Commercial Design

The client was a thriving private school but as the student and staff numbers had grown, so had the need for some good educational design for a purpose built administration facility.

A new building was proposed on a vacant piece of land adjacent to the main school carpark. It was north facing and distant to the classrooms, so easy connection for both visitors and those working on site was an important key for the design. It had to be a first point of entry for parents, as well as housing staff offices, and meeting spaces.

The site was complex with a myriad of drainage lines and care had to be taken to maintain the existing carparking spaces. However these issues were worked through and those potential problems solved in the process.

It was a cost sensitive project and all the materials had to be durable and low maintenance. Combined with accessible design, staff privacy as well as facilitating good communication were important criteria.

The client wanted to relocate their medical practice which operated out of a converted residential house and construct a purpose-built facility.

This new commercial designed centre needed to cover a broader range of health care services for local residents and provide a welcoming homely environment. The office design for the practice as well as medical practice space requirements had to be taken into consideration. Located in a residential zone (mixed housing urban) the commercial development has 2 apartments on top.

The site had an existing residential dwelling which was relocated, so leaving a clear level site for the build.

The new build produced a building sympathetic to the brick and timber bungalows in the area, with careful landscaping and consideration of the residential user’s needs. It has sea views from the upper floor so great potential for producing very well-appointed residential spaces. It is constructed using stack bonded architectural masonry around the lower level and plaster finished upper floor. Schist stone veneer features around the base of the building to add character to the building.

A full scope of services was undertaken for this project from design, to resource and building consent applications, joinery design and interior fitout, tendering and project observation and administration during the build.

The play centre had located a site with an old house in Remuera which was positioned close to the main road and ideally located for a play centre. The old house was not in good condition structurally so it was demolished.

This commercial devclopment was a new purpose-built preschool centre that was designed to cater for 25 children and their caregivers. However, a long protracted notified resource consent was required before the complex could progress.

The site was long and sloping with the high concrete wall of a power station to the northern side. The brief required the centre to be sympathetic in style to the neighbouring houses while providing sunny outdoor play, and good indoor-outdoor connection. A high roof with ventilated clerestory windows was used to draw in the northern sunlight and provide a means of cooling on hot summer days.

Juggling the demanding requirements of the Early Childhood Regulations, and the building laws can be complex. All the while ensuring the outcome was one that is encourages a flourishing community for the preschoolers and their caregivers.

Thrown in the mix was the need to provide a suitable office design for administration, and support facilities for the users. These regulations are applicable to all those that provide care for preschoolers, and a link follows Licensing criteria for centre-based ECE services – Education in New Zealand

Providing a space that caregivers and children love to be in was key. This was to be a light sunny space that was able to be used in multiple ways as parents wished, in order facilitate their children’s play and learning.  Durable cost-effective materials were essential for this not for profit organisation, and disabled access an important criteria in this commercial design.

Multiple existing centres in West and Central Auckland were upgraded to comply with Early Childhood Regulations and Accessibility Codes over several years. It was timely in each case to rationalize the current preschool buildings and the way the spaces functioned. In many instances there were no disabled facilities, and the centres were poor quality dark spaces. It is a great organisation, but the buildings were tired and didn’t reflect the organisation well.

LSA worked with a centre representative to do a sketch design, which after team consultation then turned into building consent, and construction documentation. Many of the projects were then tendered and architectural observation and administration of the project was undertaken during build. This involved weekly or fortnightly meetings with the builder or contractors and a client representative to review progress, answer site queries and help to facilitate a good outcome.

As part of the project in many instances purpose-built joinery was designed to suit.

Some of these included the following joinery fitout;

• New kitchens
• Cot design for sleep room
• Storage for art centre with wash up sinks
• Change table design and bathroom refurbishment
• Internal play structure design

Often new external windows, or clerestory windows, and skylights with lighting and colour design where utilised to improve the space. Better connections to the outdoor playarea were added, all the while ensuring parent supervision and child safety was maintained.

In each instance the aim was to maximize the potential of the existing building and make a fun, more child friendly and regulation compliant centre result.