Environment Canterbury

The refurbishment of Environment Canterbury’s Christchurch offices was the first commission in which the practice actively demonstrated environmentally sustainable principles as part of the building design.

The project involved the development of a new link building between two existing Warren and Mahoney office buildings. This new link – forming the entry to the two buildings - houses a double-height reception space, pedestrian connections at both ground and first floor levels and new regional Civil Defence headquarters. The project also involved the re-planning and refurbishment of the two existing buildings to maximise their efficiency and improve the working environment for staff and visitors.

The project was designed from the outset to be a showcase for environmentally sustainable design principles: energy and water efficiency, material selection, waste minimisation and site treatment. Low energy strategies were estimated to have a simple payback of less than 10 years. Features included high levels of thermal insulation and thermal mass to regulate internal temperatures; free night time cooling in summer and free heating from sunspace and computer suite in winter. A high efficiency mixed-mode air conditioning system (fresh air economizers, heat reclaim and heat pump technology) and solar water heating was installed; low energy lighting design combined with sensors to switch lights off when they are not required; low water use plumbing fittings and rooftop rainwater harvesting are combined with native landscaping and a roof garden.