" At New Lynn, the building - a unified ‘community of rooms' plus a vestigial porch, deck and verandah- has been generated as much by an essentially humanist attitude towards civic place and occupation as it has by site conditions, planning, sustainability, materials and local technique."

Charles Walker Architecture New Zealand, September/October 2001

The brief stated by the Waitakere City Council called for a multi-purpose community facility that emphasised the City's commitment to eco-design principles and issues of sustainability, specification of building materials, environment and servicing strategies, and the well-being of users.

Extensive effort was made to ensure the project not only related to the community context but also made a contribution to surrounding neighbourhoods.  As such the Community Centre provides a new public square and courtyard, which connect the existing shops beyond, Plunket Rooms, public meeting rooms, a multi-purpose performance hall and similar-scaled half-court games space.

The design approach sort to distance the building as far as possible from the railway; to carefully organise the elements of the plan in such a way as to insulate sensitive activities from noise and vibration and to select materials that assist acoustic and thermal performance as well as meeting Waitakere City's environmental objectives.

Project Sheet

• Project Sheet