Hamish Davies, Director at Plus Architecture, delves into the significant impact of global architectural collaboration in shaping the trajectory of New Zealand's built environment.
Like many OECD nations, New Zealand is currently grappling with a perfect storm of challenges: escalating inflation, heightened construction demands, and an ongoing housing crisis.
In this era of intricate challenges, the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sector stands at a pivotal juncture, with the ability to effect profound change in New Zealand's built environment. There is a pressing demand for design solutions that are both ecologically sustainable and socially inclusive.
While a common cliché portrays architecture at its simplest as being about problem solving, it’s better viewed as opportunity making. Every building offers the potential to illuminate a better path for future generations: architects uncover opportunities inherent in each unique site, helping to address the issues the nation faces through design.
One of the most potent tool designers have at their disposal for maximising a site's potential is global collaboration. There are many hands at work within a design team, and working across borders infuses strength into our architecture. Harnessing the wealth of global expertise enables the creation of exceptional outcomes in the built environment, drawing inspiration from best practices across the world, while tailoring these designs to harmonise with the local milieu.
Across a 29-year architecture career traversing Australia and New Zealand, I’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative power of agility and international collaboration in shaping local design, most recently as Director at Plus Architecture, a practice with ten studios across Australia and New Zealand.
The unique cross-studio collaboration strategy at Plus Architecture enables us to leverage the talent, knowledge and experience of our leadership team across both state and country boundaries and borders.
With world-leading expertise in a diverse array of sectors across our studios, including Build to Rent, Student Accommodation, Healthcare and Aviation & Transport, we are uniquely positioned to craft and deliver an array of design solutions in New Zealand, that are tailored to our clients and local communities' needs.
Since opening our first New Zealand studio in Christchurch in 2015, Plus Architecture has exhibited steadfast growth, delivering multiple award-winning projects. Among them, The Pacifica, New Zealand's tallest residential building, stands as a testament to the strength of teams across the world, to transcend limitations and reshape boundaries. Conceived and executed by our teams from Melbourne and Auckland,this achievement exemplifies the capacity of international collaboration to redefine the realm of possibilities.
The Pacifica
The scope and scale of Plus Architecture’s Auckland studio's portfolio of work, defies our size. Bolstered by the wide-ranging expertise of our studios across Australia and New Zealand, remote contributions are encouraged and seamlessly facilitated.
Our design for the Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables Park is an excellent example of this. Stemming from a simple vision: to deliver a contemporary yet timeless 4-star-hotel for visitors to the shores of the South Island’s Lake Wakatipu, we leveraged our practice’s global expertise. Applying our local team’s knowledge to meet stringent sustainable and operational requirements, we engaged Plus Architecture’s Melbourne team to deliver the hotel’s interior design, which aesthetically encapsulates and responds to its surroundings. Our work together on this project models how international collaboration can infuse novel perspectives and inventive solutions into a local context.
Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables Park
Indeed, our collaborative approach extends far beyond our own studios. Through our highly agile pproach we continue to engage and partner with other local and international architectural studios, including Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma and Howells. Through collaboration we are able to leverage each other's skills and expertise to meet and exceed a client’s brief - both for commissions in New Zealand and beyond, noting we’re also currently working on projects in China, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.
By capitalising on these partnerships, local designers unearth a multitude of new avenues for learning and growth. Collaborative endeavours foster a diversity of ideas, experiences, and approaches. The outcome is designs that both captivate the eye, and explore new realms of possibility for ecological sustainability, and social inclusivity, providing long-term solutions to local issues.
While the evolution of international design practices remains ongoing, repeated execution will reveal its full potential to harbour far-reaching positive change in New Zealand. The global design network holds a treasure trove of insights and best practices, customisable to address the needs of local communities.
Cultivating a culture of cross-border collaboration and networks is a robust pillar on which architects can lean, to foster a brighter future for New Zealand’s built environment and its people.