banner

Wilson School is the first purpose-built Special Needs School in New Zealand, providing educational care for children with severe mental and physical disability.

 

The school is located on land leased from the Wilson Home Trust. It is a tranquil and serene site in a well established park-like setting. The building connects quietly to the landscape and expresses a close relationship to nature without overwhelming it.

 

Its simple form in timber and glass, lies subservient to and beneath the surrounding trees and landscaping, and is therapeutic and calming for the users. There is a strong notion of ‘support’ as a key idea for the form of the building. This idea is expressed through the dialogue between the two key forms. The building is designed to make the most of natural lighting and ventilation, creating a sustainable and more enjoyable environment for the building users.

 

The project received full ESD funding for demonstrating environmental sustainability design principles.

 

Wilson School was awarded the NZIA Architecture Medal, the highest architectural award in New Zealand.

Get in touch
Visit Website

Professionals used in
Wilson School

About the
Professional

Creating what matters for future generations is an overarching philosophy that underpins our core values and how we approach our architectural commissions as we seek to question today, imagine tomorrow, create for the future.

We are: 

  • inspired by nature
  • informed by our diverse cultures
  • shaped by our rich history
  • strengthened by our partnerships
  • enhanced by experience
  • motivated by our many opportunities

We strive to create inclusive buildings and spaces with enduring meaning and purpose, focusing on our unique New Zealand and Pacific influenced identity, celebrating our cultural diversity. Our designs seek to be distinctive, memorable spaces, firmly rooted into the land, whether the site be intensely urban or a vast expansive untouched landscape.    

We are a highly motivated and connected team of expert designers, from unique and diverse backgrounds, committed to listen, engage, and collaborate with our clients to deliver project outcomes that create highly effective and enriched spatial environments for individuals, and communities, both now and far into the future.

We have nearly 150 years of history in architecture practice, our acquired knowledge and skills are coupled with continual research and innovation applied to develop efficient, resilient, sustainable solutions benefiting from years of review and wide project experience across New Zealand. Our extensive historical experience, unique understanding of our land and climates coupled with our long collaboration with local communities, councils and contractors allow us to uniquely tailor our design solutions in unison with our connected local and global WSP engineering design specialists.