Massey University Student Amenities Centre
The Student Amenities Centre for the Albany, Auckland campus offers a unique opportunity for Massey University. Located at the campus heart, it acts as a home base and town square for student life and is student centric in terms of the building use and location. The building design provides open, informal, engaging and convenient facilities which serve student life.
The social and cultural aspects have been considered into the building design where students essentially adopt the buildings as their own. For this to be successful, not only did the building need to provide flexible internal spaces but also create comfortable outdoor space which is part of the ground floor food & beverage and retail support environment.
Both the functional and financial parameters suggest an approach which is both systems-driven and contemporary while also recognising the character of the Albany campus. The building plan is simple and rigorous. Two ‘bars’ of space are co-located in parallel with vertical circulation centred between. Each bar has a rhythm of columns at the perimeter, leaving the internal spaces column-free for flexibility. The classical rhythm of colonnaded buildings typical of the campus is strongly reinforced while also generating a deliberately open and accessible building.
The Physics and Biology faculty is also housed within the Massey Student Amenities Centre development with associated preparation rooms, academic offices and workshops. The spaces have been designed to provide a modern teaching environment as well as being able to adapt to future change and reuse.
To provide for a variety of class sizes, several of the laboratories are divided by operable walls, allowing them to be combined into larger spaces as required. Lecturers' joinery benches are generously sized to allow for demonstrations to the class as well as accommodating the latest AV equipment. As the Biology labs and associated preparation/work rooms are PC1 classified, all materials and services were reviewed to ensure compliance with the relevant standards.
