding the protected core area of 12 hectares, which includes the Cathedral, Alcazar and the Indian archives.

Ironically, looking at the current state of Spain’s economy, it’s quite possible that Cajasol might welcome a bailout of this EUR 353m investment. We’ll know more after the next UNESCO conference in May.

In Rossini’s opera Rosina finally got married to the Count as his rival stepped aside, consoled with a handsome payout. I hope that a similarly diplomatic solution will be found in Seville as well - its own comic opera in urban development.

For further interest:

UNESCO Docs

The projects of the new financial centre of Seville

Posted 25 Januar 2012

Just before the break I received the latest issue of the Spanish magazine Arquitectura&Viva (A&V), which exclusively dealt with Chinese architecture executed by Chinese architects. We’re all used to see the prolific works of the “starchitects”, creating icons of contemporary architecture. The 2008 Olympic Games were an exhibition of the latest craze in style and magnitude. Renderings of various projects for Ordos 100 in Inner Mongolia, another example, are widely publicised.  A&V shows a view of the model with all the little icons thrown at the poor landscape; it looks like a railway accident, which demonstrates an obsession with individualism lacking any archetypal common sense.

So it was quite a revelation for me to realise that a home-grown generation of Chinese colleagues has – in my opinion – quietly developed a Chinese architecture deeply rooted in local context and tradition. The magazine features twelve projects located all over the country.

Amateur Architecture Studio, founded 1998 by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu in Hangzhou (150km west of Shanghai), is presented in the magazine with their Xiangshan campus. I think their choice of materials and the sensitive integration of the fairly large buildings is masterful. Even such mundane detail as egress routes are matched to the serene shape of the roofs. Did we forget the design potential of a roof shape because we succumbed to the modernist banality of the flat roof? After their grunty Ningbo Historical Museum from 2005 the campus shows the architects being attentive and bold at the same time.

Lei Tao Architect built this house for a prolific artist in the northeast Chinese town of Benxi. It’s composed of buildings that are intricately interwoven and comprise three courtyards; a re-interpretation of a traditional theme in Chinese architecture.

Shanghai-based Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, founded in 2004, shows The Waterhouse at South Bund Hotel, a cool conversion of an old colonial building into a boutique hotel, which creates a tension between old and new by choice and treatment of the material.

StandardArchitecture&Zhao Yang Studio present their Niyang River visitor Centre in Daze (Tibet); a tiny structure built of local stone which blends it into its surrounding perfectly. The expressive openings of the distorted, soft-edged pavilion are contrasted with bold colours, rendering the building cheerful and contemporary despite its ancient stone walls.

Urbanus’ circular apartment building in Guangzhou is derived from the traditional Tulou houses. Whereas they were supposed to protect the inhabitants from bandits, this modern version creates a quiet, introverted environment, set apart from the urban chaos around. The Kahn-like, precise geometry organises tightly balanced spaces for social interaction.  

The community centre, which was created by Zhang Lei & AZL Architects in Yangzhou, comprises an assembly of small gabled ‘houses’. For me this project demonstrates that the aim for comprehensiveness within a collective form is possible in contemporary Chinese architecture. We can hope there won’t be too many Ordos in future.

My impression from reading this magazine was that China might soon dismiss the western model of architecture because they won’t need it anymore. In the shadow of the iconic mega-projects of the last decades, such as OMA’s CCTV headquarters, emerging talents may change the basis of Chinese architecture. Many Chinese architects have been educated in the best western universities, so they are familiar with the western model, but at the same time are aware of the rich tradition of their country and are starting to fuse both into an evolving, fascinating, next-generation Chinese architecture.

All images from Arquitectura&Viva #150, Made in China, Madrid 2011

- Posted Jan. 23, 2012

STRATUS BIM Cloud is a Private Cloud technology developed by S&T’s ICT Department that delivers high performance BIM application sessions over LAN and WAN connections to any device.

The STRATUS Cloud solution is built upon proven technology platforms that have been tested and improved over 2 years of operational use with S&T.

S&T is now taking registrations of interest from companies that are looking to establish their own Private BIM Clouds.  S&T is able to provide consulting advice and plan technology solutions to enable organisations to deploy their own STRATUS BIM Cloud.

