When Scion, a Crown research institute that specializes in the forestry industry, needed to upgrade its facility in Rotorua, New Zealand– dubbed the Scion Innovation Hub–it was interested in making it a place for interconnection and collaboration, as well as a beacon for sustainable design. The resulting building, designed by RTA Studio and Irvin Smith Architects, is the first sizable steel-less timber building in New Zealand, and reflects the Scion’s role in driving research, science, and technology for the forestry, wood product, wood-derived materials, and other biomaterial sectors. The building mainly consists of mass timber, a material known for being more sustainable and which ties back to the Scion’s mission of leading New Zealand towards achieving net-zero by 2050. Updating the existing Scion campus and moving it into the 21st century was no easy feat. It took a confluence of factors to pull off, including a creative design team, innovative technology, a willing client, and the right cultural and environmental context. Using transparency to bring Scion’s work to the forefront Like a lot of 1960s architecture, the existing Scion building was closed off and didn’t facilitate collaboration. It was a big maze, with a number of office and lab spaces that were sporadically sprinkled across the building, creating physical chasms that hindered research collaboration and department connection. In contrast, Scion wanted a new, modern workspace that could be used to promote research, encourage interconnection, and educate the public about its work, helping usher in a new era of transparency for an institution that works on New Zealand's behalf. With transparency as the main design goal, Rich Naish, RTA Studio's design director and the Scion building's lead designer, developed a master plan that relocated the main entrance to the opposite end of the site, adjacent to the Whakarewarewa Forest Park entrance. This design choice raises awareness about the Scion’s work by making it more visible when people pass by, as they often do when visiting nearby hiking destinations. The designers then created a beautiful, centralized atrium on the building’s ground floor to help draw visitors in. This included a kaleidoscope of colors and repeating timber beams that inspired people to look up at the beautiful wood, as they might in a forest. The building layout was overhauled to create more visibility into the scientists’ workplaces, enabling the public to see them at work at any given time. An open layout also encouraged spontaneous interactions between the scientists, helping to foster open collaboration and public exchange, a perfect example of how purposeful design can positively influence people’s behavior.
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Spring 2024 csengineermag.com
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