Architecture and design: Open to the elements

ASB Building still under construction in Aucklands Wynyard Quarter. Photo / Ted Baghurst.

Brian Clohessy wants to talk about windows. The windows that the occupants of ASB's new waterfront headquarters in the Wynyard precinct will be able to open and close, depending on what the weather is doing outside. What Clohessy's Australian architecture firm BVN and Auckland's Jasmax have come up with is not your standard sealed box office tower.

"The core brief was that this is a building for human beings to occupy and be comfortable with," he says. That means access to daylight, being able to open windows for fresh air, having different scales of space, having tactile materials around. A traffic light system by the windows will tell occupants when conditions outside are right to open the windows.

"By opening windows and creating atriums in the middle you have fresh air, people inhale and exhale the polluted air, that rises into the chimney form and out through the louvered cube.

"The fundamentals around natural ventilation determined the form of the building," Clohessy says. Even though it won't open until mid-year, the form is emerging from under the scaffolding.

To create what's called a stack effect, a 10-metre louvered cube sits above the huge fibreglass funnel that opens from the top of the atrium. The building management system will detect where the wind is blowing from and open the louvers on the lee side, creating negative pressure that sucks the warm air out of the buildings.

Atop the cube is a light scoop, a huge carbon fibre and kevlar structure engineered by Pure Design & Engineering and built by Yachting Development, the team that works on America's Cup yachts.

The funnel will direct light to the lower floors through the atrium, and people down on the lane will be able to catch glimpses of the sky as they pass through. It's not one building but two, connected at the upper levels by a series of bridges. Clohessy says the bridges are part of a wider vision of changing the workplace and the culture of the organisation.

Owners Kiwi Income Property Trust have the bottom floor designated for retail space, but above that it's the bank's domain. Staff will be encouraged to use stairs to move between floors, with the lifts tucked out of the way.

"We are trying to break down the silo effect in workplace towers where you don't see your colleagues unless you bump into them. We have tried to create what we call bump opportunities so you are connected visually and physically. By creating stairs with voids in between you can make eye contact and say 'we need to talk,' and take quick flight of stairs up to meet and chat.

"We want people to get up and move around, so the toilets are all stacked in the corner of Building 23, so the people in Building 22 will have to get up and walk across the bridge."

The building is set up throughout for wireless networking, and staff will hot desk and use spaces appropriate to the task at hand, rather than having a fixed desk. All the services are exposed. That has created challenges, because pipes and wiring can't just be shoved behind panels - they need to be finished with care, so every joint is aligned. "There's an honesty there. Even people who aren't interested in buildings are intrigued when they see the guts on show like that."

On the outside, screens cut down the amount of direct sunlight coming into the building. Rainwater will be collected from the roof and stored in a huge basement tank for recycling in toilet cisterns and irrigation of the plants.

The public areas at ground level are paved in hard-wearing basalt slabs, like the stone used on Jellicoe St, and the blank walls of the neighbouring fish processing factory will be softened by planters.

There will also be vines growing up a screen on the south side of Building 23, screening the cart dock and parking areas.

Clohessy says the job is influenced by what BVN and Jasmax learned when building the Takapuna head office of Sovereign Insurance. "The design drove down the running costs of that building over time, so they know it works and want to take it further.?"It's about changing the behaviour of the occupants.

"If buildings like this just generate discussions round the water cooler about what more can we do, they are doing their job.? "The worry is if people go in a building that is labeled five or six-star, they may think they don't have to do anything, it's a green building. But it is everyday behaviours that make a difference."

NEW ZEALAND GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

The ASB building is seeking a high Green Star ranking from the New Zealand Green Building Council, but it could struggle to get the maximum.

Council chief executive Alex Cutler says getting the coveted six stars signifies world leadership. A five star rating is for "New Zealand excellence", while four stars mean best practice with a score of between 45 and 59 out of a possible 100.

The measuring tools assess the environmental impact that is a direct consequence of a building's site selection, design, construction, and maintenance. The framework has eight separate environmental impact categories as well as an innovation category.

Green Star aims is to establish a common language and standard of measurement for green buildings, promote integrated, whole-building design, raise awareness of green building benefits, recognise environmental leadership and reduce the environmental impact of development.

Cutler says with little commercial building going on there are few applications for the rating, but the council hopes the Christchurch rebuild will create more interest.