RTA Studio: Coming home to work
A glance past the rough timber walls into the quite work stations.
Entry kitchen and breakout space.
Workstations and breakout space.
The kitchen space hosting a team meeting.
East elevation.
The studio with its doors open on a warm day.
Outdoor social space, where doors open to let nature flow through the work spaces.
The collaborative workspaces in use.
A waiting space filled with relics of the original building, such as the switchboard.
Outdoor space, where trees were planted to foster a continuous connection to nature.
RTA Studio’s move from Auckland Central was an opportunity to create a new home for its team. After working across three disconnected levels with limited lunch rooms, poor acoustics, and a layout that limited collaboration, RTA set out to find a space that better reflected the studio. The new studio space needed to foster the wellbeing of people, place and culture.
The brief was developed collaboratively through group sessions and confidential team surveys. The idea was simple: Come home to work. Staff wanted to be on one level, with access to public transport. The new studio needed areas designed for faster communication, better knowledge-sharing and supportive interactions. The space needed to welcome clients and consultants, connect with nature and express the studio’s values socially, culturally and environmentally. It was to include 34 workstations, meeting rooms, breakout areas, a social kitchen, a dedicated design space, and an outdoor courtyard. Key to the brief was producing and maintaining a space conscious of its carbon footprint.
The former engineering workshop at 7 McDonald Street in Morningside offered the ideal framework for RTA Studio’s brief, aligning with their goal of repurposing instead of rebuilding. With a 475m2 floor and an additional 29.85m2 shed, it was large enough for every team member to work in-office from an ideal locations for public transport access — futhering RTA’s goal of reducing their carbon footprint.
RTA led the interior design and worked closely with building owner Jack McKinney on the exterior of the building. Key characteristics of the original building were retained to showcase its industrial heritage — exposed concrete wall panels and bricks in both the exterior and interior, gantry beams, hoists, chains, and the concrete floor remained intact — while new partitions, linings, cabinetry, and surfaces transformed the site into a thermally and acoustically practical architectural studio. Reuse was central to the design approach, both to reduce carbon and to reflect the ethos RTA promotes in practice. Even the old switchboard was saved from being sent to landfil by being repurposed as a sculptural tribute to the site’s history.
To bring in natural light and improve ventilation, new openings were added to the building’s façade. The rich patina of the existing concrete floor was preserved, while a palette inspired by the red oxide primer once spattered across it informed the warm, robust material choices. Terracotta and oranges are utilised throughout to balance the cooler tones of the concrete and bricks. Rough-sawn Douglas fir linings and a perforated metal acoustic ceiling introduced texture and comfort. A timber “crate” structure was built into the north side of the space, containing meeting rooms, bathrooms, quiet workspaces and a waiting area. This intervention provides acoustic and spatial separation while maintaining a sense of openness across the floor. Overhead, a perforated corrugated iron roof nods to the building’s original thin steel cover while allowing southern light to filter into the space through purposeful acoustic perforations and skylight locations.
The working areas are open plan, supporting the teams’ requirements for communication and collaboration, and they connect directly to an outdoor courtyard through the doors lining the south side of the building. Toward the front of the studio, a flexible space hosts meetings, university student visits and artist talks. The kitchen — finished in terracotta tones — functions as a welcoming social hub.
Nature plays an active role in the life of the studio. Doors open in warmer months to let air circulate freely, enhancing comfort and wellbeing. Trees have been planted in front of a mural created on-site by Wellington-based artist Shane Tuffery, who spent a week with the studio during the build. His mural, centred on a vision of a Pacific utopia and inspired by the extinct Samoan Dodo. Inside, artwork supplied by local galleries rotates regularly, making the studio a living, evolving environment for creativity and inspiration.
To meet the carbon effecient goals of the design company, 30kW of solar panels were installed. Fisher & Paykel’s Home Solutions package provides a seamless system for HVAC, hot water heat pumps, and kitchen appliances. Thermal upgrades throughout the building, efficient use of natural light, and retained materials all contribute to a low-carbon footprint in the initial renovation and continued practice. Bike racks and shelving support sustainable transport habits, and proximity to Morningside’s public transport options further reduces the studio’s reliance on cars.
Since relocating, we are told the desks are full and the space is vibrant, welcoming and functional. It offers flexibility, comfort and connection — internally among staff and externally with nature and community, clients, and collaborators. RTA Studio has created more than just a workplace; they’ve made a space that lives and breathes their values. Honouring the central idea of coming home to work.
RTA Studio was a Worplace up to 1000m2 finalist in the 2025 Interior Awards.
See the live presentation from RTA Studio Founder Rich Naish here.
