The new building will enable the University of Otago Christchurch’s world-leading health science research and education programmes to grow through improved, purpose-built facilities, comprising four floors of laboratories, clinical research and teaching facilities, an imaging suite, a base for postgraduate nursing studies, and will house the departments of psychological medicine and pathology and biomedical science.
In plan, the building is two blocks arranged around a central atrium. The northern organic form overlooking the river provides space for the more human-centric social, meeting, learning and office functions. The more rigid and engineered southern block provides highly serviced space for the more technical specialised functions. This co-location of similar function allows for efficiency of sharing of functions, simplifying security and optimising the services design.
The atrium highlights the building’s curved architectural form, with warm timber accents. Above, the expansive glass ceiling allows natural light to flood the space throughout the day. This warm, weloming central gathering space has been designed to encourage connection and collaboration. Tea points and informal meeting areas located adjacent to the atrium will proivide staff, researchers, and visitors to connect, share ideas, and collaborate.
The main stair has been designed as a flexible community and collaboration space that can accommodate public lectures, staff gatherings, presentations and informal meetings. The staircase plays an important role in expressing the building’s cultural narrative. This story continues through the stairway and onto the surrounding wall panels, which feature a contemporary interpretation of the takarangi pattern. The spiral form symbolises the separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, representing the creation of light, knowledge and new possibilities.
The building has been gifted the name Wai-Ora, meaning "water of life” – reflecting the wellness properties of water and the Ōtākaro Avon River it sits alongside. It represents the spiritual and tangible connections between mana whenua, the building’s location, and its focus on health research, clinical practice, and education. It also emphasises the role of water in Ngāi Tahu creation stories, its significance in sustaining life, and its role in purification from a state of tapu.
Wai-Ora’s exterior features a folded louvre with an organic, fluid pattern that symbolises the river's edge and water. This design reflects the integral role of health and wellbeing, as water flourishes life.
Wai-Ora embodies identity, unity, and the concept of balance within our world.
To manage the complexity of the building, our BIM team worked alongside the client, project managers and design team to strategise, align and communicate a new design methodology. The approach minimised performance specifications and provisional sums, specifying more elements than standard.
The result was the review and resolution of over 100,000 coordination issues, tracked through to completion and a tender package that was noted by the contractor market as the most robust and coordinated they had seen, a step change in the industry.
