New veterinary facilities earn Gold Award

Owned by the Registered Master Builders Association, the Awards recognise and showcase the contribution and innovation of the whole team involved in a commercial project, rather than just the building itself. Awards are bestowed based on collaboration, innovation and what the team achieves together.

The new veterinary science complex was entered into the education category by lead design consultant Lab-Works Architecture.

Gold awards are given to projects that achieve over 90 per cent of the points available during the judging process. Judging is based on four components - design, contract management, construction/delivery of project/outcome and overall assessment.

Capital Programme Manager Sean Scott says achieving a gold award is testament to the hard work and long hours put in over the last few years. He says working in a collaborative environment with the wider School of Veterinary Science team would be the main contributor to the overall success of the project.

“So many people have been involved, from design and construction to project management, teaching staff who gave feedback and consulted on how things needed to be done while continuing to teach and work around the disruptions, our iwi partners and students who were learning while the construction was going on.

“Together, we’ve created new facilities that enable students and staff to learn and work in a modern environment with safe working practices, animal welfare and cultural appropriateness at the forefront of their experiences.

“This gold award is a result of the long journey everyone has been part of,” Mr Scott says.

As part of the awards process, two judges paid a visit to Tāwharau Ora earlier this year, where they met with members of the project team and did a walk-through of the facilities. The judges have vast architectural and commercial project experience and are widely-respected in the field.

The partnership with local iwi Rangitāne o Manawatū, which resulted in unique design elements, a shared cultural narrative and a gifted name, was an important aspect of the project.

Another aspect of the build that was highlighted to the judges was the extensive process that went into ensuring the new facilities were fit-for-purpose.

To help achieve this, Ken Collins of Lab-Works visited nine other American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) accredited Veterinary Schools around the world in order to understand the requirements of such a space.

Mr Collins also met with architect Skip Wyatt, who specialises in designing facilities for the AVMA programmes in American universities. These site visits and meetings assisted in informing the design and solutions for the Tāwharau Ora facilities.

Head of the School of Veterinary Science Professor Jon Huxley says, “Not only do our facilities provide world-class teaching environments for our students, they also provide an excellent front of house view into our activities as a School, from a high profile location on campus. I would like to thank everyone involved in delivering this award-winning project and acknowledge Rangitāne for their assistance delivering the cultural narrative which runs throughout our fit-for-purpose building.”

Other partners included on the project were Calibre, CCM Architects, Hawkins, Turner and Townsend and WSP.