The project brief was to craft a unique early childhood centre that would inspire children to develop confidence and humility through a sense of community.
A detailed site analysis looked at possible locations for the building within the school. Access and car parking requirements indicated the optimal location, further reinforced by the extensive bush-lined outlook on three sides.
Studies looked at built form options, taking into account all the site constraints. The main drivers to the form were retaining the mature trees and bush, protecting neighbours from direct playground noise, balancing ground contours and solar access/shading. Two options were narrowed down for further development, with the final circular form being chosen for its merits in answering the brief and the site constraints.
Whilst the initial form was largely driven by the site and programme, the development of the form into an architectural language looked at the history and culture of Saint Kentigern for inspiration.
The circular shape of the building was inspired by early Christian architecture – the most famous being the Church of the Holy Sepulchre featuring a rotunda called the Anastasis. Furthermore, it symbolises one of the four miracles of Saint Kentigern: the ring found in the fish and the Celtic Cross of Saint Kentigern.
The scale and materiality of the design also take inspiration from early Christian architecture – being single level, narrow width and harnessing natural ventilation and daylighting. The structure features exposed timber beams and ceilings along with clerestory windows to capture the ‘spirit’ of the early churches.
Christian symbolism has then been carried through into the playground, where it has been split into quarters within the circular form, each quarter representing one of the four miracles of Saint Kentigern. Equally, this further reinforces the shape of the Celtic Cross formed by the shape of the building. Building on this, four dry stream beds form a cross shape in the central playground (which also become water features for children’s play), symbolising the four tributaries of the Garden of Eden that come together at the centre to present a standing cross.
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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.
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