Perspective of the Northern facade of the structure.
Perspective of the timber workshop, looking east.
The Workshop
Imagining a regenerative future for Uptown
Māori Hakari Stage
The ever-increasing population and vastly changing climate calls for immediate response from the built environment. A common response to these issues is urban densification. Uptown in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, has been identified as a key location for this densification. As designers we must also think critically when approaching these issues and interrogate current building practices and the consequences they have on people, ecosystems and the health of the planet overall. The Workshop positions itself within this context as a regenerative project, seeking to not just sustain the status quo, but regenerate the health of Papatūānuku and the mauri of the people who connect with the space. This regeneration is demonstrated in several means throughout the project. The physical structure of the project is constructed for the most part of engineered mass timber elements and designed in a way that allows for adaptation to changing circumstances and evolution of the structure itself over time. The social programme seeks to regenerate local employment within the Uptown area and in turn feed the local economy and create a cycle of production, consumption, and repair inside the community. The Workshop functions as a catalyst space for regeneration and densification across wider Uptown as a hub for production and manufacturing of key structural components for modern buildings as well as the fixtures and furniture for these spaces. Finally, the project gifts over 50% of the site to re-establishing the prehuman ecosystem of the area, which years to come will form a mahika kai for the local community.
1:200 Ground Floor plan
1:500 Site plan
North Elevation in 1 years time.
1:200 First Floor plan
North Elevation in 50 years time.
West Elevation 1 years time.
Perspective of young seamstress at work.
1:200 Second Floor plan West Elevation in 50 years time.
Stage 1.0
Stage 1.5
Stage 2.0
Time
Stage 2.5