Scion Innovation Hub
Crown Research Institute
Location: Whakarewarewa, Rotorua
Architect: RTA Studio & Irving Smith Architects Ltd
Completion Date: 2020
Scion are a pre-eminent Sustainable Forestry Research Organisation. The Scion Hub and Office development showcases sustainable timber construction and environmentally sustainable design.
The detailed design for the facade was subject to considerable development and optimisation and included sections of conventional low double glazing and double skin wings used as an integral part of the ventilation strategy. The building uses an atrium for the ductless supply of outdoor air to the building. The double skin office wings are used as a solar preheating and as a de-stratification path from the atrium back to the air handling plant in the winter.
The design strategy for The Hub building also called for a dramatic and smaller biophilic frit pattern across the façade and within the geometry of the larger diagrid, evocative of leafy forests. While contributing to the to the overall beauty of the building the frit patterns are also a vital part of the thermal strategy of the building, used in conjunction with low-e glazing to regulate the internal temperature and loads. Areas with a heaver frit pattern provide greater shading, which reduces summer cooling loads, while areas with a lighter fit pattern allow greater solar penetration which reduces winter heating loads. These two loads were balanced carefully to create a high performing, functional building.
2021 WAF Winner - The Best Use of Certified Timber
2021 WAF Winner - Higher Education and Research
2021 Architecutre MasterPrize - Best of the Best - Green architecture
2021 Architecutre MasterPrize - Commerical
2021 New Zealand Architecture Award - Commerical
2021 Best Awards Supreme Purple Pin - Spatial Category
2021 Best Awards Gold Pin - Built Environment
2021 Best Awards Gold Pin - Toitanga
2021 Best Awards Gold Pin - Office and Workplace Environments
2021 Best Awards Gold Pin - Public and Institutional Spaces
2021 INDE Awards - The Building
2021 INDE Awards - The Influencer - Honorable Mention
2021 Architizer A+Awards Jury - Architecture + Wood
2021 Architizer A+Awards Popular Choice - Architecture + Wood
2021 Property Industry Awards - Award of Excellence Green Building Property Award
2021 Property Industry Awards - Award of Excellence Commercial Office Property Award
2021 Waikato Bay of Plenty Architecture Award - Commercial