Please contact Des Pudney for further information or to arrange a STRATUS demonstration. The benefits of the STRATUS BIM Cloud platform include:

Benefits

• Collaboration Over Long Distance: Run a BIM application and access your BIM project files regardless of distance.
• Device Independence: Use any device using the STRATUS Remote Connector.
• Session Portability: Start a session at work; finish it at home, jobsite or hotel.
• Travel Reduction: Staff remain in their office rather than travel to remote sites.
• Costs: The marginal cost of adding a STRATUS server is ~$10K
• Secure: Sessions are isolated from the host protecting them from malware.
• Ubiquitous Access: All that is required is internet access.
• Scalable: More servers + more licenses = more sessions.

ROI Factors

• Enables true BIM collaboration for geographically separated team members.
• Enables BIM projects to be run more efficiently.
• Reduce hardware costs.
• Enables higher utilisation rates for system resources and application licenses.
• Simplifies Site-office/remote-staff setup.
• Reduce VPN requirements.
• BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer)including Android/iPads.
• Disaster Recovery options.

Click here to download a pdf of the STRATUS BIM Cloud Product Overview.

Connect with us on our Linked In STRATUS page.

The Summer 2011 issue of S&T's biannual newsletter, Outlines. Subjects include:

• S&T Wellington Design Studio
• Paihia Master Plan
• S&T Lighting
• U.S. Solar Decathlon & First Light House
• Coastal Challenge 2: Design for a Restless Landscape
• Facelift for Wellington Heritage Building (AMP Society Building)
• Fire Engineering for the RWC Fanzones
• Sustainable Design - an engineer's headache?

The best design solutions are those which evolve out of a joint venture between users, inhabitants and planners where urban designs are enhanced by local knowledge of a community’s specific needs.

S&T have been privileged to work on a truly collaborative project with Paihia, a bustling little seaside town with a rich history and flourishing tourist economy. The goal was to create a new plan with a focus on delivering a unique sense of place for the town with a contemporary maritime feeling and enhanced connection between the land and sea.

This unique and exciting project also provided the opportunity for a design retreat in the Bay of Islands for our architectural team. Seven designers spent a weekend on location gathering data, developing ideas and discussing plans with community leaders to further hone concepts for the plan. Overall there was a high degree of commonality in the solutions developed by the team. The process itself was enjoyable and involved full engagement and communication between designers and client.

Feedback from this workshop was then worked into a presentation which was opened up to the community for comment. With an overwhelming positive response from the Paihia public the plan was launched on Sunday 27 November and has three stages (5, 10 and 15+ year plans) providing stepping stones toward a transformational outcome.

The Master Plan provides a future ‘look and feel’ for Paihia, however, as with all good long-term planning, the staged design retains flexibility to meet the changing needs of the growing community.

We look forward to working with the Focus Paihia group in seeing this fantastic plan to fruition and to meeting their goal of becoming the number one tourist destination in the country!

For more information on the Paihia Master Plan or how S&T can help reinvigorate urban areas elsewhere, please contact Ken Stanton at kstanton@stephensonturner.com or 09 920 9510.

Thanks to S&T’s fire engineers and several event organisers it’s good to know that festivities surrounding the recent Rugby World Cup were not only fun, but safe. Michael Dixon and his team carried out fire safety reviews of temporary structures created for specific events, including the Fanzones for the RWC, Cirque du Soleil and structures erected for seasonal functions like the Winter Garden at Wynyard Quarter. These structures range from simple marquees to inflatable buildings, some with a combination of rigid and flexible coverings.

Depending on the size and type of event, most of these structures required a building consent and part of that process is a fire safety review. Fire reviews focus particularly on the occupancy numbers and egress provisions, but also look at the flammability of the fabrics used.  Some projects included temporary seating that required temporary installations of manual fire alarms, signs, or emergency lighting.  S&T’s fire engineers carry out these reviews to the building code requirements and liaise closely with the Fire Service to ensure requirements under the Evacuation Regulations are met.

Partygoers and event organisers were able to relax and enjoy the festivities thanks to the efforts of that went in beforehand to ensure the public’s safety.

For more information on conducting fire safety reviews for your future event, please contact Michael Dixon at 09 920 9500 or mdixon@stephensonturner.com.

Design trends for modern buildings are setting high expectations for comfort, amenity, and sustainability. The emphasis on open spaces, indoor-outdoor flow, and open roofs and galleries, is creating a lot of complexity for engineers responsible for air flow and ventilation.

The first task is to analyse airflow through a building.  Sophisticated computer modelling is required to give reliable predictions of the interaction between natural and artificial ventilation. When the ventilation systems are a component of fire safety design, the reliability of engineering predictions becomes a life safety issue.

