Re-imagining the Gordon Wilson Flats
SANNZ, pictured here with Carol Herbert from Te Tāpui Atawhai Auckland City Mission (second from back left) and sponsors and judges, was the winning team for the second year running.
SANNZ’s Pōneke Pipe Park.
The teams competed at ECC in Grafton, Auckland.
Warren and Mahoney.
Architecture+Women.
Respond Architects.
RTA Studio.
Woods Bagot.
Paul Brown & Associates.
In 2007, architect Carl Elefante wrote: “The greenest building is the one that is already built.” With this in mind, the brief for this year’s Model Citizens competition, hosted by Architecture NZ and ArchitectureNow, was: “The application to remove Wellington’s iconic Gordon Wilson Flats (1959) from the Heritage Schedule was, according to some, paving the way for sledgehammers, wrecking balls and climate change issues. We ask you to use your making materials to re-imagine.”
Armed with Resene pails, which teams had filled with recycled materials from their studios during the run-up to the event, the groups were encouraged by the jury to be radical and brave in their thinking.
created a sculptural korowai-clad façade from paper bags, with its kinetic design generating energy and a vast central atrium looking up to an intricately woven ceiling. Architecture+Women’s fun-park-like project saw students run the gauntlet between wrecking balls in order to make it to the gondola to ferry them up the hill to their lectures. Paul Brown & Associates’ run on colour rivalled the Hindu festival of Holi, with its aptly-named Swatch Terraces student flats referencing the existing building’s famous balconies. After celebrating 25 years of RTA Studio, RTA created a vessel from its empty Moët bottles, atop pontoons that would rise and fall with any water inundation.
This year’s winner, SANNZ, toiled long and hard to resolve Wellington’s water issues, with its resulting Pōneke Pipe Park dealing to both water and sewage while also guaranteeing an impressive hike in the city’s rates. Warren and Mahoney’s laid-back, commune-like “place for people”, with a rooftop club, brought the vibes and the cool factor. And, finally, Respond Architects’ self-sufficient Hauora Home of Regeneration provided a predator-free environment for birds, insects and fish against a zen-like backdrop of rainforest and waterfalls.
Hosts ECC generously provided catering, and Resene and Kingspan sponsored teams and gave support. This year’s judges were Life Cycle Assessment specialist Francisco Carbajal, Te Kāhui Whaihanga NZIA Strategic Sustainability Advisor Rachel MacIntyre and Architecture NZ deputy editor Amanda Harkness. The $4000 in event proceeds once again went to Te Tāpui Atawhai Auckland City Mission.
