2022 BUILD (UK) - Construction & Engineering Awards
Best Commercial Redevelopment Project (New Zealand): 95 on Vivian
Architecture Firm of the Year - New Zealand
The Imagine Architecture team are ecstatic to receive two awards at the recent BUILD - Construction & Engineering Awards - 2022. Having both the practice and one of our projects recognised is fantastic news.
The Winning Project: 95 on Vivian - New Plymouth, NEW ZEALAND
This project arose out of the building owner’s need to provide additional floor space for their two main tenants, Vivian Pharmacy and Phoenix Urgent Doctors. If this could not be achieved there was a very real risk of losing one or both. The desire was to go up as the site where it was not built on was already fully utilised for parking. This gave the opportunity to give the 1993 building a facelift and address a number of costly maintenance issues that had plagued the building for a number of years. This all sounded good in principle however there were a couple of caveats; #1: The building must remain operational for the duration for all tenants and #2: Construction completed in 9 months once started (over winter). These were going to be tough to achieve.
The overall concept was to provide the bulk of the additional space for the pharmacy and doctors on the upper level. This would be serviced by individual stairs providing security, fire separation and independence. The doctors would also receive a small rear addition whilst the pharmacy would have a major layout change and fit-out to the existing ground floor. The gain for the doctors was an additional three consult rooms, new management office and a functional staff room located away from reception area to allow proper breaks to occur. For the pharmacy the gains were an increased retail space, fully appointed workroom, a purpose design “robot” room, storage and a staff/training room.
To transform a tired 1990’s “big house” into a fit for purpose commercial building required a couple of key design strategies. The first was the approach of building over the existing building floor to allow the businesses underneath to continue trading. This was achieved by inserting steel posts down through the building having the posts support the upper level with steel beams and frames. This solution placed minimal dependence on the existing structure for support.
The second strategy was to mask the old building as best as possible. How was done? It was done by allowing the upper level to create a brand-new identity for the building with a sleek extruded form that draws the eye upwards and away from the retained extremities. Clad in Siberian Larch this structure provides a strong, textural counterpoint to the monolithic plaster render. Other initiatives were a re-roof of the existing to replace the failed pressed metal tiles with a commercial long-run profile and the installation of an aluminium rear plant deck to provide safe access to the building plant.
In addition to the building work Imagine was also commissioned to develop the new logo along with the signage design. The client was adamant that they wanted their designer to see through all design processes on the building so the Imagine team relished the opportunity to create new fonts, logo design, street ad building sign design sand work alongside the signage fabricators to provide the solution.
All businesses ran continuously, and the build was completed on time.
Colours & Materials:
Cladding 1: Siberian larch weatherboards – stained Resene Uluru
Cladding 2: Rockcote EPS rendered – colour Resene Black White
Roofing: Colorsteel 5 Rib - Gull Grey
Windows: APL Aluminium – colour Matt Ghost Grey & Matt Black
Walls: Resene Double Black White
Insulation: Mammoth
Vinyl Flooring: Tarket Optima iQ – colour 864
Carpet: Irvine Cirrus DARK GREY
Carpet: Irvine Liberty ASH
Lighting: Thorn Lighting – all LED
Credits:
Designer: Tony Biesiek – Imagine Architecture
Builder: Custom Construction
Structural: BCD Group
Signage: Speedy Signs & Imagine Architecture
Photography: Kallan MacLeod
Site area: 2081m2
Floor area: Original: 590m2 New: 838m2
More images here: https://www.imaginenz.com/95-on-vivian
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