There is a growing awareness of the complexity of analysing air flow in a building under such conditions, and the need for peer review to ensure the robustness of design. These are not limited to Building Consent applications; phrases such as “Sanity Check” are creeping into briefs – a slightly desperate sounding term showing how much planning effort is required.

With both fire and mechanical engineers on our team, S&T is well-placed to review the interaction of engineering systems.  Some of the conflicts we find ourselves addressing include:

Occupied spaces immediately adjacent to an atrium may be subject to poor air flow if the occupied space ceiling zone and/or atrium are used as return air paths. These spaces may also be subject to noise intrusion from atrium activities and/or mechanical plant in the atrium. Fixed openings in the perimeter of the building for natural ventilation (as part of a mixed mode solution) may allow short circuiting of air flow when mechanical ventilation is used, and may (by short circuiting) reduce the effectiveness of a smoke extract in the atrium. Stephenson&Turner’s engineers offer a one stop shop for peer reviews and original design requiring close interaction between fire and mechanical systems.  For more information please contact Paul Taylor at 09 920 9512 or ptaylor@stephensonturner.com.

New technologies are transforming the world of lighting –  a world where the shape of light is limited only by the imagination and where a myriad of colours can transform a space and enhance performance and mood.

To further S&T’s passion for creating inspirational lighting environments, Principal Glen Wright has established S&T Lighting which brings together a group of experienced, award-winning lighting designers. The uniqueness of our lighting designers is that they live in an architectural and engineering environment where there’s a cross pollination of architecture and engineering and a mix of aesthetic and technical skills. They know how to integrate, control and power light, and they know how to utilise daylight as well as artificial light.

Through S&T Lighting we aim to lift the bar on lighting, to enable our clients and the users of their buildings to experience light at its most effective. For this to happen, lighting concepts need to be established early on in the creative process so they become an integral part of building design, instead of just an add-on at the end. Lighting can be used to make people feel special, to attract pedestrians into a space, to guide, to entertain, to stimulate and to provide security and comfort.

New opportunities in lighting technology include LED, OLED, DALI and T5 HO. There are also huge strides being made in sustainable lighting and our Green Star  Accredited Professionals are actively learning about and pursuing new technologies in this field.

As a demonstration of our commitment to produce high quality and innovative lighting designs we had five entries in this year’s IESANZ New Zealand Chapter Lighting Awards. These included the urban landscape lighting for Midland Park, office lighting for our new Wellington Design Studio, residential lighting for the First Light solar house, education lighting for Auckland University Thomas Building and foyer lighting for Harbour View Apartments. The Wellington Design Studio won two IESANZ awards while the First Light project won the engineering section of the US Department of Energy’s International Solar Decathlon.

If you were disappointed with the lighting on a past project, you feel that there was on opportunity lost, or you have a lighting concept or objective you would like to see implemented please don’t hesitate to contact Glen Wright at gwright@stephensonturner.com or call 04 894 4723.

In challenging economic times New Zealanders are, more than ever, acknowledging the economic and sustainability benefits of renovation versus building new. It is encouraging see building owners are not only saving money and reducing the amount of extra waste that ends up in our landfills, but they are also preserving and protecting the cultural heritage of our country by restoring buildings of historical importance.

The AMP Society Building at 86 Customhouse Quay in Wellington is a great example of this. The AMP Society Building at 86 Customhouse Quay in Wellington is a great example of this. After a year on site the final finishing touches have been made and the last of the scaffolding has come down to reveal the glory of the building’s freshly refurbished façade.  Designed by architects Clere and Clere, the AMP Society Building carries a Category I listing with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and several protections under the Wellington City Council District Plan. It is also one of the very few examples of a Sydney Sandstone building in New Zealand.

Having stood since 1928 with minimal exterior maintenance, it is no surprise that the building façade was showing significant signs of deterioration by its 80th birthday. The exterior of the building was generally stained and in need of cleaning and repointing in its entirety.  Excessive water ingress through horizontal surfaces, via failed pointing and broken masonry, was the main cause of deterioration. This resulted in the formation of crusts which were spalling and breaking away, and also caused significant staining, efflorescence, swelling and blistering of the stone. There were also significant areas of mechanical damage and microbiological growth, and concerning patterns of cracking developing on one façade which indicated a problem with the structural steel beneath.   

