New Plymouth Airport Design Brief
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One year into the concept development for the New Plymouth Airport the design team was put on hold while I was bought into the project for an independent review of the current concept, design team composition, design process. The client also wanted to create a design process in which the local iwi Puke Tapu could be involved in the airport development. The current design at the time was being limited by a range of assumptions and communication issues that had lead to an architectural concept that the client felt did not reflect the importance of the site, Puke Tapu relationship to the land or the airports function as a gateway for this tourism.
I interviewed the design teams, talked to Puke Tapu and the client so I could develop a workshop strategy to test assumptions and deliver a design concept that was more reflective of the sites importance. After about a month of conversation I ran a two day workshop involving the client's staff, the design team, members of Puke Tapu and airport staff. The work shops aim was to "deliver a framework for a design brief for the New Plymouth airport that integrates Puketapu values in the process. The design brief framework is to consider both existing and propose built structure, function, surrounding landscape, history, sense of place and environmental best practices" The outcome was a meaningful partnership with Puke tapu and an agreement to revised the design brief to allow for a bigger building footprint which in turn allowed for opportunities to re-evaluate/revisit the architectural concept and to integrate the surrounding landscape into the overall design approach. Post work shop I rewrote the architects design brief to include revised building footprint and the inclusion of landscape and cultural values into the design as well as a new communication and collaboration process for the team and the client to work with. I suspect that the project will become an award winning gateway for the Taranaki region, New Zealand. Craig Pocock 2016 |
Location:
New Plymouth Client: New Plymouth District Council Collaboration: Beca, Jackson Architects Some images from Beca and Jackson Architects |