University of Auckland Masterplan

We are often selected for our ‘blue sky’ thinking and in this case, we were invited by Peter Fehl and Colleen Seth of Auckland University’s Property Services to assemble a team that would generate a comprehensive set of guiding principles to assist with the realisation of the University’s Strategic Plan over the next 20- 30 years.

In a series of multi-disciplinary workshops we analysed the constraints and opportunities to establish the city campus masterplan principles. Then the consortia, which included AW‘s collaborators included, landscape Megan Wraight (WA), structural Alistair Cattanach (DTC), environmental engineering Dave Fullbrook (eCubedBW), urban designer Stuart Niven and architects Christopher Kelly (AW) and Kerstin Thompson (KTA), with our Property Services client and in consultation with two other design consortia (Architectus & Moller/WAM) applied them to develop future scenarios for each sector. 

In summary, our group achieved a considerably more ambitious development and yield opportunity for Sector 300 than the University was anticipating while at the same time enhancing the campus public realm with a high level of social as well as environmental sustainability.

I thought the consultants had done a great job and their work, taken collectively, will be very useful in guiding our future thinking about the City Campus. The fact that we can get a considerable amount of additional space, while actually improving the quality of the human environment, was particularly encouraging. The Chancellor and Pro chancellor were also very pleased and impressed - never a bad thing.

Stuart McCutcheon, Vice Chancellor Auckland University (2009)