Restoration work followed the production of a detailed Façade Condition Report a number of years ago that assessed each stone and made recommendations for repair. In 2009 the building owners agreed to carry out façade refurbishment works to prevent ongoing exponential decay of the building fabric. After sourcing supply of closely-matching Sydney Sandstone and an expert stone masonry firm, Traditional Stonemasonry Ltd, to carry out the refurbishment works, work commenced in September 2010.

The façade restoration works undertaken have included:

• Dismantling and removal of cracked sandstone to determine the cause of damage
• Treatment of structural steel behind cracked stone
• Replacement of cracked or damaged stone with new Sydney Sandstone
• Dismantling and removal of terra cotta pieces to determine the cause of damage
• Production of moulds and new terra cotta pieces to affect repair, made in the UK
• Dressing back of stones where significant surface damage was evident but replacement was not required
• Complete cleaning and repointing of the building
• Installation of lead weatherings to all horizontal surfaces to prevent ongoing water ingress
• Colouring of the new stone and dressed-back areas to match existing stone

Significant repair work was also undertaken to the statue atop the corner of the building, a painted copper replacement of the marble original that was in notably bad condition.  Investigations were made to determine how the statue had been formed, what was inside it, and how best to repair it.  These investigations revealed that the statue had been made in three pieces that were fitted over a steel frame and, once assembled, had been largely back-filled with concrete.  The steel frame was therefore rusting, placing pressure on the concrete which, in turn, was placing pressure on the copper, causing screws to pop out and joints to open. 

Repair works to the statue included:

• Removal of the front entablature panel including loose lettering
• Cutting-back of the concrete fill
• Excavation of corroding steel reinforcement
• Installation of a new section of steel frame
• Repair to damaged letters and popped screws
• Clearing and refilling of the two major joints in the statue
• Removal of all loose and flaking paint and sealing of these areas
• Complete repainting of the statue

The project will be completed with the handover of documentation recording all the alterations made, and recommendations for cyclical maintenance. 

It has been a privilege for S&T to lead this work, ensuring one of Wellington’s most unique and significant heritage buildings is conserved for years to come.

For more information on S&T’s work on historic building renovations, please contact Chessa Stevens at cstevens@stephensonturner.com or 04 894 4750.

In the June issue of Outlines we discussed the issue of climate change and the increasing threat of sea level rise on large urban centres like Auckland and Wellington.

Since then S&T Principal Bernd Gundermann, a Professional Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland, led a seminar for Masters students at the School of Architecture and Planning tackling this relevant issue. The challenge he posed to students was to envisage Auckland in one hundred years time with a significant rise in sea level and then to propose ways to reshape selected coastal areas.

The class explored the outcomes of recent research, primarily at Princeton University and Duke University in the United States. These studies reveal differing approaches. The Princeton studies focus more on the resilience of the metropolitan centres through the use of soft interventions along the shoreline, while the Duke studies recommend a retreat from affected coastal areas. Essentially it becomes a decision between ‘fight or flight’ in the face of relentless natural forces.

Scientific data from Dr. Mark Dickson, a prolific geomorphologist from the School of Environment at the University of Auckland, provided some perspective on the issue of climate change, going back more than 20,000 years to when the sea was 120 meters below where it is today. Science shows that the surface of our planet is ever-changing, subject to forces of erosion which are far beyond our abilities to influence or control. Four options therefore emerge for dealing with sea level rise:

• Do nothing
• Hard engineering: ”Hold the line!”
• Soft engineering: “Advance the line!”
• Retreat and relocate: “Retreat the line!”

Seminar students chose to apply the latter two concepts, and their response was both refreshing and engaging. Having grown up in an increasingly mobile lifestyle, their individual visions show adaptive and flexible ideas. Solutions ranged from the pragmatic to those almost verging on science fiction. They are a demonstration of the power of unrestrained thinking applied to a potentially devastating problem. How encouraging it is to see young minds seeking opportunities for growth and change, rather than being intimidated by the problems and challenges facing the planet! These case studies envisage an urban future behind safe coastlines and strengthen New Zealand’s leadership in the worldwide efforts to meet the challenge of climate change.

“It is encouraging that the emerging generation of architects, witnesses of the disasters of Christchurch, are open to take our urban culture to the next level. Driven rather by their adventurous spirit than by despair, they have evidenced that they can assess the problem and tackle it on a professional level. All of them love Auckland, their hometown, but they’re able to envisage a new vessel for urban life beyond the threat of climate change and sea level rise. Having seen their results I’m far from being afraid, I’m looking forward to sea level rise!” – Bernd Gundermann

We continue to welcome your thoughts and ideas on how we can create environments for the future.  For more information, please contact Bernd Gundermann at 09 914 6093 or bgundermann@stephensonturner.com.

