Expansive glazing along the eastern side creates a sense of openness and connection to the redeveloped courtyard space.
The large verandah not only makes a strong entrance statement as it draws users in from the surrounding campus, but also provides a collaborative public space.
Soffits and post flitches are clad in Blackbutt eucalypt – a reference to the research undertaken by the Marlborough Research Centre to test this timber as a replacement for treated H5 timber as posts in vineyards, with the aim of eliminating the environmental impacts of treated timber.
In direct contrast to the materials of the existing buildings surrounding it, the exterior of the Centre creates a new, harmonious design language.
A simple but sophisticated scheme has been used throughout the internal finishes. Lush green carpet and folded plate ceilings lined with locally grown hardwood link all the spaces, while the super-structure, picked out in black, recedes.
All spaces have a strong focus on acoustic performance; grey and white triangulated acoustic panels cover meeting room walls and help focus attention inwards.
