Owen G. Glenn Business School

 

Owen G. Glenn Business School

Our inspiration for this project was drawn directly from the fusion of natural landscape, urban form and the history of cultural exchange and flow that characterise this beautiful site at the edge of the campus, overlooking Auckland Harbour and the Domain. Prior to modern development, this landscaped valley used to be known for the Waipapa stream that flowed directly into the harbour, and it was near this stream that early European settlers traded with the Ngāti Whātua tribes
An equal inspiration was the university’s ambition to create a new centre for learning and innovation; a welcoming place of knowledge exchange and collaboration for future leaders.

Organic and flowing forms are suspended above a solid podium that anchors the building and reinterprets the natural topography of the sloping site. The counterbalancing podium form is joined spatially with the suspended ribbons at the atrium heart of the new complex, interconnecting the shared teaching spaces with the business school’s workplace, learning and social spaces.

At the centre of the complex are two interconnected spaces that create a sense of collegial and scholarly community. The first is a welcoming forecourt, or open square, that is defined by the gentle curve of the embracing forms. The second is the central atrium that vertically connects all levels of the complex and is the collegial focus. The social hub bridges suspended within this atrium become platforms for informal gathering and exchange; they are busy points of interaction and look out to the beautiful natural landscape of the Domain.

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fjmtstudio acknowledges all Aboriginal and Torres  Strait Islander peoples, the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work.

We recognise their continuing connection to Country and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

We extend this acknowledgement to Indigenous People globally, recognising their human
rights and freedoms as articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.