Meeting the challenge to integrate the old and the new
The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, is the country’s principal public gallery in New Zealand. Serving as one of the oldest traditional amalgamation of spaces spread across various buildings and levels, the infrastructure combines old and contemporary design features—and it was time for an update.
The challenge? The main requirement for the upgrade was the need for additional space to display 15,000 artworks more effectively. We provided complete mechanical building services design for the redevelopment that included adding a new extension and reworking existing areas. As parts of the Gallery are heritage listed, this created some challenges in integrating the old with the new.
A high level of temperature and humidity control in the Gallery's internal display areas was crucial, not only to preserve its collection better, but to meet stringent international lending requirements more efficiently. Our team designed systems to achieve close environmental control and appropriate system redundancy provisions to cater for touring international exhibitions. We integrated energy recovery systems into the HVAC systems design to minimize energy use in this traditionally energy-intensive application.
All mechanical services were carefully designed to respect and preserve the historic character of the building that provides the community with national and international art exhibitions.
At a Glance
- Offices
- Client
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- Auckland Council
- Architect
- Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp
- Award
- Winner - Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) International Award
- Award
- Winner - Rider Levett Bucknall Supreme Award
Roy Slater, Senior Principal Project Manager
In my role, no two days are the same. Being involved end to end in projects is so rewarding.
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