Using planning and determination to transform the University’s administrative heart into a welcoming and user-friendly space
Modernising an icon
Matariki (formerly the Registry Building) is the administrative heart of the UC campus. Severely damaged during the earthquakes, this iconic building required a complete overhaul of services, strengthening, and spatial reconfiguration to reflect the modern trend toward open plan office environments.
A shut-to-open case
The original building was a 1970s architectural icon, but with its heavy use of concrete and awkward circulation paths it had never been a welcoming environment. Substantially damaged in the 2011 earthquake, we had to overcome a number of challenges in order to strengthen and remediate the building, transforming it into a positive new space.
This required carefully managing three separate budgets (insurance, betterment and capital upgrades) to ensure division of costs was fair, and fostering positive negotiations between stakeholders and insurers. Ultimately, the building was completely stripped back to the concrete frame before being strengthened to 100% of structural code. Building services were completely removed, upgraded and replaced, and all interior space was reconfigured to improve traffic flow and the working environment.
Points of interest
- Matariki was one of the first buildings at UC to use fibre reinforced strengthening. This allowed the building’s heritage geometry to stay unchanged, while meeting 100% of today's building code.
- Matariki was nominated for an architectural heritage award in the 2015 NZIA awards, and today is a central point of pride for the University.
- Small details like an automated opening mechanism on the heavy original doors helped to retain the building’s character whilst improving accessibility.
