District's first Passive House - community building

A landmark, sustainable community building in the Upper Clutha is another step closer after the appointment of an experienced design team to work on the permanent replacement for the Luggate Memorial Hall.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) endorsed an ultra-low energy ‘Passive House’ concept for the new hall late last year. Since then, Council officers have been working to turn this aspiration into a detailed project plan for what may well be one of the first community facilities built and certified to Passive House standard anywhere in Aotearoa New Zealand.

QLDC Property Director, Richard Pope said the team was looking forward to getting started on the design work following the initial kick-off meeting.

“Bringing such strong independent knowledge and expertise together is a truly exciting stage for this project,” he said.

“This is a unique opportunity to replace a much-loved community building with a new one that incorporates up-to-date design and environmental building practices. These will result in a more comfortable space that should in turn lead to a greater level of use by the community.”

The design team was selected following an open market request for proposal (RFP) issued via the Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS) in April this year.

The consortium, led by the Queenstown office of international multi-disciplinary consultancy WSP Opus with support from Wanaka-based Salmond Architecture and Luggate-based Passive House designers Hiberna, comprises (in alphabetical order): Anne Salmond, Jessica Eyers, Jess Orpwood, Mike Fortune, Paul Jaquin and Simon Richmond.

On a broader project level, QLDC has also engaged Jane George and The Building Intelligence Group as project manager, and Tony Tudor from Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) as cost manager.

Richard Pope said the design team is beginning to work on the concept plan and building location planning that combines the operational functions of the building required to meet community needs with Passive House technology and design elements.

“I’m looking forward to sharing the concepts with the Luggate community and the wider district,” he said.

With the permanent Luggate Hall scheduled for completion in 2021, work is well underway on a relocatable building, installed on site in July, which will act as a temporary community facility in the interim. All services have been installed at the temporary hall which is scheduled to open around mid-October after an internal fit-out.

ENDS | KUA MUTU.

Media contact: communications@qldc.govt.nz or call 03 441 1802.

Image caption: The design team for the new Luggate Hall: (back row, left to right) Jess Orpwood, Jessica Eyers, Anne Salmond; (front row, left to right) Simon Richmond, Paul Jaquin; (absent) Mike Fortune.

Design team biographies (in alphabetical order):

Anne Salmond, BArch (Hons), BBSc, FNZIA is a Registered Architect and Director at Salmond Architecture. She has more than 35 years’ experience – including 20 years in the Queenstown Lakes District – in community, commercial and residential architecture with a focus on high performance, low energy design.

Jessica Eyers, BA (Arch), MSc (Arch) is a Certified Passive House Designer, Architectural Designer and Director of Hiberna. Her experience includes more than 15 years designing low energy, sustainable buildings including Passive House, straw bale and New Zealand Green Building Council Homestar-rated structures. A Luggate resident, Jessica has worked in the Queenstown Lakes District for more than 13 years.

Jess Orpwood, MEngSt, BE (Hons) recently moved to the district as Senior Structural Engineer for WSP Opus. She has experience leading and co-ordinating multi-disciplinary building projects, most recently in residential and educational buildings in Christchurch.

A recent arrival in Aotearoa New Zealand, Mike Fortune, BEng, MSc is Senior Mechanical and Sustainable Buildings Engineer at WSP Opus. Mike has extensive experience of Passive House and other innovative sustainable buildings projects in the UK and Europe.

Paul Jaquin, MEng, PhD, MEngNZ, CPEng is Senior Structural, Civil and Geotechnical Engineer at WSP Opus. He is a recognised expert in the field of sustainable building design being chairman of Earth Building UK, author of several books on green building and a regular keynote speaker at sustainable building conferences.

Architectural Designer for Salmond Architecture, Simon Richmond, MArch (Prof), BAS has seven years’ experience working on a variety of residential, commercial and educational projects throughout New Zealand.