PM opens AUT’s newest building
AUT’s newest building, Tukutuku, was officially opened today by the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Christopher Luxon at a ceremony also attended by Education Minister, the Hon. Erica Stanford and Tertiary Education Minister the Hon. Penny Simmonds.
At around 9000m2, Tukutuku is the largest development at the University’s North Campus and is AUT’s most sustainable building yet, strengthening AUT’s position as the university with the lowest CO2 emissions/m2 of built space in Australasia.
AUT Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damon Salesa says the building, which will be the new home of the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences and the School of Education on Auckland’s North Shore, provides a much-needed social and physical heart of the campus.
“Today we celebrate the opening of a vibrant hub for our North Campus students. The name Tukutuku was gifted to us by Ngāti Paoa, and references the lattice work of tukutuku panels, weaving together people, place and shared purpose. Tukutuku is more than just a building; like its name, it reflects AUT’ s ambition to create physical environments that inspire collaboration, learning and connection.
“We are incredibly proud to be able to offer our students this new state-of-the-art space, which we hope will not only empower them to grow, but also demonstrate our recognition of the invaluable contributions they will make to our communities and beyond,” says Professor Salesa.
As the new home to 2000 students and more than a third of the faculty’s staff, the building will further enhance AUT’s position as the country’s largest health science and allied health professional provider.
Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Professor Brett Cowan, says this puts the University in a unique position to influence policy, practice, education and research.
“AUT is the country’s largest provider of graduate nurses, it is the only place you can study a university degree in podiatry or paramedicine, and is also home to the largest physiotherapy programme in the Southern Hemisphere.
“Our graduates and alumni are vital in helping to alleviate the shortage of healthcare professionals in New Zealand, particularly in underserved regions where the need is greatest. The new building is fundamental in preparing future generations of healthcare workers to meet the diverse and changing workforce demands and enhance health outcomes nationwide.” says Professor Cowan.
Tukutuku, designed by architecture firm Jasmax and engineering consultants Beca, and built by contractors Naylor Love, is on track to be the country’s most efficiently heated and cooled tertiary education building.
Project Lead and Principal at Jasmax, Chris Scott, says the new building fulfils AUT’s brief for a low carbon, low energy building designed to support the health and wellbeing of the students and staff.
“We know from our longstanding relationship with AUT that sustainability is a key focus for the University, and this is reflected throughout the building design. For example, Tukutuku’s unique vertical sawtooth façade allows light to be reflected into the building while minimising solar heat gain from the North and West summer sun. This distinctive feature of the design significantly reduces the energy needed to cool the building during those hot summer months.”
Working with Naylor Love, AUT also successfully achieved the ambitious target of diverting 90% (or nearly 300 tonnes) of demolition and construction waste from landfill.
“Sustainability is central to our decision-making and who we are as a university. It is a commitment we have made for this generation and those that follow, and we encourage our partners, supporters, and suppliers to shift with us. We are incredibly appreciative of our project partners’ efforts in fulfilling, and in some cases even exceeding, our sustainability targets while ensuring the building was completed on time and on budget,” says Professor Salesa.
View a timelapse video of the construction of Tukutuku
Impressions from the day