Prime Minister Christoper Luxon opens Tukutuku, AUT’s newest building

AUT Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damon Salesa and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo / David St George

AUT’s newest building, Tukutuku, was officially opened today by Prime Minister Christoper Luxon.

At around 9000sq m, Tukutuku is the largest development at the university’s North Campus and is AUT’s most sustainable building yet, strengthening AUT’s position as the university with the lowest CO2 emissions per square metre of built space in Australasia.

AUT Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damon Salesa says the building, which will be the new home of the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences and the School of Education on Auckland’s North Shore, provides a much-needed social and physical heart for the campus.

“Today we celebrate the opening of a vibrant hub for our North Campus students. The name Tukutuku was gifted to us by Ngāti Paoa, and references the lattice work of tukutuku panels, weaving together people, place and shared purpose. Tukutuku is more than just a building; like its name, it reflects AUT’s ambition to create physical environments that inspire collaboration, learning and connection,” Salesa said.

“We are incredibly proud to be able to offer our students this new state-of-the-art space, which we hope will not only empower them to grow, but also demonstrate our recognition of the invaluable contributions they will make to our communities and beyond.”

AUT's largest development at its North campus was opened today by Christoper Luxon. Photo / Jasmax

As the new home to 2000 students and more than a third of the faculty’s staff, the building will further enhance AUT’s position as the country’s largest health science and allied health professional provider.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Professor Brett Cowan, says this puts the university in a unique position to influence policy, practice, education and research.

Tukutuku, designed by architecture firm Jasmax and engineering consultants Beca, and built by contractors Naylor Love, is on track to be the country’s most efficiently heated and cooled tertiary education building.

Project lead and principal at Jasmax, Chris Scott, says the new building fulfils AUT’s brief for a low-carbon, low-energy consumption building designed to support the health and wellbeing of the students and staff.

“We know from our longstanding relationship with AUT that sustainability is a key focus for the university, and this is reflected throughout the building design. For example, Tukutuku’s unique vertical sawtooth facade allows light to be reflected into the building while minimising solar heat gain from the north and west summer sun. This distinctive feature of the design significantly reduces the energy needed to cool the building during those hot summer months.”