Best Start, Hobsonville
By Smith Architects
Smith Architects has a long history of designing and developing quality early childhood centres. Fletchers (previous owner) approached us to discuss buying and developing Clark Boarding house (constructed in 1880 by the Clark family as philanthropic housing for workers at their brickworks, Clark Boarding House in Hobsonville, Tamaki Makarau Auckland) into an ECC to provide an amenity for the homes that they were building around the site. Now owned by Wright Foundation, the heritage building has been restored into and early childhood centre. Its original design featured unique large-format hollow glazed bricks and an innovative underfloor hypocaust heating system, utilising surplus heat from the nearby kiln.
Needing to retain the existing heritage building, our vision was to restore the existing building whilst adding a contemporary extension that would complement both the heritage building and the surrounding house styles. This seamless blending of heritage with modernity into a sustainable early childhood centre, provides a landmark visually and as a community amenity for local people. Re-use of the existi8ng building fabric has diverted many tonnes of waste to landfill and saved tonnes of embodied carbon in new building materials.
The existing building was strengthened to over 100% of code using FSC timber framing and GIB board again minimising carbon by avoiding steel. Where childcares centres are typically designed to level 2 standards, this one is engineered to Importance level 3 New Zealand standards, with all materials robust and fit for purpose.
Power needs in classrooms has been substantially lowered through a design that maximises daylight, with a natural ventilation maintaining the indoor environmental quality. Each room has an individual heat pump system for full temperature control and ventilates naturally through glazed doors and windows, with additional mechanical extraction in kitchens and toilets.
The building is fully accessible to wheelchair and ambulant disabled users. An external play area uses materials recycled from the existing house and is planted with trees and shrubs that complement the architecture. Native plants in the extensive landscaping around the building enhance biodiversity. The car park is also broken up using bricks from the existing building providing a much better amenity than a typical sealed car park.
Awards and
recognition
Professionals used in
Best Start, Hobsonville
More projects from
Smith Architects
About the
Professional
Smith Architects is an award-winning international architectural practice creating beautiful human spaces that are unique, innovative and sustainable through creativity, refinement, and care.
Phil and Tiffany Smith established the practice in 2007. We have spent more than two decades striving to understand what makes some buildings more attractive than others, in the anticipation that it can help us design better buildings.
Recent advances in neuroscience and psychology have enabled scientists to unlock some of the reasons why we find certain works of art, objects and environments more attractive than others, and at the heart of it is simple Darwinian theory: if we find something attractive we will be more likely to choose that thing over another – be it a painting, a piece of music, a landscape or even a building.
At Smith Architects, we use these learning to inform our designs, striving to create beauty in everything we do, in the belief that beautiful spaces create better environments for human beings or ‘beautiful human spaces’.
We carefully integrates architectural, landscape, interior and furniture design skills to ensure projects achieve an holistic integrity that meets our client’s needs. At the core of our design rigour, we believe that modern, sustainable, research-based design delivers a successful project with innovative solutions that work for our clients.
Our Auckland, New Plymouth, and Arrowtown offices design and deliver projects ranging from refurbishments to new-builds; from domestic scale to urban master plans; from conception to completion. Our experience covers a broad range of typologies – masterplans, mixed-use schemes, residential; offices; cultural; educational; healthcare and childcare.
We work with a diverse client base, including developers, private, government and charities and have experience of working with multiple stakeholders on challenging sites around the world.
We are a member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC), Site Safe New Zealand, and the Sustainability Business Network.
- ArchiPro Member since2014
- Associations
- Follow
- Locations
- More information