S&T's Wellington Design Studio won two awards at the IESANZ Lighting Design Awards on Friday night. This annual event was attended by more than 250 industry professionals and clients. The awards were:

• Energy Efficiency Awards – Award of Excellence
• Lighting Design – Award of Commendation

The judges comments: “The design uses good integration of daylight and artificial lighting into the space using intelligent control and energy efficient luminaires”

Congratulations to lighting designer, Michael Warwick, and the entire lighting team for a year of fantastic lighting projects!

- Posted 7 Nov , 2011

On Friday I visited the University of Auckland's School of Architecture to critique the work of the architectural design class of Camia Young and Derek Kapiti. The class had studied issues surrounding Christchurch and how it should recover from the devastation of the earthquakes earlier this year.   To be honest, I was half expecting emotional discourses on this destroyed gem of New Zealand’s heritage. Instead I came away thrilled by the amazing insights these students came up with and the outstanding creativity this emerging generation is showing. The engaging presentations showcased groundbreaking new thinking on the macro-level of urban design. Four groups of students began with the topic of "what is," instead of "what was" and made the Christchurch earthquakes and its destruction an opportunity for a new city of the 21st century to unfold, exploring:

• Structural responses to soil conditions
• Overarching green strategies for transport, energy and water supply, or urban interconnectivity
• The shopping malls as generators of urban identities
• Real-time urban development control applying field theory.

This last point really affected me, as there are many aspects in urban development that can be defined as field conditions in an ever-changing environment rather than by our usual deterministic zoning laws. Envisioning urban agents, such as houses, apartments, warehouses, distances, climate or noise conditions, environmental issues, as self-adjusting parameters of planning gives way to a performative interpretation of city and architecture. Scripting a city can work but what about the human factor, the emotions? The critiques and the students also discussed the influence of the internet on the city of the future, and how working on mobile devices could negate daily commutes. They tackled subjects like whether introverted shopping malls can turn outwards and contribute to the public realm and asked questions like: "Is sprawl evil or part of New Zealand’s lifestyle?" Others asked whether Robert Moses has been rehabilitated and, if so, what role will Jane Jacobs then play? This is all exciting and necessary content to explore before Christchurch can take action. After having seen the students' work I’m convinced that there is hope for Christchurch. The past might be lost to a certain extent but there is a future to be won.  The youth has the privilege of looking forward - to forge new ways into the tomorrow. And this work doesn't only concern Christchurch, but all of our cities! Congratulations Camia and Derek in leading this class to open up and expose fresh ideas to the radically new paradigms of the urban future. For more information please visit their blog and take an adventure into the future of our urban environments.

- Posted Oct 26, 2011

Sometimes I get asked what my favourite piece of German architecture is.  My response is always the sports park of the Olympic summer games 1972 in Munich.   

Situated in a crisp green park, the structure emerges as a mirage of silvery hills behind the lake.  An array of slender pylons surrounds a drama of transparent, shimmering spider webs that cover grandstands and sports venues.  

Munich won the Olympic bid in 1966, and a year later Gunter Behnisch (1922-2010) won the architectural competition for the central sports venues.   His team was joined by Frei Otto (1925- ), the structural pioneer of the ‘hovering roof’, and the landscape designer Günther Grzimek (1915-1996).  Great architecture – in my opinion – happens when great minds join forces.  At the time of the competition, nobody had any idea of how to construct a hovering roof; Frei Otto was just about experiment with the much smaller German pavilion for the Expo in Montreal.  The chairman of the jury, Egon Eiermann (1904-1970), however, convinced his team - including representatives of the German government - to choose this design.   Today, opting for such a risky choice would be unlikely, but the 1970s were all about new and futuristic design, and the Olympic sports complex was the materialisation of that vision.

The organisers outlined the character of the games and the venues before the competition. They aimed for an ‘Olympiad in the green’ and the architects were to create an ‘Olympic landscape.’The idea of merging the sports venue with the landscape led the designers away from traditional roofs to the more open, free-form ‘umbrellas’; one thing led to the other.

