AUT A1 Health Sciences and Student Hub

The A1 building will create a social and academic heart for AUT University’s Northern Campus in Auckland, New Zealand, transforming a series of disjointed and convoluted buildings into a cohesive and connected student-centric hub with sustainability at its core. Using an innovative engineered post-tensioned timber structure and floor system, the adaptive reuse of existing structures and designed to be easily dismantled at the end of its life, the A1 Building achieves industry-leading low carbon performance. As one of New Zealand’s largest health science education providers, AUT has a strong focus on wellbeing, and this is evident throughout the A1 Building’s design: – Measured and verified to exceed Jasmax’s 2030 embodied carbon target of 500kgCO2e/m2 over the 60year building life using evidence-based design tailored to a New Zealand context. The building’s low embodied energy of 482kgCO2e/m2is achieved through an innovative, post-tensioned seismic resisting LVL timber structure combined with the adaptive re-use of the existing AF building. Jasmax’s ambitious operational and embodied carbon targets are based on research by The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to achieve net zero carbon buildings by 2030. – The building is designed to be easily dismantled and components reused at the end of its serviceable life. – Natural and displacement ventilation improves comfort and air quality for health and wellbeing of all occupants as well as reducing operational carbon to 550kgCO2e/m2 over 60 years. The new timber atrium connects existing lecture theatres and library to the new student-centric A1 Building and the adaptively reused AF building (reconfigured into academic offices) to form an academic heart for the campus where students and researchers can collaborate and learn in informal, social settings. The new A1 wing will also connect to a new campus plaza that will be the key external social space. The highly permeable A1 ground floor establishes and reinforces key circulation spines, responding to the long-term campus masterplan. The building is wrapped in a high-performance, energy efficient façade which reduces operational carbon. A sawtooth curtain wall facade on west and north facades, which are the most challenging orientations in NZ in terms of solar heat gains. Solid panels block direct sunlight from the north and west, while acting as a vertical light shelf and allowing diffuse daylight into the office and teaching spaces. The glazing orientation also frames views to the main campus plaza and mature trees from these spaces, increasing connectivity to this primary space.