The site contained a hill of debris from the air-raids of the former airfield, as well as a flood over path.  These features were incorporated into the landscape scheme. They dammed the flow path to become a lake surrounded by the re-modelled artificial ridge continued by the tent roof.  This roof-landscape later became the icon of the games.  Günther Grzimek, the landscape designer, explained: “Its shape has been developed toward an aesthetic of the natural, like a humane ecology, in order to allow the users for a maximum of self-actualisation.”

Günter Behnisch, the architect, who was drafted to the navy at the age of 17, hated dictatorship and its expression through grave, formal architecture.  He developed a deliberate ‘free-flow modernism’ of light-weight buildings.  Avoiding the appearance of bulk and weight as much as possible, he nestled the grandstands into the mould of the landscapes, much like the ancient Greek amphitheatres, and sheltered them with floating tensile sails. As all the heavy building components were hidden underground, the overall effect is light and serene.

The 80,000 m2 roof structure became Frei Otto’s masterpiece. He loved to soar in light-weight planes and already had an interest in membranes and tensile structures before he had to serve as young combat pilot in the war.  Published in 1954, his doctorate thesis “The suspended roof” explored the nature of tensile roof structures.  He began researching biology and building in 1961 and founded the Institute for Lightweight Structures in Stuttgart in 1964. Frei Otto was the only person who could possibly execute the titanic task of this roof.   International professionals were highly doubtful of the project, especially in light of the youthful nature of the engineering team (the oldest was aged 33).

Incredibly, they achieved it in just four years.  Despite the angst directed at them, driven by pure dedication, the team created a cluster of buildings and structures that almost defy the impossible.  I believe that when this happens, things become inherently beautiful. The tensile roofs are the epitome of structural engineering and – at the same time – supremely graceful. Reminiscent of Hitler’s Olympic games of 1936, the country wished to demonstrate that it had found its way back into the humane civilisation.  They hoped to deliver a colourful, serene event, one that showcased Germany both as a leader and as a good neighbour.

The graphics for the Olympics were designed by the pacifist Otl Aicher (1922-1991). He had refused to join the Hitler-youth, became imprisoned, supported the resistance against the regime, and finally deserted from the Wehrmacht.  After the war he studied sculpting and became a co-founder of the famous School of Design in Ulm in 1953, succeeding Bauhaus.  Otl Aicher designed the entire visual display including plans, programs, signage, tickets, and posters (http://www.1972municholympics.co.uk/index.php). He created the sports pictograms which have been benchmarked ever-since. Everything radiated a cheerful order (it’s still Germany!).

The era at the beginning of the 70s was the luckiest I can remember.  Dreams had become true. Man could walk on the moon.  Modern technology seemed to solve every problem.  There was unspoiled optimism everywhere – I felt entirely at home.  But my naïve teenage dream was doomed.

On the 5th of September 1972, a shadow was cast when a Palestinian terror group took the Israel sports team hostage; Germany’s history had reared its head again. The helpless attempts of the completely flatfooted German police ended in a disastrous butchery.  Terrorism would continue to overshade the rest of the 1970s and further.  In the same year as the Olympic Games, the Club of Rome published ‘The Limits to Growth’, computer-modelling the effects of unleashed population growth; of the exploitation of resources and the disastrous consequences of pollution.  1973 saw the oil-embargo of the Arabian countries, and ‘car-free Sundays’ with empty motorways.  The 70s dream had come to its conclusion and the games had been its fanfare.

Today, after almost four decades, the trees of the Olympic landscape accentuate an architectural park which – to me – represents the most advanced peak of post-war Modernism.  Compared with Beijing, even today Munich seems to me to be greener, more visionary.  Reflecting on this from New Zealand, I wonder when we too will seek after architecture that works with, and not against, the natural landscape.   This is our vision of the future. 

It was a beautiful evening to celebrate the best of New Zealand design on the Auckland waterfront last Friday. The DINZ Best awards ceremony was held in the newly-opened Viaduct Events Centre with the who's who in NZ design in attendance. 

Comedian Dai Henwood was the MC and Mayor Len Brown also made an appearance talking about the new Auckland Plan and how designers will be an important part of making real the vision to make this the most livable city in the world.

In a year with some particularly tough competition, we're proud of our team winning a Silver Award for the S&T Wellington Design Studio. Congrats team!

- Posted 10 Oct., 2011

Check out the October 2011 issue of Wellington Today which features our 6 Star Green Star Interiors Wellington design studio.

- Posted Oct. 2011